I recently came across an online article covering the subject of station wagons, and you know times have changed when a publication starts by telling younger readers what a station wagon is. Be that as it may, I know CC readers need no reminding of what a wagon is. Or what life was like around them when they were commonplace.
What we can do instead is take a look at old images to place into better focus what life around them was like. This is the second such post here at CC, featuring images of folks traveling and doing a good deal of living with station wagons. From resting, to cooking, to sleeping and drying clothes out, there was little one wouldn’t do on an old wagon. And it’s all mostly captured here, in faded colors and vintage black and white.
Love that last photo of the boys’ bed in the wayback of that Ambassador wagon. It is the type of car my brothers and I wished our parents had owned when we took the occasional family vacation.
B nice photos, maybe a drive in theater with that popcorn in the first photo
Oh the memories! The ever present Coleman metal cooler (I still have one) and we also had a couple of those cylindrical Skotch coolers.
Never had a station wagon but we used to travel everywhere in my parents 72 Chevy C10 pickup with a simple camper shell on it. My sister and I would ride in the back on trips. I don’t even think this is legal today.
Is that Aunt Bea making lunch or her infamous Pickles behind the 57 Ford? Wagons were great before being replaced by vans, SUVS and crossovers! Those WERE the days!
These are fab. It shows just why tailgates were so useful. The woman with the ’57 Ford has quite the camp kitchen set up. It reminds me of some folks now who live out of cars (intentionally), especially those using a Honda Element, which has a handy tailgate for that.
The 1960 Ford CS shows how much room there still is behind the forward facing third seat.
The ’58 Del Ray sedan delivery looks like it could well be on the Oregon coast somewhere.
But how did she build that kitchen, and the rooftop storage box, without YouTube or expeditionportal.com to provide instructions?
Andy probably helped her. After all, his dad was a carpenter and Andy himself used to work at a furniture factory. 😉
https://www.metv.com/stories/andys-dad-carl-griffith-made-a-brief-cameo-on-the-andy-griffith-show
I’m sure Popular Science or Popular Mechanics had a nifty plan for building an item like that!
We didn’t have a storage unit built into the back of our wagon, but instead my Dad bought a car top camper called the “Camp O’ Tel” that fit into the rain gutters and slept 4 persons…it had a ladder on the side and you’d climb onto a small “gangplank” where you’d perch while zipping/unzipping the side canvas when accessing the camper. The “gangplank” was mounted to a rod that when not being used (i.e. in travel position) there was a removeable kitchen unit that slid off off it as you extended its legs on the ground, it had flipdown table extensions on both sides, in the middle was a 2 burner stove that used Coleman fluid, and 2 plastic wash bins for doing the dishes. Foldable benches fit under the camper (but above the car roof of course). It had 2 water tanks along the sides (maybe 10 gallon?) and on one side a cabana with a small sink/shower that tied into the water tank on that side of the vehicle and a bag toilet.
From 1961 to 1984 our family had a wagon (early on it was only car) which ended when Dad’s 1978 Caprice Classic wagon got totalled in Johnson City Tx. Mostly due to kids “aging out”, my twin sister and I had been on our own as the decade started and my middle sister was in College, leaving my youngest sister still at home, so no need for a wagon anymore, plus Dad moved to Texas (from Vermont) and pretty much stopped camping (too hot for much of the year to sleep without A/C) plus he wanted a smaller volume to cool with A/C so he went to sedan….missed out on minvans entirely.
Started with 2 Rambler Classic wagons, an Olds F85, Ford Country Squire and Sedan, then finally the Caprice Classic. Wish they still sold them, I’d like a roomy vehicle for the road (don’t need a crossover nor SUV) with a comfortable ride in my old age.
My mother drove a 1960 Comet wagon, then a 1968 Plymouth Satellite wagon up until 1974 and an Audi 100LS. Only my sister was left at home and she was 16 so no wagon needed.
These last two months have been an eye opener in my Ambassador wagon. I can’t park anywhere where someone doesn’t come up to say something. Making turns, where I slow down, and go by a car on the other side of the road has people waving out the driver’s window. Last week a woman walked past the house while working on the wagon and asked to take a picture. She would have been like me back then at around 5-6 years old and told me her parents had a wagon like this. The Cougar, Mustang, and F100 don’t get this attention telling me that a wagon strikes a deep visceral cord in people of my generation.
Love these wagon pics! Our family fit right in when Dad traded in his ’56 Chev 210 sedan and bought a ’57 blue & white Ford Country sedan (pic) and then in succession: a ’59 Country Squire (dark blue), ’63 Country Sedan (Corinthian White, later on my first car) and a ’68 (beige) Country Squire… Fords all the way.
On his retirement a bunch of C and B body rwd Buicks followed the wagons.
Those round Scotch coolers were almost de rigeur for family picnics in the late ’50s!
My dad bought a new 57 Ford 2 dr Ranch Wagon, black, blackwalls. No options except heater and I mean No options!
In the summer we would take an evening ride in the country to cool off. I got to ride in the wayback with the tailgate window propped open. Ah, the smell of exhaust fumes!
Can anybody identify for me the 3rd wagon, where a Mom is feeding her little baby? I can’t make it out.
It’s interesting to see how much times have changed, one of those little kids could have been me in the late 60s or very early 70s. My kids, born in the early 90s, would have been in my arms as often as my wife’s, anyone of both would be preparing their meals, and taking the pictures. I believe there’s been more change since that.
I can’t figure out that wagon either.
But it’s one of those images that jumps out at me as “that wouldn’t happen these days.” The kid’s high chair is perched on a ledge – one of those things that’s scorned these days as very dangerous (though in this scene there is a soft sandy landing place below). But times sure do change.
And you’re right about feeding babies… I’m pretty sure my father never touched a jar of baby food.
Yes! Hope junior doesn’t have a tantrum or he’s takin’ a tumble.
It’s 1946-48 GM, probably Pontiac.
Rafael, it appears to be a `47 or `48 Pontiac wagon. I base that on the rear bumper trim, and the wood paneling I can see on the rear quarter panel. (With the tailgate down you can’t see the taillamp mounted to it.)
I was going to say 1947 Buick or Oldsmobile, but I couldn’t figure out the bumper. I do believe that Polistra and Will Fox are correct. Pontiacs had that kind of bumper that looks to have an upper and lower rail.
I would suppose that the car was reasonably old at the time the photo was taken as I think that the mom is dressed more from the 1950s than 1940s. Also, the baby’s chair (plastic/fiberglass) seems more 1950s than earlier.
I think I’ve narrowed it down to late 40’s Pontiac De Luxe Streamliner Station Wagon, and am leaning toward ’48 with bumper over-riders
Thanks to all of you. It’s amazing the level of detail some of us nuts are able to memorize, and which weird folks around us deem absolutely useless. How can it be useless if we can use it to answer intelligent questions posed by other like us?
The Woody Wagon stumped me, too. I agree that it is probably a 1947 Pontiac. i h ave attached a rear end view of one.
BINGO! Thanks–
That B&W image of the ’57 Ford has a “Ma and Pa Kettle” vibe to it, though a couple decades later. The roof rack is loaded, but not as much as that cloth fold-out chair.
I don’t really like being a pedant, but the ’58 Chevy in the second-to-last picture isn’t a station wagon. It’s a sedan delivery.
My parents bought two wagons during this era:
A 1957 Ford, blue and white just like the one pictured, only ours was a 2-door Ranch Wagon. A heater was the only option. 50 years later my father still remembered it as a rattletrap rust bucket.
In 1960 they traded it for a new Chevy Brookwood, again a 2-door. (Saw very few 2 door 1960 Chevy wagons at the time.) and again the only option was a heater.
In 1962 my father got a new job which must have paid well because in 1963 we got a classy dark blue Pontiac Star Chief which seemed like a high performance luxury car compared to the wagons.
In 1962 my father got a new
Am I showing my age that all these photos seem perfectly normal to me?
We never owned a wagon, but I saw plenty around, somewtimes being used just like this..
Beautiful work Peter! The mint green, and gold inset trim, go extremely well together. How on Earth did you letter ‘Ranch Wagon’ so well?
I’m guessing, you used a Offset Printing-style loop?
Really attractive!
Those are waterslide decals included in the model kit. And I agree, Peter did a great job with his build!
Thank you!
Another great set of photos, Rich.
My favorite for its rarity is Aunt Bee in the 5th photo hard at work – no doubt whipping up a meal for Andy and Opie – on the full chuck wagon set up in the Ford wagon. Being a solid Andy Griffith show fan, I do know that when Aunt Bee drove (reluctantly, after Goober taught her) she did drive a Ford. But it wasn’t a wagon. Must be an out take.
Between the ages of nine and fifteen, I was tasked with doing the pre-flight roadtrip checklist, on my dad’s station wagons. A gold 1969 Ford Ranch Wagon, and a creme 1978 Dodge Aspen wagon. I checked all fluids, tire pressure, washed the windows, tested the lights. And made sure the car was washed, with the interior, vacuumed and detailed. I’d ArmorAll, the tires and trim, as well.
In July 1979, we were all set for a weekend trip to Kingston, Ontario. With the cargo area of the Aspen, packed with travel bags, and small luggage. Unfortunately, about twenty-five minutes before departure time, I noticed the right rear FR78-14 Goodyear radial, was very low on air pressure. We suspected a slow leak, at the valve or sidewall. I helped my dad unload the cargo, and retrieve the spare tire. Thankfully, It was ready to use, and matched the other radials. Delayed, our liftoff a bit, as it was a very memorable trip otherwise. Donna Summer’s Bad Girls was a huge song at the time. As CKLC, the Top 40 AM station in Kingston, played it a lot all weekend, on the car radio.
Great pictures! We had a station wagon from 1964, when I was 7 years old, until long after I left home, and it fact that one was replaced by another wagon in 1986. But we never went camping … in fact I only camped for the first time well into college. In a tent. Since we bought our current camping vehicle a little over 3 years ago, I’ve camped almost 300 nights with it, and maybe 15-20 nights with our other travel vehicle. But neither is a station wagon.
Nice job on Rd 57′
I remember our families station wagons through the 1970’s. We had a couple of Rambler station wagons and then a couple Ford station wagons. To me they were bigger inside then most SUV’s.
Daddy had a brand new 68 impala station wagon with a 396.motor in it…for 5 years..we lived in the car..so cool..camping..hauled a boat..hauled a camper..live from 68 to 73..good days in the summers..rjones
I love looking at these old photos. The cars draw you in but you also look at the people, moments in their lives enjoying themselves, family and friends. Packed picnic lunches back then, nowadays it’s fast food joints, I miss the old days.
Great photos, indicative of great times! And, did you notice…no one needed a cell phone for entertainment??
Anyone else notice in the first picture, the kid shaking the heck out of his soda bottle?
Growing up we never had a wagon, but my aunt and uncle had two. First a 1957 Ford which was replaced by a 1962 Chevy II with a six and automatic. I thought they were great but I think my dad thought that getting a wagon was taking the easy way. He loved his roof racks. He would tie almost anything to the roof of the car, and if not it would always fit in the trunk with the lid tied down.
What’s the white sedan in the first photo?
I’m glad I was the youngest and didn’t have to listen to a baby wailing, because we did a lot of traveling, most years by wagon. Our Siamese made up for it by howling all the way from SoCal to NoVa. My older brother always read a book in the car, so when he got his license, he didn’t know where anything was and invariably guessed wrong leaving our dead end street.
Looks like a Nash Rambler, early fifties…?
Ha!
Your elder brother had it good – can you imagine how these dumbphone-addicted kids are gonna manage when they finally learn to look up?
These old photos are great – life seemed simpler (and all the better for it) back then.
There’s one place I know that ’58 Chevy Sedan Delivery ISN’T, and that’s on a Parkway in New York or Connecticut! Back then, it wld have been considered a “light truck”, and all “non-passenger” vehicles were strictly forbidden on those roadways. Heck, even regular station wagons couldn’t have large items in the back blocking rearward vision, or tied on the roof. Ford had a “windowed” version sedan delivery/Courier back then that was able to sneak by as a station wagon (as long as u didn’t fill it up past window sill level!). Laws began to relax by the mid ’60s when “crossover” vehicles like the Wagoneer & International Travelall (which could be registered as “station wagons” in some states) started to become more popular, & blur the lines between “car” & “light truck”.
We did a lot of camping out of the ’65 Impala wagon, including dirt road desert adventures, which really beat up the suspension. Dad traded for a ’69 Dodge A-108 Sportsman and never looked back.
Was born in 1960, we had four kids in the family but my parents never bought a station wagon. Just full size sedans. I have no idea why.
We cruised a Light Green 59 Ford around the County. Vacations were 4 Weeks Long. Had a Big Tent for when we got to a Park. Bears made us decide to get a Shasta travel trailer. Went Everywhere almost. Missed a few States.
Wow, all these pictures and nary a single bad one .
I too initially thought ’47 Buick’ wagon, good to know some here know what’s what .
I also am dead certain that’s Aunt Bee behind the ’57 Ford wagon .
These pix *almost* make me want one of my old wagons again .
-Nate
Our family had 4 wagons: ‘56 Plymouth Suburban 2-dr, ‘59 Plymouth Suburban 6-pass 4-dr (rust bucket), ‘63 Mercury Monterey Colony Park 9-pass (Dad bought it off the showroom floor from MarkMotors, Rockville, Maryland), 1969 Mercury Marquis Colony Park 9-Pass (first AC equipped for us-needed it for those Washington DC summers) Great memories
in all those Detroit-made wagons!
PS-Dad always wanted to step up to a Dodge Sierra, but jumped to Mercury in 1963.
That was our family, I miss those days.