I don’t know if it’s just my perception, but I remember there was a time when cars often appeared as backdrops in family portraits. A custom that I feel has faded in recent times. While I feel that is just the case, I have no way to prove my point. After all, I doubt the matter has been tackled by sociologists, polls, or prestigious studies.
Maybe cars are just taken for granted now, and taking a selfie with one is the equivalent of posing next to a microwave. Or maybe we lead more individual lives; and with families owning multiple vehicles, you’d be hard-pressed to get everyone to pose together with the many ‘family cars’ each household owns.
Whatever the case, we know the arrival of the automobile used to be a life-transforming event for many families. Cars were exciting and took much effort to acquire. Once obtained, why not record the moment together as well as possible with that new ‘family member’? Then again, ‘as best as possible’ varied wildly then, as this was the age of cropped heads, off-center compositions, and the ever-present off-focus finger.
Could be I’m just overanalyzing the whole matter. Picture-taking is easy now, and we know some EV owners love to document every single moment of their car’s lives.
In any case, here’s a gallery of photos from the past with families and their prized possessions. Relatives and neighbors make their appearance as well. Or so I think, as most of these didn’t have captions; but feel free to add your thoughts, clues, etc. on these.
Good shots! I’m trying to figure out if that pic of the family with the 1953 Caddy is in California. looks to be so. The pic of the young couple and the 1948 Pontiac is obviously in the NE part of the country, possibly Jersey.
Yes, those homes look like ‘Levittown’ type houses to me…?
Yes, definitely Levittown – the car has a NY license plate, and the houses in the background were both among the original Levittown models… here’s an early ad below:
“Levittown” was my first thought!!
Nice photos! I see my VW in there, looks like it’s already been washed.
And along with the Buick wagon it represents perfectly a very common pairing back then for a family.
I noticed the Caddy pic too. A little odd….seems to be in a new, middle class community with a new family. That was an expensive car back then!
I see a ’55 or ’56 Chevy in the background. That strongly suggests that they had just bought the ’51 Caddy as a used car, and are posing proudly in front of it. It would have cost less than a new Chevy.
Thanks Paul. After I blew up the picture, I see what you’re saying.
There is a picture of little me perched on the hood of my Mom’s ’65 Skylark convertible, metallic light blue with white top and interior. A car she sold soon after I was born because she thought I’d catch a cold in a convertible.
Your mother was protecting her baby! Good mother.
Camp Perry in Ohio? Looks like these folks had seen a lot of life. The 48 Pontiac pic houses are identical to those on Rt46 near the former Aircooled Motors in North Jersey
The excellent colour correction, gives each image a modern, relatable feel. Great work.
The bumper on the ’51 Studebaker in the lead pic, almost makes immediate post 1973/’74 bumpers, appear svelte.
I remember some of this 1930s/’40s signage (below) still managed to linger into the 1970s. As a kid, I’d still see dated typefaces and design from that era in rural or tourist-destination signs, well into the late ’70s. Many faded and weather-beaten. All hand-painted.
Interesting building materials in the bottom pic. Home on the right, thanks to the natural-finish diagonal wood panelling and earth-tones, almost has a 1970s look. The house in the middle has an interesting facade. Might be asbestos shingle siding. With the fresh sod to the right, and mud and debris lining the road, appears a new development.
Looking closer, I think all three homes have asbestos shingle siding.
Lovely pictures, please share more .
-Nate
Cross hatch trim under the headlights and smaller dagmars indicate it’s a ’51 Caddy.
As Cadillac would later proclaim in their own advertising,” The finest new car, makes the finest used car.” A five year old Caddy would hit the sweet spot of depreciated affordability with the potential of a long service life.
Cadillac was such a desirable car that it was still a vehicle to be admired and cherished as a used car.
Far Side sunglasses!
Surprised there are no hats after the first one.
The American Gothic fastback is the most incongruous one.
Pontiac was an old lady’s car, so it’s definitely appropriate. Looks like those two are about to have loads of fun and frolic at glamorous fashionable Camp Perry.
My father bought a new ’50 Pontiac when he graduated from college.
Envy the young man standing beside what I assume is his family’s 59 Buick. In that era, he must have felt like he was living pretty large with such a sled.
I love these slices of an Americana that is long gone. I remember some shots of family with cars in my own past, including one with all of us standing in the driveway next to the maroon 61 Olds F-85 wagon. Also, one taken before the war of my grandfather and his three daughters in front of the family ‘s 1935 Ford on the road with huge snowbanks on either side. Unfortunately, I don’t have ready access to those.
I imagine that if we had all the facts, we would be amazed at how young those old folks in front of the black Pontiac really were. I would bet that they were probably in their late 60s or early 70s.
I think that the couple in front of the black Pontiac are a father and daughter. The man is quite elderly. He’s hunched over, his hands are arthritic, he uses a cane and a hearing aid. I’d guess him to be 75 or more. The woman is younger. I’d guess 55ish. She reminds me a lot of my own grandmother who looked and dressed a lot like her and she died at 65 years old.
The “lead in pic” with the handsome, “Studebaker” and the odd, car wash pic are the two that really got my attention.
Bet the older couple by the “GM” car (man with hearing aid) are not near as old as we think.
Here is a grainy photograph of an excited and proud New Brunswick family with their first-ever new car, on a sunny spring day in 1960. 🙂
These are great. Thanks. I am adding one.
How this one?
How about this 1950 Buick, especially that lady’s hat!
How about this pretty lady in front of the 1955 two-tone green Chevy Bel Air?
Yes, all three of these are stylish women! They look good!
And a rag top no less ! =8-) .
Impossibly narrow waist .
-Nate
Our family cars were a big event when a newer one was brought home. My folks weren’t affluent enough to buy brand new. The old one was viewed as worn out enough to justify a newer replacement. The cars were frequently background for family photos as documents of our family and shared good times.
It may be a subtle societal change that cars are now perceived as mere appliances, giving no reason to include them in current family photographs.
Aside from being expensive, Cadillacs were just plain scarce–one reason for excellent resale value. Cadillac was limited to about 100k vehicles per year at Clark Street until a mid 50s expansion.
Seems like a prosperous enough family, and a pleasant neighborhood. If they bought it new, maybe they just hadn’t gotten around to moving to a ritzier neighborhood. I didn’t grow up in a super lux neighborhood, and many of my neighbors owned businesses and bought new Corvettes or luxury cars.
My younger brother, older sister and me getting into my father’s 1973 Oldsmobile 98.
Lae, New Guinea, August 1970. The 125S was my parent’s first new car.
Our housegirl Esther, Mum, Maternal grandfather Albert, my sister Andrea, and I. Bluey the dog looks bored with it all
Now with the picture.
Hopefully the picture this time.
if you ensure the photo you are posting is in JPEG format, and less than approximately 1800 pixels wide by 1000 pixels high, it should upload. Larger than this size, and it may not work. Good luck!
Fingers crossed!
This was our family car.
Great photos! Thank you for posting them.