photo color DesJardins 32 1962 DESDOC 2 72 Glen W. and Glen O. beside Raymond's 1957 Plymouth somewhere between Ohio and Denver, enroute to see Marcia at National Jewish Hospital. At this time, Dad's '59 Plymouth was in worse shape than the '57, as far as running gear was concerned. Aunt Lena was along for this trip, and the seats were settling through the rusted floor panels by the time they returned. Eventually, the front seat was fitted with plywood pieces to support the seat. Ray had purchased the car for $350 in Middletown shortly after going to work for Armco Steel. DJ-0032.jpg#DJ-0032.jpg#


photo color DesJardins 44 1959 ID DESDOC 2 63 The family at the Idaho border. Dad is cleaning grapes with water from a water bag mounted on the front bumper of the Plymouth. The water bag was later swiped at a filling station (Ray Des Jardins)

1959 PLYMOUTH This was the family's first new car. I still remember the wonderful smell. I was gone from home by this time and didn't drive it very much. (JohnD) 2007. This picture was taken on top of "Lewiston Hill" in Idaho.(GlenO) 2007 DJ-0044.jpg#DJ-0044.jpg#


photo b/w DesJardins 122 1950 Woodsbend KY DESDOC 1 86 Photo of John, Raymond, and Glen O. perched on the '37 Chevy. To the right is part of a 1940ish Buick? owned by an Arthur Mays. The Mays were unannounced, semi welcome visitors from the Ohio-Michigan area. (Ray DesJardins)

We were stalling out one day in this car and I allowed as to how the "muggicy" brake might be on. I've been helping out ever since. The blurred strap or our Kodak Reflex Jr. adds to this picture. DJ-0122.jpg#DJ-0122.jpg#




photo B/W DesJardins 1952 Woodsbend KY John on bicycle with our 1937 Chevrolet. DJ-0292.jpg#DJ-0292.jpg#


photo b/w DesJardins 3 1960 West Liberty KY DESDOC 2 67 Photo of my '36 Chevrolet and John's '38 Chevrolet, made in the street in front of Bill Tolson's (John's father in law) home at 478 Broadway St. in West Liberty. John's car was a good one, but Ray's was missing the floor cover over the transmission, wipers, glass in drivers door and lots more. I acquired the '36 by trading a '48 Olds even for it at a junk yard between Mize and Hazel Green. The old Olds I had actually ran so to this day I don't understand my mind set. As usual, dad was not concerned. At the time it was acquired, it was missing the above items plus the transmission. I remembered Birnam Gevedon, a junk dealer near the Centerville School that dad taught, had a transmission so thought it would be a simple matter to get that transmission for it but Birnam could not find it. With that option gone I thought putting a '37 transmission was the solution but it would not mate with the '36 engine. The next idea was to use both the engine and transmission from the '37, again from Birnam, but the diameter of the torq tube was different. Since the universal was the same I used it anyway with a sleeve from a metal can to make up the difference. That engine was no good so I traded with Birnam again for a '54 engine and used it with the '37 transmission but that engine had bad connecting rods so quickly failed. At that point I gave up on the '36 and returned the engine to Birnam, added $100, and took delivery of a '48 4 door Chevrolet that I ran for 30K miles. The write up on my next car, a 1940 Oldsmobile explains its final disposition. Eventually I sold it to a Collinsworth at Burning Fork, Ky. for $40.00. We later saw it running and fixed up nicely. . (RayD)

1938 CHEVY. Purchased in California, KY in 57 or 58. I used this car my senior year in high school and two years in college. In 1960 I sold it to Robert Adkins a high school classmate. I don't know how long he kept it. Only (nicknames hog and jowls) Kemplin ended up with it. I used to commute to Moorehead for two years. I had it in Lexington, Cincinnati, Maysville, Western West Virginia and all over Eastern Kentucky. It had 600x16 six lug wheels and tires. I wanted but couldn't afford 15 inch wheels and tires. When I had to buy tires I had to get the used vulcanized ones for $5 which usually blew out after a few miles. I put a 1953 Ford steering wheel on it. I also had a split manifold welded for it. I cut off the end of an old gas tank and had it welded behind the manifold pipe in front of the muffler. When I took the gas cap off the noise was unbelievable. The worst thing about it was the worn knee action front suspension. 55 or 60 was about it. I would have loved to have had a straight axle. (JohnD) 2007.

So, when Ray got that '54 engine installed in the '36, he decided we should test it out. John followed in his '38, his wife Joann in front and I was in the back. Ray had the front headlight/grill assembly off and the radiator was held in with wires. "Watch this," said John as he pulled up beside Ray. "Oh SHIT," said John's wife as she slipped down to the floor for protection. Ray looked over and we were off to the races, fairly neck and neck, until he discovered the rest of his throttle linkage. It was hard to find the throttle linkage because it was laying loose in that open hole by the "three on the floor." After that, he pulled ahead, his head hangingout the window as copper-colored radiator water was spewing all over his windshield and there were no wipers. What fun, and absolutely no brains involved.(GlenO)2007 DJ-0003.jpg#DJ-0003.jpg#

Photo b/w DesJardins 4 1961 Burning Fork KY DESDOC 2 68 Photo of Raymond's 1940 Oldsmobile. John had acquired the Olds as a bonus when he purchased a new VW in 1960 or 61. John purchased another '38 Chevrolet and wanted the engine from my '48 for it so had the idea of the trade. After we removed the engine he disposed of the rest of the car for junk. The Olds was light green and good except for the left front fender, that was dented. It was a six cylinder, with a three speed manual transmission. When he first got it, it ran good, but I drove it like a new one and blew the engine. John, Jo Ann, and I were attending summer school at Morehead and he headed home some time before I got loose. He and Jo Ann described seeing the light green stage coach shaped vehicle looming above the others on the road rapidly narrowing the distance between them until it passed. The bad engine was replaced with one purchased for $35 from Paul Moore in Hazel Green, but that engine had bad rods and did not last long. At this time I was still broke and unable to afford to repair or replace the car so it sat at Grandparents Perry's house until I sold the car to a neighbor for $35.00 to be made into a wagon. (RayD) DJ-0004.jpg#DJ-0004.jpg#

I got this at Lewis Motors on the West side of Dayton, Ohio. I gave it to Ray and never drove it very much. (JohnD) 2007

photo b/w DesJardins 17 1965 Catawba OH DESDOC 2 76 Photo of John and Raymond in the alley by the parsonage for the Catawba U.M.C., with their cars. John had a '65 Rambler, Ray had a '63 Dodge Polara 4dr hardtop with a 383 CID engine, painted dark metallic blue. The Dodge had started out a light blue, but had been repainted dark blue after an accident in Denver. Ray was driving in the inside lane of 6th Ave. in Denver, (three lanes one-way), and entered an intersection just as the light turned green. At the light in the center lane was a new Dodge Monaco, driven by a little old lady from Kansas, who then turned left without looking, removing the right side of Ray's car. Her insurance eventually paid for the repair.(RayD)

1963 DODGE I remember when Ray bought it new in Middletown. I was with him in the showroom of the dealer. It was a very exciting time and the car was incredibly fast.

1965 RAMBLER Traded 1963 Rambler American ( with bad engine) at Wilmer Motors in Middletown, Ohio. I took my first trip out West alone in this car via Rtes.40 and 36. I left Catawba about 7:00 a.m. and made my first gas stop on the west side of Indianapolis. It was Memorial Day and I could hear the race car engines screaming. Missouri 36 was beautiful. Just outside St. Joe there was a road block. The cops had machine guns. A bank robber was loose and had killed during the robbery. Made it to Smith Center, Kansas (over half way across). It was dark and rainy. I stayed at the Silver Saddle Motel. As I drove through Kansas I looked for restaurants and couldn't find any until I realized they were called cafes instead of restaurants. The next morning the sun was shining, I opened the door, looked out and couldn't believe my eyes...sunrise and all that space. Going through Western Kansas and Eastern Colorado was an experience I'll never forget. It was great. In Denver I visited with Marcia a couple of days, picked up Mark, and headed for Texas via New Mexico. Stayed with Ray and Judy one night and then left for Pomeroyton, Ky. I don't remember anything about the trip from Ft. Worth until we got to Campton. Out of Campton in the Calaboose I rounded a curve going 65 or 70 and plowed into a flock of chickens a hill woman was driving across the road. It looked like a blizzard in the rear view mirror and Mark was screaming with laughter. Three days later in Ohio during an oil change, the station attendant asked about all the feathers under the car. The rambler also went on trips to Niagara Falls and the Straits of Mackinac. (JohnD) 2007DJ-0017.jpg#DJ-0017.jpg#

photo color DesJardins 30 1957 Woodsbend KY DESDOC 2 45 Photo of Raymond and the '50 Chevy, made showing Mom's flowers in the front yard. At this time, Raymond was taking a class by television. The course was in physics, offered through Continental Classroom, with testing done at Morehead State College. We did not have a TV, so Ray drove this Chevrolet to Eva May's house and watched it with her. Eventually, the bearings in the rear axle assembly failed, so Dad traded the car to Birnam Gevedon for a 1948 Olds, which wound up being Raymond's first car.(RayD)

1950 CHEVY Thanksgiving Day 1957 I was in a road rage accident. It was my fault. I was not allowed to drive until around Christmas. This was when Dad got the 1950 Chevy. I remember when he let me take it to town the first time. I was very careful. It was a nice little car. DJ-0030.jpg#DJ-0030.jpg#

photo color DesJardins 31 1963 Camden OH DESDOC 2 72 Raymond and his new '63 Dodge Polara, made in a mobile home park in Camden, Ohio. John and Jo Ann were living there at this time. The Dodge was Ray's first new car, costing $2000 and his old '57 Plymouth. The car was a robin egg blue four door hard top, with a 383 cid engine, push-button Torqflite transmission, power steering, and an AM radio. Ray averaged almost a hundred miles an hour for two hours in 1964 running from St. Francis, Ks to Denver in slightly less than two hours. The car was traded in 1966 for another Dodge--this time with air conditioning for the Texas summers. DJ-0031.jpg#DJ-0031.jpg#

photo b/w DesJardins 58 1919 East Tawas MI DESDOC 1 19 Edmund Ernest DesJardins with three repairing the car. I know nothing of the other three. The setting is around East Tawas or Alabaster, the photographer unknown. Date: 1919-1921 It was a black 1917 Chevrolet with Goodyear tires that Dad bought new for $600-$700. That's a paper of some kind in his hands. I always felt very secure with his driving. He had no accidents that I can recall. It was driven to Detroit, possible many times, but I only recall short trips, visiting relatives or picking huckleberries. Not much use of it in the winter. We boys always called "248" for some reason. In 1926 he bought a 1923 model and cut back and top from old "248", built a flat on the back and used it for hauling and to go to work where he was a foreman in the railroad shops--the Pere Marquette--We kids used to call it P & M "Poor Mary". Lee learned to drive on it, it was a crank start.. Alcohol was the antifreeze if you used any. It did have rear end problems and you had to stop at every water hole to add water. Either it or the '23 had a radiator cap with a built in thermometer so you could be aware of any overheating, though there was very little problem with the '23. The original print was a poor snapshot. We always had a Brownie box camera of some sort around the house. (Glen DesJardins) DJ-0058.jpg#DJ-0058.jpg#

photo b/w DesJardins 93 1955 Woodsbend KY DESDOC 2 44 Photo of Raymond and his father, made on the sidewalk of the parsonage at Woodsbend. The family car, a 1953 Ford, is in the background. The Ford was purchased from Wilmer Cecil at C. F. Cecil Pontiac in West Liberty for about $1000. early in 1955. The '48 Olds had been replaced late in 1954 with a '49 or '50 Plymouth that was used during the winter, then traded in on the Ford. The Ford was robin egg blue, powered by a flathead V-8, and had a two speed automatic and an AM radio. We had it until 1957 when it was traded in on a '56 Ford. (Ray DesJardins) DJ-0093.jpg#DJ-0093.jpg#

1953 FORD It was a fiftieth anniversary model. I tried to keep it clean but that was hard to do in Kentucky. I once took a shortcut through a field with it, hit a stump, and knocked out the right rocker panel. One Sunday, J.C. Taulbee and I took it to Winchester via Campton and Stanton on Highway 15. We took the seats out of it looking for gas money. We found 36 cents and it got us home.

The stump"hit" was on Mrs. Clifford May's lane I think, I was along to tattle. I was also along on the trip with John and J.C. 36 cents was more than a gallon of gas...Eventually Dad noticed the sharp imprint of the gas pedal on the floor mat, it looked like the pedal had spent a lot of time in the fully depressed position. John complained about the car having no power. It didn't . Very quiet and smooth though. Our first car with "suspended" pedals. (GlenD) 2007

photo b/w DesJardins 109 1954 Woodsbend KY DESDOC 2 18 Photo of Dad and his 1948 Oldsmobile, made in the driveway at Woodsbend, Kentucky. Dad had purchased the car from Wilmer Cecil at C.F. Cecil Pontiac in West Liberty for about a thousand dollars. I remember him bringing it home, and having trouble getting up the hill from the gravel road due to mud. The muffler was leaking and that bothered me. The car was a model 76 with four doors, a flathead inline six engine, and a four speed Hydramatic transmission. It was a medium blue and drank oil at first, but the seller overhauled it and it was fine. Dad took delivery of it in time to pick up Mom in Lexington where she had gone for surgery. After the '37 Chevy, it was plush beyond description. We had it until late 1954. I was coming home from school at West Liberty, and he picked me up at Grassy Creek, and we returned to West Liberty to the Olds garage there. The car was missing, not shifting correctly, and something was popping in the rear end. The mechanic tore it apart, and found the axle and spider gears worn to the point they were slipping. At that time, Dad traded it in on a '49 or '50 Plymouth. I managed to keep the radio from the Oldsmobile. (Ray DesJardins) DJ-0109.jpg#DJ-0109.jpg#

1948 OLDSMOBILE I loved the Olds, our first car with a good heater. We ( the whole family) went to Michigan in the summer of '52 or '53 in it. I remember a picnic on the Ohio River near Grant's birthplace. I remember stopping at a Big Bear and buying lunchmeat. We had no cooler and by the time we got to Croswell, Michigan everyone was vomiting. (JohnD) 2007

One of the front bumper guards rattled when Dad would come up "our hill." I remember listening to Lowell Thomas on the Old's radio, talking about the "reds" in the Korean war. Very scary. (GlenD) 2007

photo b/w DesJardins 126 1959 Woodsbend KY DESDOC 2 57 Photo of the family beside the new 1959 Plymouth as we prepared to leave on the first trip west in 1959, the trip that would forever change the outlook of each member of our family. After that trip, Kentucky, Mt.Carmel, etc. were greatly reduced in importance to us. The Plymouth was new--purchased from Goodwin Brother Dodge in Lexington. Wilmer Cecil at West Liberty and WWW Chevrolet in Ezel did not think Dad was serious about buying a new car, so did not try very hard to sell him one. The Plymouth was the bottom of the line Savoy 4 DR sedan, with a six cylinder engine and three speed manual transmission. The only options were a sun visor and arm rest for the right front seat. I was constantly frustrated by the lack of power of the six cylinder engine. Wide open it would run just over 85 MPH , and I tried it enough times to verify that was a valid figure. On this trip, my job was to set up the tent and to stuff all the luggage and camping equipment into the trunk. It took both hands and all my weight to close it. After returning from the trip and removing all the weight, one broken leaf from the spring on one side fell out. (Ray DesJardins) DJ-0126.jpg#DJ-0126.jpg#

photo b/w French 202 1925 Sanilac County MI DESDOC 1 25 Photo of G.W. French and his new Dort. Wife Carie in the front (the terrified look on her face was justified--he drove like the wind ) the young couple in the back Jimmy and Mary's friends--Mary made the picture. The shoes visible under the car may have been Earl's. DJ-0202.jpg#DJ-0202.jpg

photo b/w DesJardins 234 1950 Woodsbend KY DJ3 John, Mark, Marcia and someone else, all sitting on the front of Uncle Gerald DesJardins' late 40's Pontiac convertible. He and Alberta visited once in my memory while we were in Kentucky. After we left the Orchards, WA camp meeting in 1959 we traveled south in our 1959 Plymouth and visited them in San Diego, CA. Gerald was on a submarine during WWII and spent some time in the mud in a Japanese harbor as the Japanese tried to hit them with depth charges. After the war he and Alberta settled in the San Diego area and he had an upholstery shop doing cars and convertible tops. Alberta was a beautician and later Gerald also got his license and they owned a shop. They dropped in to a family reunion we had in the mountains west of Denver to mom's chagrin. Mom felt Alberta was horning in on her family. We saw them one more time when they stopped by our place at 1412 S. Adams in Ft. Worth. We were notified of Gerald's death but heard nothing about Alberta again. (Ray DesJardins, 1999) DJ-0234.jpg#DJ-0234.jpg#

UNCLE GERALD DESJARDINS' 1946 PONTIAC CONVERTIBLE All I know is it was a very sharp car and it was a convertible. Uncle Gerald did convertible tops for a living for a while. (JohnD) 2007

John said that Uncle Gerald was a pipe smoker and when he came to KY he went out in a tobacco field and picked a leaf to show his friends back in California. (GlenO) 2007

photo b/w DesJardins 245 1959 Woodsbend KY DJ-0245 A special church meeting, since we normally never had this many cars. Dad's 1959 Plymouth is immediately in front of the steps and my 1936 Chevrolet is the car parked closest to the end of the church. 1959 or 1960. I drove the 36 Chevy from the fall of 1959 until early 1960 when a got a 1948 Chevrolet. I kept the 36 and we pulled it to Burning Fork when we moved there (it was short an engine) and I later sold it for $40 because we were too poor to fix it. (Ray DesJardins, 1999) DJ-0245.jpg#DJ-0245.jpg#

CARS AT THE WOODSBEND CHURCH I remember Kern Sheets early 1950's Pontiac and Betty Ann May's 1955 or 56 Pontiac. (JohnD) 2007