Grampa Ashby’s Old Rickenbacker
Grampa doesn’t look as happy as the ladies but certainly he is glad to have any excuse to take the “Old Rickenbaker” for a roadtrip.
The photo is probably taken as they get ready to return home to Livingston, New Jersey, maybe he is sad to leave his daughter Carol and the new grandchild.
Carol is a Navy wife and is stationed in Portsmouth, New Hampshire with her husband Roger Morrow.
A Happy Automobile Owner
Livingston, New Jersey to Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Roger Morrow was assigned to the V-3, a Barracuda-class submarine in Portsmouth, December 31st 1925, just 3 months after he and Carol got married. Their first child. Roddy, was born Oct 6th 1926 in New Jersey, Carol must have moved to New Hampshire to be with Roger soon after, we should assume that is about the time they all drove up. – LINK to Roger’s Navy service
It is a 300 mile drive, which today on the interstate might take about 5 hours, it surely was a lot tougher in 1926, probably on old Route 1. The car doesn’t look brand new in the pictures, I wonder if Grampa Ashby bought the car used or if looks like that from the rough roads?
In 1928, they drove a different car to visit Carol and the kids in California!
The first cool car post
In 2005 we went to visit Aunt Joan in Oregon, looking at her old family pictures was one of the highlights – when I saw these pictures of the “old Rickenbaker” I liked genealogy even more. I have been saving our family history pictures of all kinds of transportation means ever since.
LINK to more cool car posts
In 1922, Eddie Rickenbacker, America’s leading fighter ace during World War I, was asked to use his fame to sell a new make of cars. He used his World War I 94th Fighter Squadron emblem depicting a top hat inside a ring. The emblems were located both on the front and the back of the cars. Rickenbacker cars were too expensive for the time and sales were poor. Before the company closed down in 1927, more than 35,000 cars had been built. – Wikipedia
John Ashby
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