I'd only be guessing at the make and model of this beauty, but it sure would be a good one to get around the streets of Toivola. Especially with those chains for traction in the snow. Must have been the "old timers" version of studded tires!

I love these old U.P. shots with 'ghosts' in the picture as a bonus. See the reflection of the photographer in the door? Our thanks to Erik Johnson for another neat Shoebox Memory.

Wow, all the way in Iraq and I got the first post of the day, how did that happen??Well cant wait to get back to the UP, 142 days.

I hope the snow is gone by May 6th as I'm going to Florida to bring my grandmother back to Tapiola. She is 92 years old and each Fall it takes a shoe horn to get her out of the UP to go live with my folks for the winter. In the spring you can't get her back home fast enough.
She heats with a wood stove but the family is thinking of putting a furnace in the house. That will be one less argument we will have to convince her she must leave for the winter. The only one left will be that she lives 1/4 mile off the main road in the middle of 120 acres. She is a true Yooper and it is in her blood. I idolize my grandmother and the word Sisu comes to my mind. Maybe cause that's the only Finnish word I know. I remember the family all speaking in Finnish and my great-grantfather who couldn't speak english even after 60 years in this country. The UP will forever be called home. I grew up as a military brat and we use to go to grandma's for 30 days or more in the summer. This land will forever stay in the family. Well, all of you enjoy the snow.

WOW nice picture!!

Great story Marilynn. Brings back lots of memories of my early life growing up in Mohawk and Calumet. Thanks!! I live in the lower right now but I'll always be a yooper in my heart.

I was wondering if Charlie or Mary could begin to update the amount of snow (around Eagle River)on the ground at least once weekly? It is that time of year when I get real itchy to come up and spend some time at our place on Five Mile Point Road. Any consideration to doing this is greatly appreciated.

I don't know where the picture was taken of the eagle (yesterday) but there has been one hanging around our place for the last two years. Almost without fail he tours the shoreline about 8:30 a.m. every morning.

Hi T. Bush,

This morning the snowbanks are about head and shoulder high here in Eagle River. The sno-go went by last week, so the streets look like canyons.

My guess is its a Model A Ford. My parents owned one in the 40's. What a car. A roll of Mechanics wire and a pair of pliers would usually fix emergency repairs on the road. Collecters still have a few of them garaged and ready for shows around the country.

Stay safe, Michael .... and thanks for all you do.

The photo isn't a Model A, infact I don't think its even a Ford. This car has wooden spokes. Ford had wooden spokes on the Model T and the Model A had wire wheels. That car doesn't have the style of the Ford, Model A or T. With some research you may find it.

I agree with Ernie,of Wa. The car is not a Ford
Model A. Could it be a 1929 Plymouth?

In the "old days" before plowing was real good
were snow chains standard equipment? That is,
did people put them on and leave them on until
spring? You'd kind of think so. Or else drain the
radiator and block up the car and let it sit until
spring.

Spring is pleasant notion as it is snowing again
here too. But they were happy about it yesterday
at the Birkebeiner ski race. First time in several
years when lack of snow was not a problem.

http://www.at
thecreation.com/

When we were young, we had a Franklin (sp?) and my father said the only reason we had to get rid of it was because they couldn't get replacements for the wooden wheels. That was in the late 40's. I asked Dad why people would watch us as we drove down the road, and Mom said it was because it was a beautiful car, and other people felt bad because they couldn't have one like it.

Loved that car. Went anywhere!

At the first blink I think most of us thought it was a Model A. Sure would like to know what the car is. I would guess its a more expensive car. The widow trim and the fancier door handle make me think that.
My grandmother told me that back in Pennsylvania, in the '20's, they had tires with sawdust in them on their motercycles. That was the only way to get up and down the hills.
Had to be a little cool riding a bike in the winter.
I think one of the reasons this country won the second world war, is because we had some •••• tough kids who grew up in the country in the service.

The sawdust snowtires were available thru the 70's, I used them all the time. They were an excellent traction tire because of the rough textured surface of the rubber. Sawdust was mixed with the molten rubber before the tire was molded. The down side of them was that they would wear down really fast, lucky if you could get through the winter without replacing them.

Holy wah! The UP earned a mention in the Freep. Take a look at http://www.freep.com/news/latestnews/pm18549_20040221.htm.

Protect out culture! Write your local representatives and request official statewide and national recognition of a Yooper History Month!

I would be willing to bet that car is either a Chrysler or Chevy. The first car I drove, in Calumet, was a 1928 Chevy. It had solid metal wheels. I was about 12 years old and I drove it from Lake View Cemetary to Calumet Waterworks , where our cottage was. No automatic transmissons in those days. The ride was bumpy and when we got to the cottage we didn't need to shake the non-homogenized milk, before opening it to drink.

Here in Northern Nevada when we get an inch of snow, people just can't drive like "da yopppers" I remember driving in the snow while sitting on a orange box with wooden block extensions on the clutch and brake pedals and a stick to push the gas pedal. When it snows in the Sierra mountains, accidents everywhere and people make hundreds of dollars a day for putting chains on the cars of "city folks". Miss L'Anse but not the winters.

T. Bush of Royal Oak? Are we related? My dad was Eugene Bush.

My Dad had a Buick(29?) that sort of looked like that. It had wood wheels also. We had it up until the early 50's. Infact my brother and I went to Milwaukee in it when my neice was born 50 yrs ago. Did't have a speck of trouble ,it just purred along. It actually was a pretty fancy car I'd say. The seats were velvety feeling and it had door pulls and window shades in the back(if I remember correctly).It was a two tone aqua color.If I ever come across a picture of it I'll have to send it in.

RCW- do you remember that car?

Michael M, my thanks to you and all the others. Stay safe! We are all waiting for you to come home.

Ray D - New Mexico

If you are ever in the greater Metro Detroit Area... At the Greenfield Village (HFM) Two years ago (now) they built new model "A" Fords and a "T", I believe a total of 4 NEW units were built, and the origional set of vintage cars were rebuilt. For the price of admission and a ride band, you can ride in the cars (trains, riverboat) all day. Interesting to note, the "new" cars leaked in all the same places the origional ones did...

I sure do remember Fran. If you ever find a picture copy me in.

The Picture of the car isn't a Chevy I don't remember them haveing wooden wheels while the Reo's, Buicks and a lot of others were wooden spokes. Chains were standard equipment in the winter time along with a tow chain and a good snow shovel. Can remeber them useing alchol in the radiators to keep them from freezing up and even then they sometimes did. The old Fords they used to take a pan of ashes and put oil on them and then set it afire and slide it under the oil pan in order to warm the oil up enough so you could start the engine if you were lucky.
Those were the good old days. Also remember going out at 5 in the AM and starting the tractor and towing it to start it so that my Brother-in-law could go to work. Those were times that I only want to remember wouldn't want to do that again. You all can enjoy your snow and I'm satisfied to enjoy all the pictures of it here on Pasty.com.

We are now up to 18.8" of snow here in Detroit this winter!!

The car looks like it has a Fisher body. Its squareness makes it look like a Buick.

My father had an Overland Whippet 1929 which looked much like this car. Had the wooden spokes. Recall one time in about 1935 a rear wheel rim came off of the wood spokes leaving us rolling on the spokes on a dirt road. Regarding the chains. My uncle drove school bus and I can recall him putting a chain on the right rear wheel when the road was icy and driving with that wheel up against the snow bank to maintain some traction. If one lived in the country it was not uncommon to leave the chains on the car for an indefintie period of time.

Don't know what brand of auto that is, but
mentioning the Franklln auto brings something to
mind.

The Franklin car had an air-cooled engine.

Thus no radiator or hoses or block to break if the
coolant froze because there was no such liquid
coolant or related equipment.

That would have been a BIG advantage in the
north in the days before efficient anti-freeze was
available.

The air-cooled VW Beetle was popular in Alaska
and elsewhere I believe for the same reasons.

http://www.at
thecreation.com/

Late 20's Buick.

Wanna buy one? Found this ad:

http://www.dealsonwheels.com/search/dealerbig.cfm?Autos__ID=000585-200402-000063

Note the door hinges, window shade, wooden wheels, etc.

Dave.

Charlie: Thanks for the update and the picture of Eagle River today. We are just about 3 miles down the road from you. Hopefully we can keep in touch over the next few weeks and when the time is right we will make a break for it!!! My wife and I are ready to come now but we will wait a bit until the 45 degree weather has an effect.

I used to ride with a friend in Fairbanks in an air-cooled Beetle. At -35 F the car never really warmed up. You used a small scraper on the inside of the windshield so that you could see outside while driving.

While air-cooled was a big advantage in some ways, everything was plenty cool in the winter.

Dave from Mohawk.
The sawdust snow tires were actually made from wood chips in the tires. In the mid 70's, I worked for Bob Niieskala in Houghton @ Twin City Retread. We made wood chip recap passenger tires. The rubber came from Firestone and the wood chips were already in the rubber. Like you said they only lasted 1 winter, but they sure were a good tire in winter.

I think that car is an Okland. excuse the spelling. Paul Baroni had one and got married around that time.I believe that Old's bought that franchise.

One of the great lakes freighters ran aground on Copper Harbor tip and they salvaged about 500 cars from this era and drove them thru the woods to Calument for "re-shipping". I think a few got lost and were seen driving around the area for many years. One of my Great Lakes Shipwrecks books, but I can't find it now.

There is a building at Cass and Willis in downtown Detroit that still has the Oakland logo and name on the side of the building from about 80 years ago. I am going to try and get a pic tomorrow............

If I remember right, the Oakland became the Pontiac

I BOUGHT A VIRTUALLY PERFECT CONDITION AUTO, EITHER OAKLAND OR OVERLAND SIMILAR TO THIS, IN 1950. FOR 25.00 $--IT WAS STORED DURING WW 2. I DROVE IT HOME & JUNKED IT FOR THE TIRES WHICH WERE JUST LIKE NEW. MY LOGIC WAS--NO PARTS AVAILABLE . I USED THE TIRES ON MY '29 MODEL A.-60.00.

DH,Tenecula, it is great seeing a picture of the old Buick. Ours was a 29. It was a nice car.I remember our spokes were aqua. I think it also had some kind of pockets in the back seat area and there was also a rope handle going across the backseat to hold onto. As best I can remember it didn't have any rust.It must have been a well made car.

Looks to me like there is a gas cap in front of the windshield on the old photo. Gravity feed gas tank-also no coach lights on this one. Maybe the car in the ad is a newer model-anyone?

I haven't a clue as to the model of the car, but as a little kid, my dad drove a 38,I think, Packard. I remember thinking the sounds of all the chains on the car tires sounded like the bells on Santa's sleigh, which we'd hear when we waited in the car after payday Friday shopping in Hancock, and Mom'd'd go into the Woolworths, the Twin City Style shop, down to Garteners and Stern and Fields, and then the drug store, and everything went into the humoungous trunk. And then on to Payne's news (we were allowed to go with her in there to pick out 2 comic books for the three of us) But the cha chinka chink of chains, that reminds me of Christmas long past.

Later my Dad had a 48 Packard, I learned to drive on that car, as a 12 year old in '55, and then he moved to Buicks. I remember coming home here to the Atlas Powder Plant, where we lived, and seeing the cars of the neighbors all lined up at "Kemppainen's corner". The road had drifted in, but they knew that Joe was still out behind them in the big buick with the studded tires, and they waited for us to come and push through and we all came home.

As much as I whine about the weather, I think we grew up with much worse....walked to school in 3 foot drifts, etc...I cannot remember Kemppainen's corner (now locally called Thayer's corner) drifing in in the last 20 years. Maybe it is a factor of the widened roads...no, most probably it has to do with former open grazing land gone to trees, Nature's snowfence. But that 56 Buick was one terrific machine! I suppose the old Packards were too, else I'd not have survived to be able to talk about it today! (My neighbors from those days may take issue, as my memory may be older, and of them waiting for that Packard with the chains on it to break the trail)

Could there be a clue on the hubcap.. under the pasty.com logo?

Steve the flying troll,
Just found our copy of Shipwrecks Off Keewenaw by
Mac Frimodig (he was a friend of my parents). Here's
the story in a nutshell...The Duluth-bound ship,The City
of Bangor, was carrying a cargo of 220 new cars. The
wreck occurred during a storm on Nov. 30, 1926. When
the Bangor's crew decided to turn around and seek
safe harbor in Bete Gris, after getting halfway to Eagle
Harbor , they hit a reef. The crew members all safely
made it to shore. After a cold night, they headed out on
foot the next afternoon, since no one had come to their
rescue yet. They were noticed by a Coast Guard crew
based in Eagle Harbor who saw them from their own
grounded ship, the Maytham. This ship (the Maytham)
had run aground at Point Isabelle. Through a series of
events, the crew of the Bangor was taken to Calumet by
way of Copper Harbor via sleigh, and then took trains to
their homes in lower Michigan. Now, about those cars...
in mid-December, they were removed from the frozen
decks of the wreckage of the Bangor and all but
eighteen (they'd been washed overboard during the
storm) were brought to Copper Harbor to spend the rest
of the winter lined up in Charley Maki's yard. By March,
the road from Copper Harbor to Phoenix had been
plowed and the fleet of Chryslers made it to Calumet. In
early April, they were loaded on trains and rolled back
to Detroit. With the new 1927 models coming out, the
folks at Chrysler wanted to get these on the market as
soon as possible. The poor folks of Duluth never got
their cars, at least not from this shipment.
A few stayed in the Keewenaw and in Mac Frimodig's
words, Paddy Slusarzyk of Calumet kept one in his
garage all those years. The engine still turned over
when the book was written, maybe around 1970(?).

sorry, mispelled Keweenaw a couple times!

Happy Birthday to Dave Hiltunen in TN!
From one old geezer to a slightly younger one! Hope you are online now!

Yes the Oakland became the Pontiac, which were built in Pontiac MI --- "Oakland" county.
(See my photo album for a pic of 30s cars loaded on a freighter--- maybe the same one Steve flying troll mentions?)

The ship that went aground at Eagle Harbor in 1926 was the CITY OF BANGOR. She had a cargo of Chrysler automobiles, most of which were salvaged. One of those cars is at the Eagle Harbor Light Station Museum.

I recall an old Whippet on Pine street when we were kids. It had wooden spoke wheels like the pix

Several years ago we featured shots from the City of Bangor incident here on the Pasty Cam:

See A Shipwreck Remembered

I knew Charlie would know..........Thanks

Charlie,
Thanks for the link to "A Shipwreck Remembered."
Very interesting reading.

Amazing what conversation a picture of an old car can stir up.

Marilynn of Jackson, your grandmother sounds like one heck of a lady! What she's doing is exactly what I want to do. Living in the middle of 120 acres. Good for her!

Here is a very good photo site for you: Niklas Sjöblom´s View of the Day at :

http://www.helsinki.fi/~nsjoblom/maisema/index_eng.html

Want to talk to Americans living in Finland? Check out the IESAF forum at : http://www.iesaf.com

Click on the IESAF logo and you will see all the discussion folders! There are no fees of any kind!

If 18 of those autos washed overboard I wonder if
any later came ashore? Or if divers have located
them in the lake?

http://www.at
thecreation.com/

yay! for shoebox memories! see the interest and GREAT stories and memories it stirs!!

Looks like the overland whippet we had and i learned to drive with---43 miles an hr wide open--mechanical brakes--you had to pull the hand break along with stepping on he brake peddle to stop--if you could drive it you could drive anything--lol

Yup. Its a Whippet. See:

http://clubs.hemmings.com/clubsites/wokr/gallery/96coa8.htm

The Buick does have the four door hinges, but has a different design for the hood vents.

These cars look an awful lot alike between the axles.

Dave.

I remember when the Bangor hit ground half way between Eagle River and Eagle Harbor. My Dad and Brother went on shore and gathered the butter that washed on shore. My mother heated it and strained the sandout.We had a lot of melted butter.That was when the road between Eagle river and Eagle Harbor was just a trail.

Well-how about retreads with walnut shells!