He learned to drive on a 1928 Essex
Posted Jul 15, 2010 By Bill Sherk
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Tweet ThisEMC Lifestyle - The Essex was a moderately priced car manufactured by the Hudson Motor Car Company from 1919 to 1932. Olge Carss, who now lives in Ottawa, remembers one:
"My mother bought a 1928 Essex in 1935. She was a poor widow with three kids living in our grandmother's Toronto home. Mom used the car mainly to try and sell life insurance policies. I would always ride with her on any night-time calls. I was petrified when a gang of thugs surrounded our car. Only our locked doors kept us safe.
"For winter driving, I melted a candle and stuck it to the metal strip above the dashboard. This gave us a wee view ahead. A hot brick in a towel provided very little warmth inside. Years later, we got a small stick-on defroster and a plastic knob for the big wooden steering wheel. All this came from the Canadian Tire store on Yonge Street where the clerks wore roller skates to fetch what you wanted and bring it to the counter.
"Our old dark green Essex had a metal trunk mounted on a rack at the back. This gave us the chance for an occasional trip. It took 12 hours to drive to Schenectady, New York, to visit old Aunt Jo. We often stopped to relieve ourselves behind clumps of bushes.
"By 1940, I was old enough to try my driver's test. Mom took me through Mount Pleasant Cemetery for practice, then took me to Queen's Park for my test. With the examiner in the car with me, I nearly knocked down two nuns as I edged the car from the curb. Failed test #1. Also failed test #2 ("rode the clutch too much"). I somehow managed to pass test #3.
"Soon after that, I started working for Bell Telephone as an installer. Wonder of wonders! I got a licence to drive one of their little green trucks. Two years later, I was in the RCAF for three years, ending up as a navigator in Bomber Command.
"Before starting with Bell, I took my first solo trip in the Essex to go skiing with a girl. It was a dismal experience! I got stuck in the snow and had to get a tow truck to pull us out. I had no money and had to leave the girl as collateral while I took the interurban trolley and streetcar home to get five dollars from my mom to pay for the tow. Then I took the girl home."
As a thank you, if your story is published in this column you will receive a copy of Bill Sherk's book "60 Years Behind the Wheel: The Cars We Drove in Canada 1900-1960". To share your stories or photos e-mail billtsherk@sympatico.ca or write Bill Sherk, 25 John St., P.O. Box 255, Leamington, ON N8H 3W2.
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