JALOPIES

In 1948, Ken paid $75 for a 1929 Ford Model A two- door sedan.  He paid for it on a weekly basis of $15 per week.

He drove the car to school and to work.  He worked at the Palace Theatre in Breckenridge.  One of his duties was to change the marquee and lock the theatre after the last show of the day.  One winter night it began to sleet before he got off work.  The Model A was parked in front of the Burch Hotel across the street from the theatre.  The car started, but it would not move.  The tires were frozen to the street. He tried repeatedly to move the car, but he couldn’t get it untracked. He had to walk home.

Some of his friends also had old cars.  One of them had a Ford Model A coupe with a convertible top and a rumble seat.  One cold night seven teenagers packed themselves into the coupe.  They rode with three in the front and four in the rumble seat.  Ken had the pleasure of riding in the rumble seat with his date and another couple.  They decided to drive about thirty miles to Cisco.  There were no more activities of interest to teens in Cisco than in Breckenridge.  That did not matter.  Their only agenda was “to go.”  It began to sleet, but they continued on.  When they got to Cisco, they went into a café, thawed themselves, and had a cup of hot chocolate.  After their refreshment, they loaded up and went back to Breckenridge.

Another friend also had a Model A sedan similar to Ken’s.  He was driving behind a local scrap iron dealer one day when the guy suddenly stopped.  Realizing that he could not stop quickly enough to avoid hitting the trailer load of scrap iron, he swerved to the right.  He was not quick enough and the impact knocked off the driver’s door of the Model A.  These boys were resourceful.  This boy reattached the door with baling wire.  This worked well until one fateful night.  Several teens were in the car riding along a highway north of Breckenridge when the lights went out on the Model A.  Being resourceful, the friend’s date held a flashlight so that the beam of light fell on the highway in front of the car.  This worked well until the local highway patrolman came along.  He pulled them over, parked the patrol car in front of the Model A, walked back and proceeded to open the driver’s door.  As he yanked on it, the entire door came off in his hand.  Surprise!  After a moment of stunned silence, he called the driver by name and said, “Get this pile of junk back to town and off the highway.” They followed closely behind the patrol car until they reached the friend’s house.

Ken kept the Model A for about a year.  He sold it for $75 and bought a dark blue 1939 Buick four- door sedan for $325.  He was moving up in the world of automobiles.