The Johnson Girls

Before and during the time I was growing up, there was an era that modeling by women and girls, sitting on a car was common. To think of it, the photographers now still like to take pictures of women dressed in long gowns or something quite revealing sitting or standing by a car. Cars were great back drops for pretty girls and still are.
The picture of the old car is of my mother, modeling for my father on a car, that my dad bought for ten dollars. It was a piece of junk that dad and mother restored. Dad had to put tires on it. He bought four of them for ten dollars. He then had twenty dollars invested in the car.
Mom and Dad painted it silver. It was a beauty, but Mother thought it needed a little something special. She took a tiny brush and painted a turquoise stripe all around the body of the car. She told me that story many times and I could always see the sparkle in her eyes, telling how beautiful the old car turned out to be.
Mother never had a driver’s license. When she was young it was not a requirement. One day she was driving this piece of beauty home and somehow lost control of it and landed in the ditch. The damage was not repairable. I guess the wrath of my father was not repairable either. He never allowed her to drive a vehicle again. I think that his decision was his worst mistake of their marriage. She talked and talked about it, even after his death. She even thought seriously about buying a car after he died; I think just to show him. She didn’t buy a car, but she could have. I would like to think that she forgave him, but could never forget how much he hurt her feelings.
The picture of me is on an old 1939 something or other, probably a Chevy. Once again, I was modeling for my father. By the looks of the car, Dad had polished it and made it look great. His greatest wish was for a Chrysler or a Cadillac. When I was a teenager, he bought a 1949 Chrysler. He was absolutely ecstatic. He let my sister, Rosie, drive it, but not my mom or me.
At my father’s funeral, the hearse was a Cadillac. He would have been pleased.