Framed or unframed, desk size to sofa size, printed by us in Arizona and Alabama since 2007. Explore now.
Shorpy is funded by you. Patreon contributors get an ad-free experience.
Learn more.
January 1941. "Guest at Sarasota, Florida, trailer park, beside her garden made of shells and odds and ends. The camp has garden club for members organized for the purpose of making the surroundings attractive." So, not all the girls in Florida around 1940 were picking tomatoes. Some were the tomatoes. Photo by Marion Post Wolcott for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.
The shells spelled out a word, but the tide must have come in. All I can recognize is "M...O..." and maybe "R...I".
Actually, many cars of this era (and throughout the 60s) were painted with nitrocellulose lacquer, which created an extremely shiny finish. However, there was no "clear coat" applied at the factory, so the owner had to be vigilant with his waxing maintenance. In '41, Simoniz was a brand of choice. Very tough job to put on and take off!
It looks like the shells in the foreground are meant to spell out something, starting with M-O-... Can anyone make out the rest?
The car appears to be a 1941 Buick sedanet.
It amazes me the vehicles used to tow these trailers. Look at the clamp-on bumper hitch. Today they don't even recommend towing a camper with a pickup with a standard shift. When I found a brochure for my 1979 Coachmen 27-footer it was pictured behind a Pontiac station wagon.
What a shine on that car -- you can almost see as much in the reflection as you can in the photo.
Obviously a well-to-do family. That brand new 1941 Buick Sedanet had a list price of $1,006!
When I was growing up in the 1950s, all those old cars' paint was dull and it always surprises me to see one with shiny paint.
I hope the bumper hitch on the car was not the one used to pull the trailer on the right!
There were good reasons for bumper hitches like that to one day become illegal.
If I had a smartphone I could be texting or playing Angry Birds and Words With Friends!
Stupid oranges.
On Shorpy:
Today’s Top 5