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March 1943. "Melvin Cash, truck driver, putting water in his radiator along U.S. Highway 29 in North Carolina en route to Charlotte." Medium format negative by John Vachon for the Office of War Information. View full size.
This comment may seem off-topic, but I'd like to acknowledge all the truckers and railroad workers that often provided a bright spot to the day for many youngsters, me included, at least in the 1940's and 50's since we walked everywhere including to school, church, movies, the park, etc. It was such a kick for a kid to see a big rig coming down the road and know that if he just put up his arm and pretended to pull a rope, that the congenial trucker would blast on his air horn just for us. Likewise, if a train was passing by and we could see the engineer or the caboose man, they would wave and blow their whistle and make one feel important. Yes, I was a sometimes lonely, small town kid, usually walking alone everywhere, but these men made me feel like I had some influence in the world. It was a feeling of mutual respect on both sides and I salute and thank them all for taking the time to acknowledge the requests of all the powerless children everywhere who enjoyed immensely causing the instant reaction from the vehicle's operator. I know the work of truckers and railroaders is grueling and often taken for granted but they made the day for many kids and brought everything people needed to remote villages and towns across the country and they still do. Thanks guys.
Hayslip, looking at the size of the headlight buckets versus the headlights, I'm wondering if it has been fitted with a sealed beam conversion. One big advantage that came with the advent of sealed beams was that the lamps were a universal 7-inch size that would fit anything. It was much easier to replace the lamp after it burned out, and replacing one after taking a hit from a stone meant you didn't have to try to find parts specific to your vehicle - especially important for over-the-road trucks.
Brown; in house make of Associated Transport.
[The tractor is a circa 1938 Corbitt in Horton Trucking livery. Some of these were rebadged as Browns after Horton entered into the Associated Transport merger. - Dave]
I'll take the jacket, the hat and the water bucket. I'd take the truck too but parking could be a challenge. I love SHORPY -- it never fails to deliver.
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