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May 1942. Washington, D.C. "Student's car in front of University Club on K Street N.W." Medium format negative by John Ferrell for the Office of War Information. View full size.
My father was a student at GW and bore a fairly close resemblance to the guy with the tie in this photo. But my father's college career was interrupted by WWII and he wasn't anywhere near D.C. in 1942. When he finally was able to resume his studies (in 1947) he became one of the older Delta Tau Delta pledges in history, lived in the basement of the frat house on 22nd St NW, and was called "Pops" or "Gramps" by one and all.
I wonder if he ever hung near the University Club? I'd like to think so.
They wrote: "Don't laugh, you will be old too!"
The powerfully-built gent in the center is not a GWU student. The others congenially invited him to take a break from the project visibly underway on the right and join in their photo. What else would explain that apparently abandoned toolbox?
[Um, the explanation would be that the toolbox belongs to any of the billion or so people who aren't in the photo. - Dave]
Puzzling, the "1945" on the sweater in 1942, was he an earlier Dr. Who?
[So you think those sweaters are like calendars? You've never been in college! - Dave]
No, I live in Australia. We did not have anything like that.
Imagine, they wrote "love you all" on the back fender. Today you can imagine the sophomoric, lewd and crude things / writing they would be putting on, or hang on their cars
Funny they considered this Model A Ford an old car in 1942, when it was only 13 or 14 years old. Automobile style and technology had certainly changed a lot in those years. Lots of cars from 2005 and 2006 (and much older!) on the road today, and they certainly don't stand out.
Second from the left sure looks like he knows his way around a set of knuckles.
At its most venerable, that "old" ride would be the equivalent of a 2007 model today ... in chronological terms. Technologically, those years between 1927 and 1942 brought many changes to even low-price cars, most notably synchromesh transmissions and hydraulic brakes, though Ford was the last of the Majors to adopt the latter.
Now in the aesthetics of style, it's a different story!
The average group of male college students nowadays would, I’m afraid, look more like boys than these men. Check that guy in the middle, beside Grumpy Girl: he could be a blacksmith. And the hair! The ‘do on Mr. 1945 looks like a delicious pastry.
Mike Wallace interviews local students on car slogans for next episode of "60 Minutes".
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