| Subject: http://ohsnap.daytondailynews.com/media/132810 |
Author:
Leon Harrison
|
[
Next Thread |
Previous Thread |
Next Message |
Previous Message
]
Date Posted: 22:41:31 06/20/07 Wed
In reply to:
Leon Harrison
's message, ""Who Owned Those Packards?"" on 20:40:54 06/20/07 Wed
http://ohsnap.daytondailynews.com/media/132810
>Leon Harrison
>West Carrollton, Ohio
>Wednesday, June 20, 2007
>
>To: The Editor
>
>Subject: Packard Museum on Ludlow St. in Dayton
>
>
> “Who Owned Those Packards?”
>
>
>Wednesday, June 20, 2007, 5:42 p.m.
>
> Sean Hannity’s talk-radio show is on until the local
>six-o’clock TV news comes on. Yesterday, a little rain
>soaked into the grass quickly, cooling things off a
>little bit. It is still too warm for me to walk-on
>[outside] at any or many of these Civil War
>reenactment or history events. Dependable [dumb]
>Democrats and reliable [retarded] Republicans are
>hopin’ to keep our borders open to immigrants and
>imports. The Queen Mam, uh…my mama and I eagerly
>anticipate and await the Independence [from Great
>Britain] Day arrival of sister Janet Ann and
>Bill/Bro-in-law #2 [aka the Carpetbaggin’ Carneys from
>Acworth, Georgia], who shall join us for some folksy
>family summertime fun under the sun that makes the
>globe warm. Mom and I had almost rather see and
>receive the Carneys than our next shipment of East
>Kentucky Magazines.
> As I may have mentioned, with my retirement, I now
>have time to write and no excuse not to…save relevant
>[or romantic] research that never hurts; unless it
>entails the fruitless useless humiliating frustrating
>search and spending of money on honeys (or Buckeye
>babes, beauties, dames, damsels and cuties) who still
>refuse to do their womanly duties (rude with
>ingratitude and bad attitudes), at least cheaply or
>free…for me. Oh, speaking of which, Brandy, one of my
>neighbor bitches, is barking for her bone treat. I
>have her trained. She, at least, lets me pet her
>without regrets. The driver of this second ice-cream
>truck is out of luck because the driver of first one
>sold me ice cream from the street.
>
> This morning, Luther and I enjoyed some fine dining
>at the Moron City Awful House, since neither one of us
>has a spouse in the house. We decided that I should
>drive us to downtown Dayton, where we would finally go
>inside that old restored Packard Museum dealership off
>Ludlow Street.
>Like [too] many mature people, Luther and I may
>occasionally talk about how and where things used to
>be, while we drive and walk around town, and likewise
>drive and ride through the remaining countryside.
>Sometimes, sixties music and good-old-days chatter
>pesters me. Okay, now and then, I also chat with
>strangers and friends, about who, what, where, when,
>why and how we did this and that; reminiscing and
>remembering what we and our families, friends and kin
>did when we were kids or younger and dumber…around and
>inside old cars.
> Since the Chalminade [Catholic] School was out, we
>easily and legally parked across the street. We had
>arrived at the Packard Museum too soon and had to wait
>and walk around until it supposedly opened at noon.
>So, we had time to talk and walk around the building,
>looking through the big windows at those Packards,
>posters and engines displayed inside, with period
>artifacts and furniture. At one side of this big old
>stone building, there was a rusty-junk lot, at which I
>took most of these attached and enclosed digital
>images. Oh, in case you young’uns and womenfolk don’t
>know, Packard stopped producing cars in 1956; having
>produced thousands of big heavy well-built classic
>cars, and thousands Rolls Royce Merlin [WWII] military
>engines for P-51 Mustang fighters and patrol boats.
> Artifacts, aircraft, cars and guns are made more
>interesting when we see pictures and know some of
>their histories, including stories about the people
>who manufactured [personfactured?], owned or used
>them. The unknown mystery might likewise make these
>things even more interesting, curiosity tantalizing
>our meandering minds with thoughts and fantasies,
>making our imaginations create the scenarios and
>scenes of people, places, cars and clothes. Such
>curiosity shows us the appeal of PBS’s “History
>Detectives” and “Antiques Roadshow”, and why we are
>attracted to museums and those local auctions, garage
>sales, flea markets, and car and gun shows…exploring
>and looking for treasures, displayed or hidden among
>the junk.
>
> As Luther and I quietly walked around the rusting
>hulks and remains of those old vehicles, I took these
>digital images. We talked about the cars we had seen,
>worked on, driven and ridden in, wondering aloud about
>who had owned these vehicles…now more that fifty years
>ago:
>Click…who made that car and where? Click…who sold it,
>who bought it, and who drove it away? Click…how much
>did it cost? Click…how many times had this car been
>driven down home? Click…what plats and plazas had this
>car been parked at? Click…how fast, how far, and how
>long had this car been driven? Click…did a happy
>married or retired couple pick out this car that they
>were so proud of, washing it and keeping it clean for
>those nice Sunday drives in the countryside that has
>since been developed [paved over]? Click…how many
>families rode inside this car before the Interstate
>Highways? Click…had proud prosperous veterans and
>their wives bought this car used, or fresh off the
>assembly line at this Dayton dealership? Click…who had
>smooched and sweated upon those big soft seats, parked
>after dark and listening to Sinatra and Elvis on that
>old AM [vacuum tube] radio? Click…who had been let out
>at the bus and train stations, or at the Dayton
>Airport, never to be seen again, crying with tearful
>goodbyes or eager to leave? Click…what was the happy
>occasion, when this car was used to pick somebody up,
>a happy homecoming after a war or a graduation or
>roaming? Click…who had to sleep on those seats because
>of being drunk, fired or broke, losing a job and being
>laid off and divorced? Click…how many summer vacations
>had happy couples and families taken with this car?
>Click…how many birthdays, dances, fairs, games,
>graduations, parades, weddings and funerals had this
>car transported people to and from? Click…who had
>ridden in the big wide soft back seat of this long
>gray Packard limousine? Click…how had this small
>beige-colored Citroen been sent from France? Click…are
>any of these people still alive? Click…where are they
>now? Click…what were their lives like? Click…when was
>the last time this rusty hulk had been driven and
>ridden in? Click…when had this big rusty engine
>finally quit running for the very last time?
>The next time that Luther and I are at the Packard
>Museum, we are going to have to pay our admission and
>walk around inside. I hope that there will be someone
>there to show up and let us in. Still, I cannot
>honestly complain or whine about this time…since I got
>some digital images to go with this glorious East
>Kentucky Magazine story.
>
>
>Leon Harrison
>
>West Carrollton, Ohio
[
Next Thread |
Previous Thread |
Next Message |
Previous Message
]
| |
