Generational Shift

Bought new in 1950, this Dodge Ram is still trucking for the family that purchased it—with a grandchild at the wheel!

- Millie Clark

In January 1950, my parents purchased a shiny, new half-ton Dodge Ram pickup truck from the dealership in Comber, Ont. I was too young to appreciate the details of their acquisition, but my parents never bought anything on credit, so I am certain they owned the truck outright when they drove it off the lot. They always took excellent care of their farm equipment and the new truck was no exception. A trip to North Bay may have been the only time it was not parked securely in our garage for the night.

On inclement days, the six to ten public school kids living along our road would pile into one of the parents’ cars, four wide and two deep, for the short ride to the rural one-room schoolhouse. To make it possible for my parents to take their turn, Dad put upsides on the bed of the Dodge and covered it with a tarp. Most of us preferred to ride in the covered bed than in the cab. There was no heat, of course, but everyone enjoyed the novelty of sitting out in the truck bed rather than in a cramped family car.