Jennifer Plesman Jackson

I am going thru an old album. This is definitely taken in Curacao but is not my dad's. It is an "Island Government" plate – 1491-C. Not my dad driving though.

I reached out to a "Den Hartog" on FB yesterday. But she married into the family. She asked her husband if he knew of a relation who may have worked in Curacao or worked/flown for KLM. It's a very long shot but he will reach out to relatives! Dad wasn't all that tall - 5'11" - but my sis and I are/were both 5'9. He was 1 of 9 kids...

I know for some, this will be really easy but I don't know cars at all. This is my dad (born in 1912) with my older sis who is almost 5. It is dated 7-Jan-1952 and they lived in Queens at the time. I hadn't been born yet but my mom, dad and sis were living in Jackson Heights, Queens, NY. I don't think we had yet moved to East Meadow. Dad was maintenance supervisor for KLM at LaGuardia since 1946 (post WWII). I'm sure this was the family car.

This is a pic of my dad (born in 1912) that was taken somewhere other than Curacao (most of the pics I have been posting are from Curacao). No notation on the back and this is not my mother... LOL. During WWII, Dad worked both in New York (1940-spring 1942) and also in Jackson, Mississippi, until fall 1943. If it's other than those years, then he could have been anywhere... Thank you all! Jennifer

This is a pic of my dad (born in 1912) that was taken in Curacao. The top pic is dated 2-Dec-35 with the inscription "Hato" which is/was the name of the airport there that he worked at as a mechanic for KLM. The bottom pic is dated 23-Oct-35 and has my dad's name and also the name of "Den Hartog" which is a common name in Holland. My dad is in the top pic and on the right in the bottom pic. I can tell he is in Curacao because of his white trousers and the license plate... I think the licence plate says "1879-C" or "1079-C" or something like that. My research (noted on another pic I posted a few days ago) says that the "C" designates an "island government" vehicle. Just wondering what vehicle this is... And thank you! Jennifer

Hi Grog, I guess I forgot to say. Yes, that was my dad standing on the left of the engine. He was born in April 1912 so was around 22-28 during his time in Curacao. What I didn't mention is that his uncle (my great uncle) is Albert Plesman, the founder of KLM. Dad and his brother Henk were on Curacao but I don't know how long Oom Henk was there. There were also several Plesman cousins that worked for KLM, including a few as flight attendants; possibly some uncles as well. I wish I had talked to my dad about the war years but I didn't and he passed in 1982. From newspaper scraps, letters, VERY few pics, etc., I know he flew to NYC in the spring of 1940 and was part of the Netherlands Purchasing Commission that was acting on behalf of the Dutch government-in-exile in London. One article said he was to be trained to maintain Brewster fighter planes (the FA Buffalo). He was then sent to the Jackson Army Air Base, Jackson Mississippi, "where the Lend-Lease Act enabled the American government to allow the Dutch to use a base on American soil, conduct their training within US borders legally with minimal American oversight". He trained mechanics there until the fall of 1943, whereupon, they had run out of students and he was flown to Australia with the North American B-25 Mitchells (and some Lodestars and at least one Douglas Dakota -- not sure what else). I am still trying to get all this straight. His military record from Holland doesn't match some of the articles I've found... Sigh. Best to you too! Jennifer

Please let me know if this is not allowed in an antique car forum. I had 3 other posts with pics of my dad (with vintage cars) and I am so very grateful for all of the wonderful responses. We were able to pin all of the vehicles down to make, model and even year!!! But here is an aircraft question. My dad was born in Holland and was transferred to Curacao in December 1934. He served there until the war broke out in 1940 whereupon he was transferred to help train Dutch mechanics in the US. Here is a pic of dad with the aircraft he was sent to maintain in the Dutch West Indies. Transatlantic service had just begun and dad was either the first or one of the first mechanics sent from Holland to Curacao. The first pic is of the triple-engine Fokker F-XVIII “Snip”, registration PH-AIS, aircraft he was to maintain. My dad is standing in the first pic -- 5th from the left. Yes, he worked for KLM. This second pic of an engine he is working on is the one I have a question about. Is it the same airplane? In advance, thank you so much for looking and again, I hope it's ok to post this here. If nothing else, ya'll will enjoy these old photos... Update #1: That is my dad standing to the left of the engine below. Update #2: The pic taken of dad working on the engine is definitely inside Hato airport. I just now found a pic of the inside and it's the same building.

Hi Frank ... Thank you.. So, if the windshield is NOT Ford, are you saying you don't think this is a Ford Model T?

I should have done this before but I just took a magnifying glass to the photo. The Ford on the right has a date on the license plate... 1936. The signpost is in Dutch so it was most likely taken in Curacao where my dad was stationed from 1934 to 1940 (when the war broke out). The arrow part of the sign says "directions to the airport" where my dad worked...

Am I allowed to post airplane pics on this forum? I didn't read the rules so don't want to break them...

i LOVE this forum!!! Thank you so much... This is great... Do you identify aircraft too? Just kidding. Have some of those too...

This is a pic of my dad (born in 1912) again but this may be one of the oldest pics I have of him.. Maybe the car will help date this pic.. Again, no idea where he was but probably in the Netherlands... Update #1: From the wonderful comments below, this is probably a 1920 Model T Ford exported to the Europe/the Netherlands and made in Canada! There is a windshield difference from the American made models. It was also noted below that since it has a driver's side door, it is Canadian made as opposed to from the US. My humble thanks to everyone! I wish I had been smart enough to ask questions of my wonderful dad while he was alive.

This is a pic of my dad (born in 1912) again but he's a lot older here. I don't know what continent or timeframe this was taken as he was an airline mechanic and moved around quite a bit... Thank you for helping me! Update #1: Based on what Mr. Carnerd from New Zealand added below, I was able to follow a thread on wikipedia of license plates from Curacao. The main thread said that the suffix/prefix of C is "Island Government". That is prettern modern day and it doesn't say when those prefixes start. The pic below shows the plate in my dad's pic versus the plate on the Curacao website. The very distinctive "3" is conclusive that this was taken on Curacao!!!! What fun ... Thanks all. Update #2: My dad is the VERY handsome, clean, well-dressed man on the left!!! lol Update #3: I found 2 more pics of the front of this vehicle -- same license plate! And these two ladies are not my mom either...

Stay tuned.... I have 2 more car pics with my dad in them coming!

Oh my goodness! It sure looks to be close.... Thank you! I had no clue how to find something similar...