Besides the year/make of this automobile, info about the license plate

[Erie1]

I am hoping to "date" the photo, narrow down a geographic location, and, based on the make and model of this automobile, gain some insight into what demographic would have been most likely to own an automobile, like this and what their day to day life may have been like.

 

Thank You.

[keiser31]

1930-31 Model A Ford.

Edited February 13 by keiser31 (see edit history)

[Erie1]

Thank You, very much.

[Gunsmoke]

28-31 Model A Ford (I'll let an expert pin down year), about the lowest priced sedan one could buy in the era, at about $500 brand new. Chevrolets were in same price range, next level of cars sold for circa $700-$800 (Olds, Studebaker, etc) and higher level cars $1200-$2000 (Chrysler, Lincoln, Cadillac). I'm guessing that car is perhaps 5-10 years old in photo, so likely circa 1935-1940.

Edited February 13 by Gunsmoke (see edit history)

[keiser31]

1 minute ago, Gunsmoke said:

28-31 Model A Ford (I'll let an expert pin down year), about the lowest priced sedan one could buy in the era, at about $500 brand new. Chevrolets were in same price range, next level of cars sold for circa $700-$800 (Olds, Studebaker, etc) and higher level cars $1200-$2000 (Chrysler, Lincoln, Cadillac). I'm guessing that car is perhaps 5-10 years old in photo, so likely circa 1935-1940.

1928-29 bumpers are different.

[TerryB]

I tried to enhance the picture.  Maybe Ohio license?

 

[Erie1]

34 minutes ago, TerryB said:

I tried to enhance the picture.  Maybe Ohio license?

 

Thank You. That gives me a smaller, more specific area to concentrate on.

 

 

[Erie1]

50 minutes ago, Gunsmoke said:

28-31 Model A Ford (I'll let an expert pin down year), about the lowest priced sedan one could buy in the era, at about $500 brand new. Chevrolets were in same price range, next level of cars sold for circa $700-$800 (Olds, Studebaker, etc) and higher level cars $1200-$2000 (Chrysler, Lincoln, Cadillac). I'm guessing that car is perhaps 5-10 years old in photo, so likely circa 1935-1940.

So much good information! Thank you! Circa 1935-1940. Interesting, and very helpful.

I figured I'll try and date her outfit, and shoes, as well.

Was there much of market for used automobiles?

How long did they tend to remain on the road?

Attrition mostly caused by crashing, or mechanical issues?

[Erie1]

1 hour ago, keiser31 said:

1930-31 Model A Ford.

Thank you posting this picture. It puts you in the moment.

[JV Puleo]

The car was pretty well worn when that picture was taken (see the damage on the spare tire) and had probably depreciated to something like $25. In fact, my late father bought a 31 Ford around 1939 for that price...he loaned it to some friends who broke down about 10 miles away. Rather than go for the car he sold it to a customer in his father's barber shop for the same price...in other words, by that time it was about the least expensive car anyone could buy.

[drwatson]

The License plate in the original post appears to be Georgia. They used a (shorter) letter suffix during the period. 1933 would be a perfect match but lettering was dark on orange background, unlike the light lettering in original pic.

[keiser31]

1 minute ago, drwatson said:

The License plate in the original post appears to be Georgia. They used a (shorter) letter suffix during the period. 1933 would be a perfect match but lettering was dark on orange background, unlike the light lettering in original pic.

Yep....

[1932 plymouth pb sedan]

Looks to me like a 32 Georgia plate.

[drwatson]

8 minutes ago, 1932 plymouth pb sedan said:

Looks to me like a 32 Georgia plate.

I thought that a possibility too, but note 1932 GA plates didn't use a "-" after the first 2 digits as did 1933.

[Erie1]

1 hour ago, E-116-YH said:

Hello Erie1,

                  The license plate is not from OHIO. From 1922 until 1951 Ohio put Ohio and the year at the bottom of their plates except for the year 1933 and that years plates were orange with black numbers except for the boat plates. Do you have any history about this picture?  Where did you come by it? Where are you located?

The picture is someone I'm related to, although anyone who knows the details, is either deceased, or is planning on taking this information to the grave.

I'm not close to these relatives, on my mother's side. We visited them once, when I was 8, I'm 60+ now.

My mother grew up in Florida, and got married and moved out of State, as soon as she graduated High School.  My understanding was that the "family" had moved from New York or New Jersey to Florida. One of the women on my mother's side had immigrated from Ireland, and it was rumored, as it always is, it seems, by white people, wanting to claim Native American heritage, that she had "married" a man from one of the Lenape tribes, however there has never been any desire on the part of my relatives, in Florida, to embrace this narrative- quite the opposite. the story about the burned wedding photo and the one that I'm going to post now 

I found this picture along with a few others, tucked away in my mother's other folders and boxes of photos. My mother told me a photo she found hidden in her mother's dresser drawer, after she passed, it was a wedding photo, from 1900-1910. My mother said that the family member she showed the picture to, grabbed it and threw it in the trash pile that they were burning.  I think my mother took pictures, of the other pictures and didn't bring it up again. I'll post another one of the pictures she found.

Edited February 13 by Erie1
Clarification (see edit history)

[Erie1]

1 hour ago, JV Puleo said:

The car was pretty well worn when that picture was taken (see the damage on the spare tire) and had probably depreciated to something like $25. In fact, my late father bought a 31 Ford around 1939 for that price...he loaned it to some friends who broke down about 10 miles away. Rather than go for the car he sold it to a customer in his father's barber shop for the same price...in other words, by that time it was about the least expensive car anyone could buy.

That fits better than them having been well to do.

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

Interesting  stuff,  Erie.   Families sure can get their knickers in a twist!  Sometimes over the smallest "slight" it seems.  Good luck with the search.

 

  Ben

[drwatson]

Erie, a good place to put some dots together in your search is the "FamilySearch" website; it's good and it's free. Jim

[rocketraider]

In the 1930s everyone was poor. The few that weren't didn't broadcast it.

 

Where are you living now? Check with your local historical society or public library as they sometimes have genealogy information and people who are able to research it. If you have a name and what relationship that person is to you odds are good there's information available.

 

The lady I work with on mine told me early on that if I was going to delve into family history I'd better be prepared to deal with what turned up, and I've found some rounders in this old Southern family.

 

The research did reveal why one branch of it became Erskine Caldwell-level white trash after the Reconstruction era. Prior to that time they were educated, respected landowners.

 

To this day there are people in this family who want to completely excise some of what I've unearthed. As an historian who believes all of it should be documented, warts and all, I won't hear to that.

[Dave Henderson]

All passenger Model A's originally had black fenders,  This A's body is black but it has light color fenders, maybe primer, or just some leftover house paint brushed on, a car at or near the bottom of the pecking order.  In the era short skirts prevailed in better times, long ones when the economy was off.  Could be a hint that this picture was taken during the '37-'38 downturn.

[Erie1]

1 hour ago, Dave Henderson said:

All passenger Model A's originally had black fenders,  This A's body is black but it has light color fenders, maybe primer, or just some leftover house paint brushed on, a car at or near the bottom of the pecking order.  In the era short skirts prevailed in better times, long ones when the economy was off.  Could be a hint that this picture was taken during the '37-'38 downturn.

 

 

I like the way your mind works. Very interesting deductions. Thank you!

 

[Erie1]

On 2/14/2024 at 9:52 AM, rocketraider said:

In the 1930s everyone was poor. The few that weren't didn't broadcast it.

 

Where are you living now? Check with your local historical society or public library as they sometimes have genealogy information and people who are able to research it. If you have a name and what relationship that person is to you odds are good there's information available.

 

The lady I work with on mine told me early on that if I was going to delve into family history I'd better be prepared to deal with what turned up, and I've found some rounders in this old Southern family.

 

The research did reveal why one branch of it became Erskine Caldwell-level white trash after the Reconstruction era. Prior to that time they were educated, respected landowners.

 

To this day there are people in this family who want to completely excise some of what I've unearthed. As an historian who believes all of it should be documented, warts and all, I won't hear to that.

Good for you for adhering to professional standards even when it's your own family laid bare. Maybe since I have no emotional relationship to my genetic family, I have no desire to favor one narrative over another. I was not on a quest to uncover my family's genealogy when I found these photographs, and any " free" time I have, is already allocated towards other research. I currently live in Colorado, which has no connection to past generations of my family.

[BlueDevil]

In Georgia the suffix letters A, B, C and D are used in order from the heaviest vehicles to the lightest, later E was added so that would be consistent with a Model A, I would think.

My '33 Pierce is an A I think.

[Erie1]

On 2/14/2024 at 6:55 AM, drwatson said:

Erie, a good place to put some dots together in your search is the "FamilySearch" website; it's good and it's free. Jim

Thank you for that information. I hadn't heard of "FamilySearch" before. I'm sure it will be of great interest to other aaca forum members as well.

[Erie1]

3 minutes ago, BlueDevil said:

In Georgia the suffix letters A, B, C and D are used in order from the heaviest vehicles to the lightest, later E was added so that would be consistent with a Model A, I would think.

My '33 Pierce is an A I think.

Thank you sharing that information. Is your automobile as rare as the image it's name evokes?

[Erie1]

On 2/14/2024 at 6:08 AM, Ben Bruce aka First Born said:

Interesting  stuff,  Erie.   Families sure can get their knickers in a twist!  Sometimes over the smallest "slight" it seems.  Good luck with the search.

 

  Ben

It's amazing the issues that were scandalous in prior generations, that are now considered desirable.

[BlueDevil]

Erie1,

 

They made 2,152 Pierce Arrows in 1933. The club list 35 836's remaining, which is what mine is.

[1932 plymouth pb sedan]

On 2/13/2024 at 3:55 PM, drwatson said:

I thought that a possibility too, but note 1932 GA plates didn't use a "-" after the first 2 digits as did 1933.

Wrong colors to be 33, even in a black and white photo they would be opposite.