by the late Ed Pittman
It was in the early months of 1950 that I purchased my first automobile ever. It was a “brand new” 1950 Bel Air Chevrolet, with a clutch, four doors and an a.m. radio and heater, and nothing much more. That was about all of the necessary essentials in 1950. We bought it at Parker Motor Company in my hometown of Fairfield, Texas and it came with a bill of sale marked, “paid in Ur, nearly $1,900, tax, title and license.
We drove that girl for almost six years and nearly eighty thousand miles. Both of us became accomplished drivers and maneuvered her throughout traffic in Austin and then Houston and up and down the highways of Texas, including many magical miles in the Hill Country west of Austin. I was not satisfied just keeping her clean. After three years I had rubbed and waxed the metallic blue paint off her topside and had her repainted the exact same color. She was faithful and dependable and gave her best, considering the limitations of her vintage. In 1955 we swapped her in for a classier model, another Chevrolet, who carried the daughter into University age and then served my mother on her return to Fairfield.
In a way she was a product of the war, and the depression time prior to then in my life. I had saved a bond a pay period during my three years in the U.S. Navy during WWII, and the bonds were held until that day in Fairfield when I purchased her. It’s a good feeling to buy your first automobile, better still to pay for it with your own earned money. I had rat-holed those savings after the war, instead of having a fling as did lots of my friends. I guess I might have been more popular for awhile; I doubt it would have been lasting.
Maybe my life on the farm as a child of a tenant farmer had given me a better handle on things. Maybe I was just reluctant to be “broke”, as my dad had been his entire adult life, with no escape hatch, except to run away and abandon his family, as did so many men during those terrible times.
I’m proud that the 50 Chevy was in my life in the early 50’s, as were some other very valuable and important things: an education that maybe I earned, but which was a gift from the taxpayers of this great land, an education that opened up a whole new world for me, and a family that made my life a responsible and proud one, for a while.
Thanks, blue car. You introduced me to adult life. I’m glad I waited for you.
