The “Boro” and Memory Lane

April 26th, 2007 | webmaster | Memory Lane

By: Jon Hasbrouck

My wife always laughs at me when we are talking about a particular person or event because I almost always seem to associate the person or event with a car. Looking back over the years, and still today, it is true. I have listed here some of the more memorable automobiles and the people that go along with them. I stopped listing with ’64, as that is about the time when I really began to naturally distance myself from my hometown, as school, marriage, and work took me to another time. It is now great to be back home, recalling the favorite associations, and seeing that some things have changed little. I must say, that if my wife and I could have seen more clearly into the future, we probably would have abandoned the textile industry after the first mill closing we were caught up in and did something in the automotive industry. I always wanted to own and operate the old Bridger Motor Company. Speaking of owning, Pat and I have owned some 35 automobiles in our time. Now that will get her eyes rolling! See how many of these cars and people bring back memories for you.

- Parents – ’39 Mercury, ’48 Ford, ’49 Mercury, ’53 Mercury,’57 Ford, ’60 T-Bird. Mama and Daddy were always practical with their cars – until all the kids were out of the nest. Daddy liked cars with an overdrive transmission as the gas mileage was better. The ’60 T-Bird was a favorite and the car Pat & I used for our honeymoon trip. It still had rice in the consolemounted radio speaker when Daddy sold it.

- Grandmother Bridger– ’53 Kiser, ’56 Ford. My Grandmother, (Baba to the grandchildren), admired Henry Kiser and bought his products. She would just take off in the big old Kiser to go help somebody at the drop of a hat. It never had any gas in it. Cousin Quentin Bridger painted the bumpers pink one day. She paid about $1750.00 for the Ford Mainline Sedan (new). I ended up owning the sedan as my first car.

- Brother – ’39 Ford. My brother Charles bought a ‘39 Ford in the early ‘50s to drive to college. He paid $75.00 for it with no brakes and only reverse and high gear worked. I helped him rebuild the car. We painted it State College Red using a paint brush and finishing the job by flashlight – “MACO”, eat your heart out!

- RC Bridger – ’49 Ford Coupe. My cousin, Frank Bridger, and I would take his Daddy’s coupe and hit the dirt roads behind his house. We mastered the four wheel drift technique on the sandy curves behind H.J. White’s farm.

- Dr. DH Bridger – Cadillac Sedan. Doctor Bridger (Uncle Dewey to me) was well known for his habit of going to someone’s aid (house calls – imagine), pulling up, throwing the car door open and rushing in, leaving the Cadillac door wide open.

- Dr. Clarence Bridger – Early VW’s, ‘54 MGTD. Clarence loved European cars and had the first Volkswagens I remember seeing. My favorite of Clarence’s cars was a ’54 MGTD roadster, red with a tan leather interior. Boy, did that car smell good!

- Dr. Hutchinson – ‘42 Ford Coupe. Doctor Hutchinson drove that old Black Coupe forever – talk about frugal!

- Ms. Beulah Walton - ’57 Studebaker Scotsman. Ms. Walton, our English Teacher at BHS, got her first car late in life. She managed to get (relatively) safely back and forth between Joseph Hall’s home, where she roomed, and school. Watching her get into Joseph’s garage with that car was something to behold.

- JW Black – early ‘50’s Chevy Coupe, ’53 Chevy Bus. Mr. Black left the keys in the Black Chevy and the school’s activity bus parked outside his home across the street from my home. The Chevy coupe was memorable because it had a split exhaust system (duals) that was a rare thing back then for a 6 cylinder Chevy. Also, the trust we all had was evident from the keys in the ignition switches.

- Bernard Ward – Hemi-powered Desoto sedan. Bernard & Thelma liked the big Desotos but rarely drove over 45 MPH – all that power going to waste!

- Tom Hales – ’56 Chevy Sedan, grocery getter. Tom would take grocery orders for his store and then deliver the groceries to your house in his Black Chevy Sedan. Try that today at the local grocery establishment.

- Richard Bennett – ’51 Ford Sedan. Richard would stop by occasionally in his Dad’s Ford Sedan. Richard loved to demon-strate that the ignition lock was worn out, and he was able to remove the key with the car still running.

- EP Lockamy – ’54 Pontiac Sedan. Edward knew exactly how to make his Dad’s straight 8 Pontiac shift from first gear to second and squeal the tires.

- Glen Cain – ’58 Chevy Impala. Glen had the toughest ride in town! If you could outrun that Impala, you had bragging rights sure enough.

- Jimmy Kelly – Hemi-powered Desoto Sedan. Jimmy loved to hold the gas down in his Dad’s Desoto while going from drive to reverse on the paved pad out behind the high school producing lots of tire squealing. Coach Atkinson would bring that to a halt, until the next opportunity Jimmy had to do it again.

- Coach Atkinson – ’53 Studebaker Commander. Coach had a great looking Studebaker coupe, V8 with overdrive - well ahead of its’ time in design.

- Oakie Walters – ’57 Ford Wagon, ’58 Edsel Wagon. Oakie was quick to offer fellow students a ride home from school. The Ford did not last long and was replaced by the Edsel wagon.

- Jerry Richardson – ’56 Ford Convertible. Jerry’s stylish and immaculate cars were topped only by his style and immaculate dress.

- Harry Van Batten – ’48 Mercury Coupe. One of those “I wish I had that car today” vehicles, rare and good looking.

- Earl Ray Dove – ’51 Ford. Earl Ray loved his Ford, with big fender skirts, dropped in the back, and loud pipes to boot.

- Jimmy Russ – ’59 Chevy Impala. Jimmy had a beautiful Black Impala two door hardtop with a red interior and a 4-speed floor shift transmission – the first I had ever seen.

- Jimmy Tedder - ’56 Chevy. Jimmy had fitted his Chevy V8 with a pump pipe for an exhaust pipe, with no muffler. He would leave football practice, run that V8 wide open in first gear and let off the throttle, making for some real noise.

- Terry Davis –’60 Ford Sunliner Convertible – w/ High Performance 352. Terry had one of the first Ford Factory Performance vehicles and it sounded like it would really fly. I’ll bet he wishes he had it today.

- Barry Bridger – ’61 Ford Starliner, w/High Performance 390. Barry had several tough cars, but this was probably the best. It was red, with “three on the tree” plus overdrive, and a wicked engine.

- Terry Gunter – ’64 Galaxy X/L Convertible, High Performance 406. Another of those really great sounding Ford Factory cars. It looked great too, blue with a white top.

- Ed Sutton. Ed was the local Drivers License Examiner. With a tough demeanor, he was to be feared. I recall the day I went to get my license, he noted my apparent ease with the assigned driving test and commented, “Boy, you have been practicing somewhere”. I did not confess to the dirt road hours Frank and I had spent.

- Warren Hester – Parts Manager at Bridger Motors. Warren was very friendly and endured my many visits and endless questions. He often had suggestions for hop-up parts and even loaned me a manifold to try one time.

- Hutch Kinlaw – Mechanic at Bridger Motors. Hutch was also very cordial. He would let me watch while he tuned an engine. He loved to demonstrate that a well tuned engine would allow you to balance a nickel on edge on a flat surface of the engine while it was idling.

- Bladen County Deputy – High Performance Fords. Broadus Hester was the local deputy and always had the latest Ford Pursuit car, in hopes of being able to track down the local offenders.

- Joe Chandler – Sneak peaks. Joe and I bugged the folks at the Bridger Motor Company for any information available so we might scope out the new Ford models before they were shown publicly. We would ride our bikes to the known hiding places and see what we could see through the cracks in the doors. We would then spread the word.

- Tater Shaw – Atlantic Service Station. Tater ran the Atlantic station on the corner. We all loved to go down there after school, buy a frozen RC and a Moon Pie for 15 cents, sit on a Coke crate and watch the world go by. Tater pumped gas for about 20 cents per gallon while cleaning your windows and running a stream of chatter. Now that is really a time gone by!

- Jabe Frink & Edgar Evans – Multi-Bay Texaco Station. Edger and Jabe had the biggest service station around and built it on service – how unique!

- SG Packer – Etna Station. Charles Packer’s Mom and Dad owned and operated the first discount gas station I ever recall seeing. It is still there today, though with a different brand name.

The automobile tells us a lot about the time we live in. In the ‘50s and ‘60s, it was about style, speed, and muscle. Naturally, our personal lives were going through the same evolution, as the automobile is styled and marketed for the current times. Think back and compare the autos you have driven to the life you were leading at the time. Take a ride down memory lane – it is a pleasant way to spend some time.