Cars and People and Camping Trips

Our sister Jane, two years old, 19 St. Charles Place, Shrewbury, MO, photo taken in 1957. She is wearing Dad's socks and vertical and horizontal stripes, but no big hat!

Either going or coming from a jeep ride in the snow, House on South National, Springfield, 1969? It looks like John David and Edward are in the back. And, from the tire tracks, it looks like they are coming from a jeep ride. This was back before global warming when the big snows happened in December, not March or April.

Backyard camping trip, around 1956, Shrewsbury, MO. 7536 Nottingham Avenue. My grandma and grandpa owned a large acreage in Shrewsbury, they gave a bunch of land to the city for a park and divided up the rest into lots. My Mom and Dad got a lot and built a house on it. The backyard of this house backed up to the park. This is a photo of me and a tent in the backyard of the house on Nottingham.

1930 Model A Ford, John and Ed are second and fourth. I don't know who the other two boys are. This was taken in Shrewsbury, MO, about 1963 or 1964. The foundation is from the Summerhouse which was torn down to build a new garage. The boy sitting on the lawn chair is Skipper Russell.

My Dad took many, many color slides in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. In the late 1960s and 1970s he took many, many B&W photographs. Brother Tom dropped off at the house a huge box full of negatives and contact sheets. My intentions are to scan all the negatives, burn them to CDs and send them out to my brothers and sisters. I await my sister Jane's delivery of the color slides so I can do the same with them. Following are a few negatives I scanned last night while I was learning how to use the scanner.
Leroy Laine in front of garage at 1822 South National. Leroy was a friend of Bob's who was stationed with him in Vietnam. He lived in Rogers Arkansas. He was a helicopter pilot who flew "loaches". He drove and flew fast. When I was in Germany, he flew a medevac to the hospital where I worked, he was as surprised to see me as I was him. We flew together quite a bit on medevac orientation flights. It was different then than it is now.

My 1967 Truimph Spitfire. I literally drove the wheels off this car. I bought it from McAllister VW when it was on the corner of Benton and Trafficway in 1972 (?) for $1100.00. I got a soft top and a hard top. Note the "Celebrate Life" sticker on the deck lid. I am standing this way on purpose, the rear taillight lenses were engineered in such a manner that anyone who walked behind the car would naturally reach out and grab ahold of one for balance, breaking it off. They were not a dealer stock item and had to be ordered. For that matter, there was no Triumph dealership in Springfield. This Spitfire had 2 carburetors. A friend had a MGB, and we would frequently drive to Branson and around on road trips. This car is a classic example of why the British didn't make computers: they never figured out how to make them leak oil.

Joan sitting on the hood of Leroy's XKE. This view is looking at the houses that used to be on the west side of National, south of Sunshine. The house on the right is BJ Marsh's home. The other house has been torn down and is now his parking lot. Joan was born in 1964, I think this photo was taken in 1969.
John David Lee inspecting the damage done to the front of the 1965 Ford Country Squire Station Wagon. Bob had gone to the Fox Theater on the Square on a date and parked the wagon on Boonville Hill. He and Lynn went into the theater, the car jumped out of gear, it was an automatic, the car rolled down the hill and crashed into another car.

Leroy Laine's XKE and the Volkswagen convertible with all the "Celebrate Life" stickers on it. This was taken in the front yard of 1822 South National, located on the South East corner of National and Sunshine. Photo was taken about 1970? which is now a parking garage for St. John's Hospital. I think that is John David washing the right rear side of the XKE. The other boy may be Dennis Wilson, but I am not sure. There is even a "Celebrate Life" sticker on the VW's hubcap.

Dodge Truck stuck in the mud. This is the truck John wrecked by crashing into the bridge railing. I also came across photos of the bridge being built. A photo of the wrecked truck in this post of John's.

Nurnberg, Germany, 1972. Citroen 2CV. Oh yeah.