Memories of an Oklahoma Farm Boy

1910 to 1940

I don't remember when my dad, Leon Chappell, didn't have a car, but when he was courtin' mom, Merl Hamilton, his means of transportation was a team of horses and a buggy. When they went to Arnett, OK to get married it was a very cold December 9, 1919.

Uncle Dale Black, dad's cousin and Aunt Edith, Mom’s sister, took them to the Ellis County court house to be married. They went in an open touring car and mom said she almost froze to death. Grandpa Harve Hamilton was also there as he had to give his consent for mom's marriage, since she was only 15 years old. They had blankets to spread over their laps to keep them warm. It was about 35 mile each way so was a long round trip for one day. They may have stayed at Uncle John Black's home over night each way as he lived about 15 miles from Arnett.

Dad was farming when he and mom first married, but with the coming of automobiles and the development of the oil industry, dad's interest was diverted. There were cousins by the name of Childers who were doing well working for Phillips Petroleum Co. in Borger, TX. Dad decided to join them and signed on with Phillips as a welder. While there dad bought what was probably the largest and perhaps the most expensive car available. It was a four door Studebaker and the only car we had for years which had paint on it. It was a shiny brown with black trim. There was a problem which developed in the oil industry and dad was laid off after only about a year and he returned to Oklahoma and farming. 

Merl Hamilton, 1919

He probably lost the Studebaker or sold it to someone else.

Dad had two or three Model T's during the next few years. They were always coups with only one seat. They never looked like they had been painted. There were three foot pedals rather than the two which later cars had for the clutch and brake. The left pedal was for low gear. It had to be held down until the car reached a speed where it could be shifted into high. The center pedal was reverse (and often the brake, as it seemed the brake would never work). The right pedal was supposed to be the brake. There was also a lever by the drivers left leg which may have been an emergency brake, but it seems it had something to do with shifting into high gear. There was no accelerator pedal, but on the steering wheel were two levers, one for acceleration, on the right, and spark, on the left. There was no electric starter so dad would set the spark lever, turn on the key and go to the crank which always hung from the front of the car just below the radiator. The choke was also outside in front of the car and protruded through the radiator, so dad could pull the choke to get more gasoline into the carburetor while he cranked. The first cars did not have a battery but magnetos which would produce a spark when the engine was turned over. There were no gauges on the dashboard inside the car. Some car owners would purchase a radiator cap which had a thermometer affixed to the top so the engine temperature could be observed. The Model T's gas tank was under the seat and when we filled up with gas, the seat would have to be removed. The later Model A had the gas tank in front of the dashboard and dad would insert a stick into the tank to find how much gasoline he had.

The "shiny new Studebaker"

Under perfect conditions the car could average between 20 and 30 miles an hour. When going to grandpa Chappell's house it always took an hour or a little more. We traveled on what was called the old "Trunk Line" which passed through the south edge of the Oklahoma Panhandle through Ivanhoe (moved to railroad and became Follett TX) and Logan OK. When we turned south toward Darrouzett, TX there was Sunset and Capitol Hill then grandpa's house.

With four kids, there was a problem as to how all would fit in a single seat car. My sister, Joan, who was 4 years older than I, would sit between dad and mom. L. E., the baby, would sit in mom's lap but that left Dessie and myself to find some other place to fit in. From the time I was 3 or 4, we would sit facing each other on the shelf up behind the seat. Kids today might have problems being in that cramped up position for an hour or more, but I don't remember it as being so bad--that's just the way things were. Problems did develop though when I became too tall to sit up straight in the limited room we had. So dad took the trunk lid off and Dessie and I would ride in the trunk if the weather permitted.

There were no paved roads, and not even graveled roads where we lived, so rain and muddy roads were always a problem. Fortunately the Model T set up high enough it could still move forward in ruts almost a foot deep. One evening when dad quit work we decided to go to grandpa Hamilton's home which was about 10 miles away. The distance was not the problem, but it had rained that day and the road to their house ran through a part of Texas where there were no roads, only a trail through a pasture. Before we had gotten two miles on the trail, we came to a "draw" with a fairly steep hill on the other side. Dad forded the stream, caused by the resent rain, and started up the hill. About half way up the Model T stopped. Dad backed back down and mom and we kids got out of the car to lighten the load. When he tried the hill the second time, the engine died about halfway up the hill. This was because the engine and gas tank were nearly on the same level, and with no fuel pump, the car simply couldn't get enough gas. Dad turned the car around and tried to back up the hill, a practice which often worked when we couldn't go forward. Well, that didn't work either, so after several minutes of repeated tries, we went back to uncle Wayne Piersall's house and spent the rest of the night. 

Mary Ellen Hamilton, Joan & Virgle Chappell, Marjorie Chappell
Note: Temp gauge on radiator cap, disk wheels

After the Model T's, dad went to Chevrolet's. They were usually two or four door, two seated cars, so everyone had a place to sit. Though the cars were not as old at the time as many cars we drive today, they would begin falling apart very soon. Seldom or never would all the upholstery be intact. There was often a broken glass from someone slamming a door too hard. It had an electric started, if the battery was strong enough, if not it could still be cranked like the old Model T. A problem with cranking was there was no manual spark setting and often the engine would "kick" and could result in a broken arm or at least skinned knuckles.

During the winter the radiator would be drained each night, or sometimes the water would be replaced by kerosene to keep it from freezing. After one cold night dad tried to start the car but it continued to refuse his efforts. Finally he built a fire under the engine to heat the oil. The oil did heat and soon an explosion sent the dip stick over our two story house. Fortunately, the car did not catch fire. One added benefit of the Chevrolet was the family radio.

There was no radio in the car but it could be driven next to a window of the house and leads run from the car's battery to the radio inside the house where we could listen to Amos & Andy or The Grand Ole Opry at night. We had to be limited on use of the radio though because dad didn't want to run the car battery down and the car wouldn't start the next day.

A radio in the car was not so important in those days. Some of my best memories are when we would all be in the car for an hour or more when going to one of the grandparent's home which was nearly every Sunday. My older sister and I would sing together all the way. I don't remember dad or mom joining in very much, but they both loved to sing as well. Dad would sing songs like "It's a Long Way to Tipperary(sp)", "Redwing" or about an Indian attack at "Haunted Falls" where a mother and her three babies were killed. Joan and I would sing true western songs like "The Last Roundup", "When the Work's All Done This Fall" and others. There were also songs remembering babies or children who had been kidnapped and/or murdered: "Marion Parker" and "Little Mary Phagen" were two of them. When mom sang, it was usually a "church" song.

I'm not saying I want to go back to the good ole days, but in many ways life was much more enjoyable and less stressful then than now.