They said Californy is the place you oughta be...

"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn) 10/22/2018 at 17:06 • Filed to: None

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The Elmer Thomas family, loaded up and headed for California from Muskogee, Oklahoma in 1939 . Google says it’s about 1,500 miles from Muskogee to Los Angeles, but that’s over modern roads and interstates. I wonder how long it took them to get there, and if they even made it.

These pictures, and thousands of others like them, were taken by photographers of the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , a Depression-era department created as part of the New Deal to combat rural poverty.

The FSA is famous for its small but highly influential photography program, 1935–44, that portrayed the challenges of rural poverty. The photographs in the Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Photograph Collection form an extensive pictorial record of American life between 1935 and 1944. This U.S. government photography project was headed for most of its existence by Roy E. Stryker, who guided the effort in a succession of government agencies: the Resettlement Administration (1935-1937), the Farm Security Administration (1937-1942), and the Office of War Information (1942-1944). The collection also includes photographs acquired from other governmental and non-governmental sources, including the News Bureau at the Offices of Emergency Management (OEM), various branches of the military, and industrial corporations.

In total, the black-and-white portion of the collection consists of about 175,000 black-and-white film negatives, encompassing both negatives that were printed for FSA-OWI use and those that were not printed at the time. Color transparencies also made by the FSA/OWI are available in a separate section of the catalog: FSA/OWI Color Photographs.

Wiki

lone_liberal > ttyymmnn 10/22/2018 at 17:11

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So real Okies from Muskogee?

ttyymmnn > lone_liberal 10/22/2018 at 17:12

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I hadn’t thought of that, but yeah, real Okies from Muskogee.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > ttyymmnn 10/22/2018 at 17:12

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Appears that they did.

I live not far from there. There’s a town north of there that’s Okay.

ttyymmnn > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 10/22/2018 at 17:13

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Well, there ya go. Neat. Thanks.

Quadradeuce > ttyymmnn 10/22/2018 at 17:13

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I have a poem my grandmother wrote detailing their car trip from Philadelphia to the West coast to catch a steamer back to Korea. This would have been in the late 1920s. It would have been a tough trip, but very doable.  I don't think there was any thought that they wouldn't make it.  I'm sure it took FOREVER though.

ttyymmnn > Quadradeuce 10/22/2018 at 17:15

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I wonder how many miles/day you could count on back then. I’m sure it varied wildly from day to day.

fintail > ttyymmnn 10/22/2018 at 17:19

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The car of course is a 28-29 Model A Roadster Pickup, a somewhat desirable model. Looks like an accessory Cadillac style hood orn am ent.

user314 > ttyymmnn 10/22/2018 at 17:30

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!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

Evidently some of them did, yes:

A search for the Thomas family by Jack Fischer of the San Jose Mercury News in August 1989 found that some of the children were living in Bakersfield, California, and some had gone back to Muskogee (Fischer). According to the recollections of Tommy Thomas, the family had originally traveled out to California in 1929, before the Dust Bowl, but had returned to Muskogee in 1938 to start anew (Fischer). Thus, when Russell Lee found the Thomas family in 1939, it was their second migration to California. Later accounts of the family recall that Elmer Thomas died in 1962 at age 73, and Mrs. Thomas (Edna) passed away in 1981 at age 91 (Fischer).

Probably wasn’t in that car though:

It’s roughly 50 miles from Muskogee to Henrietta.

Quadradeuce > ttyymmnn 10/22/2018 at 17:32

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It was over a month long trip , but they also stopped at family along the way. Two weeks minimum of driving a model T, I’m sure.

Here they are leaving Washington DC after visiting family, heading west through the “mountains”.

ttyymmnn > fintail 10/22/2018 at 17:33

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Touch of class. 

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > ttyymmnn 10/22/2018 at 17:36

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I was interested in what became of the kids. There’s actually a dentist in Bakersfield named Frank Thomas, but he’s way too young to be one of these kids (common name).

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Quadradeuce 10/22/2018 at 17:37

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Wow, that’s great.

vondon302 > ttyymmnn 10/22/2018 at 17:39

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If the dog rode on the step board like that.

I don't think he made it.

Chariotoflove > ttyymmnn 10/22/2018 at 17:39

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That dog is none too sure about this plan.

Quadradeuce > ttyymmnn 10/22/2018 at 17:42

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Here’s the car on the trip, which actually looks like a model A?

Here they are when they arrived in Korea. Did they take their car with them? They live d just south of Pyongyang, in a car accessible area.

Deal Killer - Powered by Focus > ttyymmnn 10/22/2018 at 17:44

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Well, assuming you averaged about 30 MPH, for 10 hours a day, it’d take you maybe five days of driving to do the 1,500 from Muskogee to L.A. That’s assuming no major breakdowns or anything. It wouldn’t be a pleasurable drive, to be sure, but better than going by wagon, just 50 years earlier. Of course, you could take the train, but getting most of your possessions there would be tricky and expensive. 

fintail > ttyymmnn 10/22/2018 at 17:44

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Gotta have pride in your machine.

This reminds me of the A Roadster in “Paper Moon” (which also features dust bowl-era migration) , which also had an accessory hood ornament. I’ve always liked the sound of those cars.

SPAMBot - Horse Doctor > ttyymmnn 10/22/2018 at 17:45

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Upon arrival, they purchased a beach house for $300 and the family sold the property in 2017 for $10MM, probably.

*nervous laughter about our current housing market*

fintail > Quadradeuce 10/22/2018 at 17:51

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Yep that appears to be a 31 Model A “slant window” Fordor, I assume a Deluxe model with the sidemount spare.

I think “tin lizzie” might have been an affectionate name for Fords in general, especially 4 cylinder cars.

user314 > Chariotoflove 10/22/2018 at 17:55

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Dogs had not yet discovered the joy of sticking their head out a car’s window.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > ttyymmnn 10/22/2018 at 17:56

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The line in “An Officer and a Gentleman” before the guy goes and hangs himself after getting dumped when he quits Flight School.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 10/22/2018 at 17:56

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Do you chase after any of your own family history?

SPAMBot - Horse Doctor > SPAMBot - Horse Doctor 10/22/2018 at 17:57

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This is meant as humor. I cannot imagine how hard it was for these desperate, great depression stricken families to leave everything they knew in hopes that CA would be a better future.

Chariotoflove > user314 10/22/2018 at 18:03

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This one looks like he’ll end up like the Griswolds’ pupper by Nevada.

interstate366, now In The Industry > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 10/22/2018 at 18:21

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I wonder if he’s known for putting The Big Hurt on people’s mouths.

ttyymmnn > vondon302 10/22/2018 at 18:21

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They weren’t going very fast, and he’s got a tight lead. I bet he made it just fine.

ttyymmnn > fintail 10/22/2018 at 18:27

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“Hurry up, this baby’s got to go tinky-winky.”

“That woman has a bladder the size of a peanut.”

What a great movie. Tatum O’Neal won an Oscar for it. Madeline Kahn was brilliant, too.

ttyymmnn > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 10/22/2018 at 18:31

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Yup.

ttyymmnn > fintail 10/22/2018 at 18:34

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There needs to be a GIF of this.

vicali > ttyymmnn 10/22/2018 at 18:34

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Believe it or not you won’t find it so hot if you ain’t got the do re mi..

Future next gen S2000 owner > ttyymmnn 10/22/2018 at 18:38

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How did they ever make it out of the parking lot without 4wd?? Bring back convertible trucks!

WilliamsSW > interstate366, now In The Industry 10/22/2018 at 19:00

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Well, the White Sox fan in the audience got this, at least.

interstate366, now In The Industry > WilliamsSW 10/22/2018 at 19:27

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I’m actually an Orioles fan. *puts paper bag over h ead *

fintail > ttyymmnn 10/22/2018 at 21:31

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That’s exactly what I was thinking about.  The movie has a huge amount of great atmospheric shots, that’s one of them.  

fintail > ttyymmnn 10/22/2018 at 21:33

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Love it. I’ve had a thing for this movie since I was a kid, it’s might be part of what got me into cars of this era. IMCDB has some good shots of the cars used in the film, that 36 Ford was a real beauty.

I’ve used the “bladder the size of a peanut” line many times on road trips for people who can’t hold it.  One of those movies I can watch at any time and not be tired of it.

fintail > ttyymmnn 10/22/2018 at 23:25

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Here’s another good clip, with some cars in action:

The U-turn scene starting at about 50 seconds has always stuck with me, seeing those cars hustled around like that, quite pleasing . Those were both powerful cars in their day, and they could move along pretty well, seeing the Packard pressed onward is especially cool.

ttyymmnn > fintail 10/22/2018 at 23:39

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That was neat. I liked that little closeup of the start procedure at the very beginning of the film. That was some fine driving, too. I imagine those cars were a handful to drive.

InFierority Complex > ttyymmnn 10/23/2018 at 08:59

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Poor little guy, probably kept up with them for a mile or so.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 10/23/2018 at 09:14

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My uncles have done a lot that I benefit from. You could say I’m the “archivist” for my generation, though. I didn’t grow up in Oklahoma - my family is from Missouri, and Germany before that.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > interstate366, now In The Industry 10/23/2018 at 09:15

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Well done.

fintail > ttyymmnn 10/23/2018 at 09:49

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I think they had some old time stunt drivers for those scenes - especially today, the skill to drive something like that in such a manner has to be very rare. Notice the grinding during gear changes - different tech. The way the Packard slides really amuses me - the Ford was kind of a sporty fast car, the Packard not so much, and the driver really makes it move.

What also amuses me is that these were only ~40 year old cars at the time of filming, different world from a 1978 car today. Something as unusual and   exotic as the depression-era plains wasn’t so far off then.

ttyymmnn > fintail 10/23/2018 at 16:13

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Here’s another shot from this series I thought you might like.

Original

fintail > ttyymmnn 10/23/2018 at 21:20

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Looks like the same kid and truck from the main pic.  Makes me think of The Grapes of Wrath.

Car in the background has the unmistakable headlight lens of a 39 Plym outh.

ttyymmnn > fintail 10/23/2018 at 22:21

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Yes, it’s the same family. Pretty snazzy shoes. But I imagine they wore whatever they could find that fit.