Historic Hood River
Sunday Drive
Notes
This is one of my favorite postcards in the collection. It just looks like such a wonderful road to go for a drive in that wonderful automobile.
My guess… maybe a 1910 or so Oldsmobile? Or REO? I’m sure Dale will have a solid ID.
The card appears to be written in Norwegian. The handwriting isn’t so clear, but I was successful with short snippets in Google translate. I think Inga is writing to her family, and at one point says she is glad her father isn’t (or wasn’t) here because there was so much fire. By November I doubt there was much fire burning, but that year there were many significant fires in the Gorge and long periods of dense smoke. You can read about where the fires were burning that summer here.
I like the 1915 Panama Pacific Exposition stamp and cancellation. The Panama Pacific Expo in San Francisco was a big deal in Hood River. Hood River sent representatives down there to promote local fruit, and the local newspapers covered it heavily.
L.E.
Beautiful.
So…this would just be a road in Hood River, since the neither the Columbia Gorge Highway nor the Mt Hood Loop Highway had been built?
Looks like a brand new orchard has been planted.
ArthurB
The 1911 county map has a designation for “auto roads” which I presume refers to roads wide enough and graded well enough for automobiles– like this one. That said, I've seen plenty of video of Model Ts fording creeks and passing on roads a modern auto wouldn't be able to traverse. They had high clearance and low gearing for the era when paved or graded roads were the exception.
Dale Nicol
Arthur, I was just looking at the post card and it's tough to make a 100% call.
It might be a 1910 era Auburn, but without more of a profile picture, its only a guess. Dale
nels
The hats on the three men looks to be a chauffeur driving, maybe a rented cab?
And the other two look like maybe a forest service worker's hat and a bowler on
the gentleman. Looks like they are on some kind of quest.
ArthurB
Nels got me thinking… we saw this auto before. It’s a 1907 Pierce Arrow, the Cloud Cap coach: http://historichoodriver.com/index.php?showimage=1992
nels
So would that narrow down the actual location of this picture postcard for someone who loves to hunt down these locations? Maybe on the way up
to Cloud Cap?
ArthurB
Very likely, nels. And Dale corrected the date– he says this fender is a 1905 Pierce Arrow, not 1907.
Wendell
I don't think this is a road to the Cloud Cap area. Too far to the west for it to be going there.