Remember Grandpa Pearson’s Reo? He had it in the garage when they lived behind the Lutheran church in Ceresco. Then he stored it in the garage of their new red brick house. It was usually under a tarp, but once in a while we’d get to see it or sit in it. It had been damaged in a fire, so we were usually cautioned not to mess with it because we’d get dirty.
I was scanning some of Grandpa’s old photos and I came across some pictures of the Reo and an article about it.
They got it running for Ceresco’s 50th Anniversary Parade in 1937:
That’s Herman in the front seat, with his nephew Leroy next to him. Thelma and Vivian are in the back (click on the photos to enlarge them).
The photo album also had a newspaper clipping from 1979 (written by Marcia Pearson) about when Grandpa and Grandma finally sold the vehicle. If you have time to download it (it’s 7.9MB), you can read the whole clipping.
But here are a few important excerpts from the article:
At the farewell last Monday in Herman and Thelma Pearson’s driveway in Ceresco, three generations of Pearsons recalled stories about the old car. Then they helped load the 1909, 2-cylinder, 18 hp Reo onto a trailer for the first leg of its trip to Texas. It had been in the family for 70 years.The antique car was sold to Arrdeen Vaughan of Alvarado, Texas, a funeral car leaser who collects specialty automobiles as a personal hobby. He said, “I’ve been waiting ten years to get a Reo and I’m real pleased to have it.”The Reo did its first performance in 1909 for Thelma Pearson’s grandfather, E. A. Frasier of rural Ashland. Frasier bought it new from a Hastings car dealer. When her grandfather bought a Hudson he kept the Reo in a barn from 1926 until about 1936. Then he gave it to Herman and Thelma. “He asked that we keep it in the family at least until all his generation had passed on,” explains Pearson, who honored that request and did it some years better.
So it was really Grandma’s car! I didn’t know that!
Here’s a photo of the car that was included in the news article:
I wondered if this old car was still around, so I Googled “Arrdeen Vaughan”. Yes, he’s still around, and his shed full of antiques was featured on an episode of “American Pickers” back in 2011! The name of the episode is “Frank’s Pacemaker” and you can download it from iTunes for $1.99. So I bought it and caught some screen-shots on my iPad (again, click on the photos to see the enlarged versions).
At about the 3:10 mark, they walk into the Vaughan Trading Company shed in Alvarado, Texas. There are at least four cars visible (very briefly), and I believe one of them is probably Grandpa’s Reo.
Here’s a shot when they first walk into the shed. Arrdeen Vaughan is the older gentleman on the left. Is that the Reo in the background?
In another frame we get a better view of it (the car on the left):
If that’s it, it looks like the engine bonnet and headlights are gone. But the shape of the fenders and the windshield look right. Note the red paint – does anyone remember if it was originally a red car? I remember it as having no paint left at all. Notice that there’s another cream-colored car on the extreme left edge of the frame, but I don’t think it’s a Reo.
Finally, there’s a fourth vehicle that’s visible off to the right of the Model T. I don’t think this one is it either, but it’s hard to tell.
Maybe none of these are Grandpa’s Reo. But still, isn’t i
t great what you can find online?
t great what you can find online?
Here’s an article that ran in a Texas newspaper when this episode was filmed.
Alvarado is not too far from Dallas. I might have to visit there someday.
UPDATE 4/27/2013: Okay, after looking at these screenshots more closely, I think the two red cars next to each other are both Model T’s.
