MTFCA Forum

Was just given a copy of this little book by E. B.White. It’s a short read but it’s clear he had personal experience with a T.

Nearly ALL Americans alive between 1910 and 1940 had a personal experience with a Model T !

Heck, I was a 60's kid, and my friends and I crossed paths with them all the time, ... in barns,
in the woods, a few people even kept them as usuable cars.

Great read, thanks.

Burger - Actually, you are right, and I think even longer than past 1940! I believe that during WW2, when gasoline rationing was in effect, quite a few previously abandoned Model T's were actually put back into service. I think that's when quite a few Touring's got the rear of the body cut off and replaced with a home-made pickup box, and the same was done with roadsters (turtle deck replaced with pickup box) and the ol' Model T could then be classified as a farm vehicle which enabled the owner to obtain a considerable larger "ration" of gasoline! And no,....I'm not QUITE that old, but I remember my parents talking about gasoline rationing in the '40's,....harold

My grandmother stated that it was all but impossible to purchase a new tire after the war, with the exception of Model T's. Apparently there was a plentiful supply of (then) NOS rubber for them and she recalls that a number of people pulled Ts out of hibernation to get around in for a couple of years. This was in Canton, OH.

It’s a good book about a different place and time. I wonder how our modern young generation could relate to it.
A computerized world has changed things the outlook for a majority of young people. I guess they would think of it as very quaint.

LOL ... yes, nearly all Americans had some kind of experience with a model T in the era from 1910 to 1940 ... and many remember them even later. But ... very few of them were skilled writers. I remember my father (who was a copywriter) saying that the dumbing down of publications started when word processing and layout became common. Then businesses “didn’t need writers” because anyone could do that. Kind of like when the writers in Holywood went on strike for better pay ... and we ended up with all these reality shows. Good writing is always a pleasure to read.

The book has been reprinted, but don't waste your time. Find an original, which isn't hard to do. It's the illustrations that make the book. I have several copies, and they can usually be obtained for around $30. Even the dust jacket is worth having.

I got mine with dust jacket for $2.00 plus tax at the local antique shop......

HaroldRJr wrote: ↑

Sun Jun 16, 2019 5:37 pm

Burger - Actually, you are right, and I think even longer than past 1940! I believe that during WW2, when gasoline rationing was in effect, quite a few previously abandoned Model T's were actually put back into service. I think that's when quite a few Touring's got the rear of the body cut off and replaced with a home-made pickup box, and the same was done with roadsters (turtle deck replaced with pickup box) and the ol' Model T could then be classified as a farm vehicle which enabled the owner to obtain a considerable larger "ration" of gasoline! And no,....I'm not QUITE that old, but I remember my parents talking about gasoline rationing in the '40's,....harold

My unrestored 24 Touring was used on a Texas farm during WW2...and that's the look/era that I'm concentrating on as I revive it. Basically making it look like a 20 year old, farm-used car.

There is more to this story than meets the eye. It was originally written as an essay in 1936, as "Farewell, My Lovely" by Lee Strout White. There was no Lee Strout White, it was a pseudonymous collaboration by Richard L. Strout and E. B. White. The title was later changed to Farewell to Model T and became well known. Later versions were only attributed to E. B. White and it was reprinted in Ford Times in 1953, I think. Strout never really got the credit for co writing it that he probably deserved.
White had more than a passing knowledge of the Model T, though. When he graduated from college in 1922 he and a buddy took off on a cross country journey in a 1922 roadster, ending up in Seattle. A brief account of this trip is covered in a companion essay to Farewell to Model T, called "From Sea to Shining Sea". They are both good quick reads. Some say that this trip was the inspiration for White's well known childrens book, "Stuart Little".
Ralph

When Steve Jelf published a link for this book on the Forum about five years ago, it was the first time I had ever heard of it (thank you Steve!). I read it and was immediately delighted with the style and wit used to describe my favorite car. While searching for information about the article, I found a "Talking book" version on the internet which unfortunately was cut off at 4 minutes.

After checking again this week I see that the full 17 minute long article (read by William Lazar) is currently available at this link: https://youtu.be/Zvt1eJY--94

If you have not yet heard this, you have a treat ahead!

I bought my first copy at a used book store in the 60's for 50 cents. I've found several copies since. I love to read it over and over. It's even been reprinted, but you don't want one of them! There are no illustrations, and that is what makes the book so interesting. If you don't have a copy keep looking. You'll find one someday.

BTW, E.B. White is a well known writer of short stories. I believe there is another book that has a collection of his works.

It's a great little book. J.R.

There's a small handful of books and articles I read over and over. This is one of them.

It's sublime.

BTW, E.B. White is a well known writer of short stories. I believe there is another book that has a collection of his works.

He also wrote Charlotte's Web.

There are many books describing the operation of the Model T. But maybe...just maybe, a new owner needs to read White to understand just what Model T ownership is about before purchasing a car...then asking the forum for advice after the purchase..

"There wasn’t much to base exact knowledge on. The Ford driver flew blind. He didn’t know the temperature of his engine, the speed of his car, the amount of his fuel or the pressure of his oil (the old Ford lubricated itself by what was amiably described as the “splash system”). A speedometer cost money and was an extra, like a windshield-wiper. The dashboard of the early models was bare save for an ignition key; later models, grown effete, boasted an ammeter which pulsated alarmingly with the throbbing of the car. Under the dash was a box of coils, with vibrators which you adjusted, or thought you adjusted. Whatever the driver learned of his motor, he learned not through instruments but through sudden developments. I remember that the timer was one of the vital organs about which there was ample doctrine. When everything else had been checked, you “had a look” at the timer. "

The New Yorker. Farewell, My Lovely! By E. B. White
May 9, 1936

1936 copy of this book on Ebay in Michigan. Item number 254622215523. Price $25. Should do someone a turn!