Mabel's Car

Reprinted from the Ft. Pierce (FL) newspaper, The Tribune, Wheels and Keels section
Saturday, January 15, 2000

Headline: 1928 Model A Ford gets local “soda-jerk” to work

MY FIRST CAR by Mabel Roberts Ray

Upon graduating from high school in Fort Pierce, Florida in 1942, I started to work for Southern Bell Telephone Company as a telephone operator. My only mode of transportation was a bicycle.

Being from a family of eight children, my dad would only let us drive his nine-passenger Buick up and down the driveway, which didn’t teach me too much. I bought a 1928 Model-A Ford from a friend of my kid brother for $50 to learn to drive. My brother worked after school until 70:00 p.m. as a “Soda-jerk” at Higgs Drive-in, a famous gathering for teenagers. I always picked him up when he got off work.

One night as I was on my way, in a drizzling rain, I saw a Highway Patrol car behind me with light on and his siren blaring so I pulled over to let him pass. To my surprise he pulled up behind me. My first thought was “how could I be speeding in a Model A?” When he came to my car he said, “Young lady, what are you doing with your license plate wrapped up?” Thinking he was kidding, or perhaps flirting, which he wasn’t, darn it, I told him it was brand new and I didn’t want to expose it to Florida climate. He told me to get out of my car and take a look. Sure enough it was wrapped in brown wrapping paper and masking tape. I said “Oh my gosh, I know who did this.” Sensing my sincerity, he let me go. At work there were five of us girls always pulling tricks on each other but this one topped them all!