1952 | My First Car - 1948 4-door Ford

I got my driver's license when I was 15 years old (1952), and my brother Charlie found me a 1948 4-door Ford. He got a local paint shop to paint it sold black. Dad made arrangements with the bank to let me borrow $325.00. I had to go the People's Bank & Trust Co. and talk to the Bank President, Mr. CC Eason. At the time, I didn't know dad had already discussed the loan with Mr. Eason, so I felt like I really had to make my case on how I would pay this loan back. I was in the 10th grade, at Tupelo High School and working a full-time job as an announcer/DJ for WTUP radio in Tupelo. I explained that i needed a care to get me from Verona to school and to work at the radio station. I shared that I was making 75 cents an hour (which was great money in the 50's since gas was on 19 to 26 cents per gallon), and I would be able to pay the loan back. Mr. Eason approved the loan! 

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I had the sharpest car in town! I had an upholstery shop completely redo the inside of my care. I had a red dashboard, red metal window frames, and my seat covers were red, white and black with a solid black headliner. I had two radio speakers embedded on each side of the back seat and a single speaker that could be taken outside to place on the fender or top of the car. My friends and I would gather to dance outside on a car lot, the airport road (there were no night flights back then, so the airport was closed) or a dead in street - what fun we had!