Rememebrances of Kelliher
by: Adolph Link
North Beltrami Heritage Center newsletter September 2008
No story about Kelliher and its people would be complete without a section on the Model T Fords and their part in these pioneer days. At one time or another most people owned one. The streets in town were lined with the black touring cars on Saturday nights when the farmers came to town, and the town and farm dumps soon had black bodies and fenders of cars that were deceased. Model T Ford engines started to show up on saw rigs, hammer mills and early versions of snow sleds. Some old disabled Fords were cannibalized for parts to keep others running.
Our family was never the first to get a new item, and I recall that we bought our first car in 1928. It was a used 1924 black touring car without side curtains. A couple of years after we upgraded by junking the old touring body and having a used grayish blue sedan body mounted on the old chassis.
When we got our car we joined the masses that fought to keep their Fords running. Starting them in cold weather was quite a challenge, and a number of drivers nursed broken arms when they tried to crank the beast with the spark advanced too far.
During chilly, but not extremely cold weather, we developed a good method that saved a lot of cranking. Our house was on one low hill and our barn was on an adjoining one. We would park the car behind the house and push it down the hill when we were ready to start it. One of the pushers would jump in as the car started. With their multiple disc clutches, Fords in neutral would run almost as if in gear until the oil warmed up. During cold weather it was almost essential to jack up one back wheel when cranking a Ford and let it run that way until it warmed up. during chilly weather it was important that one person sit in the car ready to apply the brake when it started, or that the car be blocked with chocks, as when it started it could literally run over the person cranking it.
One frosty morning Dad gave the car its customary push and ran along side. It started full throttle and got away from him. He called and the whole family started running after it. It headed uphill toward the barn and it appeared that it would crash into it. We all stopped to watch. The front wheel hit a hole just before colliding with one of the barn doors, and the car turned abruptly and headed for our granary which was mounted on pole skids. When one of the front wheels ran over the pole skid it turned again and the car was now headed down hill toward the house and straight at the chassis of a farm wagon sitting in its way. This particular wagon had an oak four by four replacement tongue that was straddled by the on coming car, and it served as a perfect brake as the front of the car slid to a stop off the ground, elevated on the heavy tongue. By this time the oil was warmed up enough that the clutch was working fine and the engine chugged away as we came to claim the car. It had completed almost a full circle with family thrills all along the way.
On Colder days, starting a car was even more of a challenge. Some people would drain the oil, heat it on top of the kitchen stove and pour the hot oil back before trying to start it. Radiators would be drained and filled with hot water. Tea kettles of boiling water, by the thousands, were poured over the manifolds of cars about to be cranked. Sometimes a farmer would hitch a team of horses to a log chain and drag the car in gear until it started. But the Link family developed its own sure fire sever cold solution. We would build a fire in a washtub and push it under the transmission of the cold car for fifteen or twenty minutes. No, we didn't burn up any cars or farm building but upon reflecting about this starting technique, I realize that it surely wouldn't pass a fire underwriter's test.
Tire changing and repair was a part of driving a car then. Earlier tires were of the clincher type, mounted directly on the car wheels, so changing a tire really meant the whole bit. Tire patch kits and tire boots were volume items in auto departments and stores. I remember one trip to Bemidji, a round trip distance of one hundred miles, when we had six flats on the way.
Model T Fords had wooden front floor boards that were removable to service the band driven transmission. The boards often broke and were discarded thus leaving the lower front open. I mean that there was no escape from the cold drafts or from the muddy water from pot holes in the gravel and dirt roads.
During the mid 1920s new Ford sold for as little as $400.00. Used cars were often in the $100.00 range, the amount we paid for our first car in 1928. For a number of years car salesmen had Dad pegged as a new car prospect. They brought different cars and offered trial rides. Often Dad would think of some errand that he wanted to take care of and would use the car try out for that purpose. Dad told one salesman that he didn't need a different car, that he already had a good one. The salesman knowing about the missing front floor boards, replied; "You have a kiddy car. All you need to do is put your feet through the floor boards and push." In 1937, after many salesmen gave up, he did purchase a new Ford V-8.
by: Adolph Link
North Beltrami Heritage Center newsletter September 2008
No story about Kelliher and its people would be complete without a section on the Model T Fords and their part in these pioneer days. At one time or another most people owned one. The streets in town were lined with the black touring cars on Saturday nights when the farmers came to town, and the town and farm dumps soon had black bodies and fenders of cars that were deceased. Model T Ford engines started to show up on saw rigs, hammer mills and early versions of snow sleds. Some old disabled Fords were cannibalized for parts to keep others running.
Our family was never the first to get a new item, and I recall that we bought our first car in 1928. It was a used 1924 black touring car without side curtains. A couple of years after we upgraded by junking the old touring body and having a used grayish blue sedan body mounted on the old chassis.
When we got our car we joined the masses that fought to keep their Fords running. Starting them in cold weather was quite a challenge, and a number of drivers nursed broken arms when they tried to crank the beast with the spark advanced too far.
During chilly, but not extremely cold weather, we developed a good method that saved a lot of cranking. Our house was on one low hill and our barn was on an adjoining one. We would park the car behind the house and push it down the hill when we were ready to start it. One of the pushers would jump in as the car started. With their multiple disc clutches, Fords in neutral would run almost as if in gear until the oil warmed up. During cold weather it was almost essential to jack up one back wheel when cranking a Ford and let it run that way until it warmed up. during chilly weather it was important that one person sit in the car ready to apply the brake when it started, or that the car be blocked with chocks, as when it started it could literally run over the person cranking it.
One frosty morning Dad gave the car its customary push and ran along side. It started full throttle and got away from him. He called and the whole family started running after it. It headed uphill toward the barn and it appeared that it would crash into it. We all stopped to watch. The front wheel hit a hole just before colliding with one of the barn doors, and the car turned abruptly and headed for our granary which was mounted on pole skids. When one of the front wheels ran over the pole skid it turned again and the car was now headed down hill toward the house and straight at the chassis of a farm wagon sitting in its way. This particular wagon had an oak four by four replacement tongue that was straddled by the on coming car, and it served as a perfect brake as the front of the car slid to a stop off the ground, elevated on the heavy tongue. By this time the oil was warmed up enough that the clutch was working fine and the engine chugged away as we came to claim the car. It had completed almost a full circle with family thrills all along the way.
On Colder days, starting a car was even more of a challenge. Some people would drain the oil, heat it on top of the kitchen stove and pour the hot oil back before trying to start it. Radiators would be drained and filled with hot water. Tea kettles of boiling water, by the thousands, were poured over the manifolds of cars about to be cranked. Sometimes a farmer would hitch a team of horses to a log chain and drag the car in gear until it started. But the Link family developed its own sure fire sever cold solution. We would build a fire in a washtub and push it under the transmission of the cold car for fifteen or twenty minutes. No, we didn't burn up any cars or farm building but upon reflecting about this starting technique, I realize that it surely wouldn't pass a fire underwriter's test.
Tire changing and repair was a part of driving a car then. Earlier tires were of the clincher type, mounted directly on the car wheels, so changing a tire really meant the whole bit. Tire patch kits and tire boots were volume items in auto departments and stores. I remember one trip to Bemidji, a round trip distance of one hundred miles, when we had six flats on the way.
Model T Fords had wooden front floor boards that were removable to service the band driven transmission. The boards often broke and were discarded thus leaving the lower front open. I mean that there was no escape from the cold drafts or from the muddy water from pot holes in the gravel and dirt roads.
During the mid 1920s new Ford sold for as little as $400.00. Used cars were often in the $100.00 range, the amount we paid for our first car in 1928. For a number of years car salesmen had Dad pegged as a new car prospect. They brought different cars and offered trial rides. Often Dad would think of some errand that he wanted to take care of and would use the car try out for that purpose. Dad told one salesman that he didn't need a different car, that he already had a good one. The salesman knowing about the missing front floor boards, replied; "You have a kiddy car. All you need to do is put your feet through the floor boards and push." In 1937, after many salesmen gave up, he did purchase a new Ford V-8.
