DATE: Monday, November 10, 1997             TAG: 9711080593

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 

                                            LENGTH:   27 lines

1911: A RIDE IN A SEARS

Credit: File photo

The car in this picture, a Sears, might not have been a ``Merry

Oldsmobile,'' but it served the purpose when the John Raleigh

Whitaker family of Norfolk went for a pleasure ride in it in 1911.

Take note of the wheels, uncushioned by rubber tires, that must have

made for bumpy navigation over the mostly unpaved Norfolk area roads

at that time. Even so, the brass lamps of the Sears were impressive,

even if the car had to be cranked to get it going. Interestingly,

none of the Whitakers is wearing the long ``dusters'' that were then

almost obligatory for automobile riders negotiating the dusty

highways. But there was nothing lacking in the elegant attire of

each member of the family, ranging from the derby Whitaker was

sporting to the rakish hat of his somewhat stern-looking wife. From

the smile on the face of the elderly woman in the back seat and the

curious gaze of the little boy between his parents, however, it

looks as though the occupants of the car were out for a jolly, if

bone-shaking, spin.

- George Tucker

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