James and Marjorie Melton in 1903 Stanley Steamer
Oh my goodness, one never
knows where Melton-related bits will turn up. The other night, I was watching “American Pickers” on the
History Channel. (In case you don’t know, it’s about two guys who, as the website
says: “…are
on a mission to recycle America, even if it means diving into countless piles
of grimy junk or getting chased off a gun-wielding homeowner’s land. Hitting
back roads from coast to coast, the two men earn a living by restoring
forgotten relics to their former glory, transforming one person’s trash into
another’s treasure…”)
More often than not, the
treasures they find have to do with automobiliana—from old gas station signs to
vintage oil cans and car parts.
Last Wednesday night, in
amongst the stuff of interest to pickers Mike and Frank was a Stanley Steamer
pressure gauge (as I recall). There followed a very brief ‘history lesson’
about Stanley Steamers and the Stanley Brothers. By way of illustration of
Stanley Steamer cars, there were two photographs shown: One was of a Stanley in front of our
instantly recognizable Weston, Connecticut garage. The other was of my parents
waving from a 1903 Stanley Steamer!!! (The photo above.) Each photo was on the screen for a just few seconds, but
they jumped out at me instantly. Of course, the people were not identified,
just the cars.
