A Few Words About That Taxi
After reading the article “A Few Words About This Picture” (by Bobby Lowich, Fall 1992), I am left to wonder if old photographs can be trusted. Experience, however, has taught me that they do tell the truth, and that problems arise from interpretation. This is an interesting article, but I think the photo needs further study.
The author asserts that the vehicle is “a [Model T] Ford from the radiator to the steering wheel.” This is simply not the case. There are no Model T parts visible at the front end or anywhere else on this fine-looking machine. The quirky characteristics of the Model T in both appearance and operation are not soon forgotten, and they are not found here.
Following are some of the obvious differences: The Ford was equipped with a single transverse mounted spring in the front and another in the rear; this vehicle has frame horns with fore-and-aft mounted semi-elliptic springs both front and rear. The wheels appear larger and stockier than the Ford’s, and have six mounting lugs instead of the Ford’s four. Missing from beneath the car is the distinctive shape of the Model T’s one-piece transmission housing and engine pan. And there is no mistaking a Model T’s steering wheel, whose spokes and hub protrude above the rim toward the driver. This is not one.
Aside from these points there is the intriguing question why anyone would cobble together a Ford taxi when just such a car was marketed by Ford. In 1918 it was sold for the amazingly low price of $595. That’s a fraction of the price quoted by the author for a pieced-together Ford taxi.
One final comment concerns the assumption that the tires were painted for the photo session. I think not. Tire casings have not always been black, and in the era of this taxi many were gray—including the tread. I am inclined to think that what we see in the photo is not a hasty paint job but dirt on light gray or white tires.
William E. Worthington, Jr.
Museum Specialist
National Museum of American History
Smithsonian Institution
Washington, D.C.
