All those massive yellow brick apartment houses, there were many in Holyoke, some a block away from my Grandmother's on West St.
Hello, It is amazing that more accidents did not happen when all of us little kids found that nice package tray in the rear area of our family sedans. the big back seats of a Buick sedan was good to keep two brothers from having a wrestle mania during the time we had to go somewhere with our mom and dad. It was a huge padded area and we never got hurt. Sure, rough and tumble, but in order for our dad to raise his voice for us to stop, we separated to our respective “corners…” doors and sat still. That sound coming from the front seat was loud and strong. Then as we rolled to our destination, my brother challenged me to get up into the rear package tray under the rear window. The 49 Buick Roadmaster had a large back seat area. The rear window was also large and so was the package tray. No one put packages there as it blocked the rear view, but for some reason, it was called a “package tray.” traded in his 41 Buick Fastback for this huge car... It was perfect for a 5 to 8 year old kid to get up there and lay down. Watching the cars behind us was fun. It was like being in a fishbowl and the kids in the cars following always smiled and waved to us. The weird feeling of being free and out in the air was always there. But, so was the feeling that the glass would pop out and we would go rolling down the trunk area and on to the moving traffic behind us. It was a scary place if that thought stayed in our tiny brains. Jnaki By the time our dad bought a 1953 Buick 4 door sedan, it too, had a large package tray. But, we were now too large to squeeze into the package tray. We also did not push each other around as my size was now becoming equal to my brother and he knew my fury if pushed too far. Size equals might… YRMV
My uncle had a 54 Buick that we used to drive from Brooklyn to Albany in the early 60s that made the trip enjoyable for all. Great cars and times.
The Jalopy Journal
