Papa and the Packard
The Packard automobile was a
popular luxury car in the early to mid 1900’s during a time
when few automobiles were on the road. My granddaddy, Papa
Greer, owned a Packard.
As I remember it, Papa Greer had cut the back half of the
cab off and installed a homemade flatbed. It was probably
the only "truck" of its kind. The front end still had the
fancy ornate appearance of the Packard with its distinctive
radiator cap ornament
Papa Greer used the truck to do his traveling to town and
around the neighborhood but he also used it in the field.
He would connect a plow, the kind primarily used with a
mule, to the back of the truck. He would have his youngest
daughter, Gwen, drive the truck while he walked behind with
the plow, This was how he cultivated his farm.
When Gwen was older she moved to Atlanta and worked in one
of the 10¢ stores. She and another young lady shared an
apartment. She never revealed to her roommate just how
country her family was. She even told the roommate that
they owned a Packard as she grew up.
She brought her roommate to visit my family. My mother was
her older sister. I was about twelve at the time. We got
out the pictures we’d made with our Brownie Kodak 620 box
camera as a kind of entertainment for our guest. I was
enjoying telling about each photo. Not knowing that Gwen
had bragged about having a Packard, when I got to a picture
of Papa Greer sitting on the front bumper of the truck, I
announced, “and here’s Papa and the Packard.”
The roommate looked at Gwen.
Gwen looked down at the floor. Then they both burst
into laughter.