Last night, as I passed through Ellicott
City , I spotted this 1961 Ford pickup parked across from the
Phoenix Emporium. Though unremarkable in terms of restoration, it caught my
attention from a historic perspective.
In 1961 a pickup truck just like this would have been a
familiar sight on Main Street .
In that pre-Columbia period HoCo was largely an agrarian county and EC was the
center of commerce. In those days E.T. Clarkes Hardware was next door to
the Phoenix .
When I take a picture of an interesting auto for To2C, I always
make some attempt to find the owner. Since it was parked directly across the
street from the bar I thought this would be as good a place as any to make an inquiry. I enlisted the aid of Ashley, the
bartender, who in turn asked the other patrons at the bar. She came up blank. I spoke with John the
bouncer too. He hadn't seen the truck yet and went to the door to check it out.
“Not a very good paint job,” John observed. It turns out
that John is a bit of a car guy himself and we talked cars while I finished my beer.
Considering that the truck is over fifty years old, I’d have
to say that its paint job is more than serviceable. It doesn’t look like a
showpiece. It just looks right at home.
