Women and children gathered beside a vintage blue truck

Share

Parked at the center of this scene is a vintage blue truck, with women and children gathered around its open side as if for a family outing or a community occasion. Automobiles were still a novelty for many rural and small-town households in the early decades of the twentieth century, so a truck like this often served double duty as transportation and as a source of pride. Photographs that place people beside their vehicles show how quickly the machine became part of daily life, carrying goods, neighbors, and whole households along unpaved roads.

More from the Automobiles collection

Snapshots of the Past helps heritage brands, museums, historians and storytellers tell stories with history: historic prints, image licensing and historical storytelling drawn from more than 25 years of research and curation.