Take A Test Drive For The Governor


The recently-passed “cash for clunkers” bill isn’t government’s first try at encouraging motorists to trade up. In 1938, as the automobile industry struggled to free itself from the Depression, Gov. Clyde Hoey asked North Carolinians to do their part during National Used Car Exchange Week:

“The accumulation of used cars in the hands of automobile dealers throughout the United States has reached such proportions that it is difficult to sell new cars. . . .

“It would be a very great stimulus to all kinds of business if the people of this State would… discard the old cars which have about served their period of usefulness and replace them with some of the used cars which are available or a new car, as they may see fit.”

One of These Things is Not Like The Other …

Early postcards were often images drawn and colored from photographs of places or events.  You can easily see this when you have two nearly identical postcards from different publishers or colorists.  An advantage to working from a photograph is the ability to idealize the reality of a scene.  Postcard producers frequently removed unsightly utility poles, sidewalks, fire hydrants, etc.  At other times, they would take the liberty of adding flagpoles, parked automobiles, clouds, etc.

Below are two postcards showing the Queen Street Cotton Market in Kinston, N.C.  The two cards have been made from the same photograph, but some of the minor details have been adjusted.  The card at the top retains the utility poles, while the second card has removed entire poles where possible, and only the top half of the poles where it would mean more difficult editing.