A few weekends back I was wandering through DogStar books in Lancaster, PA when I came across this gem. My wife loves looking through old book stores and truth be told so do I in the hopes of finding something exactly like this Rand McNally Elf Book titled My Truck Book.
Believe me I had to work to find this book. I probably shifted through a hundred My Golden Books and Elf Book titles before finding this solitary copy. I didn’t even have to take it out it’s protective cover before deciding it should come home to my collection.
Published in 1948 this book is jammed full of iconic postwar truck designs from nearly every manufacturer of the time including lesser acknowledge brands such as Studebaker but sadly omitting the classic Brockway. I won’t hold it against illustrator Dorthy Grider as her work in other children’s books speaks for itself.
Anyway, it would figure that an Autocar would pop in this book and since we are talking about the late 40’s you know it can be none other than the stylish U-Model.
Author E.C. Reichart, who also penned the Elf Book title Freight Trains, describe the illustration as such.
My, this is a big truck! In the long tank it carries gasoline to the gasoline stations. The gasoline is run through a hose from the truck into a tank under the ground. The station man can then pump it out into cars. Every gasoline truck has a chain dragging behind it to prevent electricity causing it to catch on fire. You have to be a careful driver to drive a big gasoline truck.
And there you have it. With that knowledge you can now pass that HAZMAT portion of your CDL exam. Flipping through the book there are a few other trucks that could pass for an Autocar but this is the prime example. There really is no debate about it. The truck even appears on the cover.
Do you have any Autocar you would like to see featured on Autocar Mondays? Email eric@dailydieseldose.com today!