Right at Home

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Last night, as I passed through Ellicott City, I spotted this 1961 Ford pickup parked across from thePhoenix Emporium. Though unremarkable in terms of restoration, it caught myattention from a historic perspective.
In 1961 a pickup truck just like this would have been afamiliar sight on Main Street.In that pre-Columbia period HoCo was largely an agrarian county and EC was thecenter of commerce. In those days E.T. Clarkes Hardware was next door tothe Phoenix.
When I take a picture of an interesting auto for To2C, I alwaysmake some attempt to find the owner. Since it was parked directly across thestreet from the bar I thought this would be as good a place as any to make an inquiry. I enlisted the aid of Ashley, thebartender, who in turn asked the other patrons at the bar. She came up blank. I spoke with John thebouncer 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 outthat 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 haveto say that its paint job is more than serviceable. It doesn’t look like ashowpiece. It just looks right at home.