Sure is,,,,, https://www.womansworld.com/gallery/entertainment/marilyn-monroe-early-years-photos-155871
Hello, The look on the face of the little kid is classic. Almost every one that had a dad that allowed this to happen had to have a wonderful dad and liked to be adventurous. For me, it was a good start to liking the aspect of driving a car at such a young age. It was my version of “driving” a car, to keep the naysayers away from the definition of real pedals, steering, being awake, alone driving on any public road… definition. When we moved to our first real house, my brother still ruled the roost, in the house and in the neighborhood. So, he was almost non-existent during the day. He was with his older friends and they had their own agenda, that did not involve little kids tagging along. So, I was satisfied creating my own world of make believe in the yard and in the huge grassy field behind our Westside of Long Beach house. When our dad came home from work, I was usually the only one to greet him. My brother was out and about. So, to make things fun, my dad asked me to meet him on the corner of our block at 5:30 pm the next day. I did not know what was happening, but back in those days, a walk up the block in our Westside of Long Beach neighborhood was fine. No worries… I was sitting on the corner waiting at 5:15 pm and at 5:30, up drives our dad in his 41 Buick Fastback. He told me to get in and stand on the seat, behind the steering wheel. With the rest of the controls under his supervision, I was going to steer the Buick Fastback to our house and park it at the curb. Well at first, it was on the curb. It was with eyes wide open and a death grip on the steering wheel. My dad was confident that I could easily do it watching me play sports and showing some coordination in all activities. So, I started off with some instructions from my dad to steer straight down the middle of the road. It seemed like a long block, but by the time we arrived at our house, I was a nervous wreck. Now, I had to steer it to the curb and park it under the palm trees. At first, my depth perception was not geared to measuring distances versus what was up close. So, I was off a bit. Then was we practiced almost every day/early evening, and I got better. Where was my brother? Still not around until it got dark and dinner time was on the table. But, at least, our dad allowed me to do something different than hanging around my brother and trying to fit into his activities. I had my own goal every day at 5:30 p.m. Jnaki As the weeks went by and I got better, it was becoming a simple task, but still with sweaty palms and the death grip on the steering wheel. Then our dad came home with a big black 1949 Buick Roadmaster. But, he still allowed me to steer it back to our house in “his” new car. It was different, but, now I was experienced and the vise grip lessened somewhat with the new car experience. The whole process stopped because my mom was wondering where her little boy was running off to at 5:15 p.m. every day. So, one day in late 1949, she saw a black Buick Roadmaster pulling up to the curb under the palm trees with a happy, smiling little kid steering the huge sedan. My dad was also happy that I was able to now park it close to the curb and not hit it at all. But, my mom was just fuming at the sight of me doing such a dangerous thing. So, she gave my dad some choice words and that put a stop to the 5:30 p.m. daily drives back to our curb parking spot for me. I thank my dad for taking me on that fun and exciting journey at such a young age. No, he did not favor me over my brother. My brother was just an independent kid from age 1 and was usually off in his own world. I was glad that I got the chance to steer the big Buick. I am sure that set the stage for my needs in wanting to drive all over So Cal and the rest of California when I was able to get my license and first/second hot rod cars. YRMV
The Jalopy Journal
