A Tale of Two Trucks
‘Mac’ and ‘Little Red’ played an important part in this couple’s life’s work
Apopular song in the ’90s was “Mercury Blues,” which included a line that read, “crazy ’bout a Mercury.” Well, our Mercury was not for “cruisin’ down the road!” My husband Roy bought our 1950 one-ton Mercury truck for use on the farm. “Mac” was green with black fenders and was used to haul grain, cattle, pigs, even horses. It also became our “courting” truck, as it was the only vehicle available.
When we left the farm in 1960, the Mercury was sold but not forgotten. As our 50th wedding anniversary approached decades later, Roy wanted to find the Merc. It was discovered abandoned in the tall grass behind a shed in a little village just ten miles from home. There was no doubt it was our Merc—it still had the fender dent I had put there years before—a dent that had made me very unpopular at the time. Over the course of two years, we bought and restored our old courting truck for our 50th wedding anniversary in 2001.
The Mercury sat on our driveway after that for several years until my cousin, visiting from Australia, asked if it was for sale. Several months later, the price was agreed upon, all the necessary paper work and permits were obtained and the Mercury was bound for Australia. After a long carrier ride across the Prairies from Neepawa through the mountains to Vancouver and followed by an ocean voyage, “Mac” is now happily retired in Australia.
Then there was “Little Red,” a 1965 Ford Econoline, purchased in 1966 for the purpose of using it in the auction business, as Roy was an auctioneer. Roy fashioned a plywood desk to fit over the steering wheel so the cashier could sit in comfort while taking money during a sale. Later, when we opened our furniture store in Neepawa, “Little Red” was used as a delivery truck until it, too, was retired in 2002.
“Little Red” sat on the driveway, occasionally used in hauling leaves or garden cleanup in spring and fall. When Roy was no longer able to drive it, we looked for a buyer who would appreciate its unique qualities and give it a good home. In September, 2016, after being in the family for 50 years, “Little Red” has indeed found a new owner who plans to give it a new lease on life and display it in a show room right here in Manitoba.
Roy and I celebrated our 65th wedding anniversary August 11, 2016. Both “Mac” and “Little Red” may just have been vehicles, but they sure played an important role in our life’s work. n