This is not the pickup only like it and a different color and not customized
The Old Pickup and the Wild Ride to Como
One evening about dark a neighbor and also a cousin by the name of James Dale came by our farm walking. He was terribly upset and explained that his old pickup had quit on him down the road toward Gleason. It was at the southwest corner of Granddaddy=s farm in a little hollow. The area had trees on both sides of the road and James had tried to get the old pickup started but could not. This was about 1949 or 1950 while we were going to school at Liberty IV.
James was so put out by the pickup not starting that he said he would give it to anyone who could get it started. James left after a while on his way walking home. He lived about two miles away close to the Old Liberty IV school.
My brother, J. C. and I were gripped with passion as we just knew that we were going to be the next owners of the old International pickup. We, along with the Barlow boys, James Travis and R. L. walked down to where the pickup was parked just barely of the road and thought at first we would not be able to start the pickup. We pushed it for a ways and tried to start it but had no luck. The battery was down and did not have enough power to start.
After some point while trying to start the pickup we decided we would push it faster and let out on the clutch and maybe it would start. Three of us pushed as fast as we could and the forth one was at the controls. When we were going as fast as we could push the one at the controls had it in gear and let out on the clutch and it started. What a joy to know that we were the owners of a pickup, James had said if anyone could get it started they could have it.
By the time we got the pickup started it was dark. At first we didn=t know what to do. The pickup was running and we didn=t know where to go. We tried to turn on the lights but there was not enough power in the battery for the lights to work. Not to be defeated by this we went and got two flashlights to use to drive.
We started out down the road with two of us standing in the bed of the pickup shining the lights down in front of the truck. The lights barely shined to the road but it was enough to keep from going in the ditch. We had not intended to drive very far but before it was over we had driven to Como which was three miles away. We didn=t know if the truck would run until we got back but I guess the uncertainty of the truck was not enough to cause us to give up the fun of driving. We were about 13 or 14 years old with R. L. being a couple of years younger.
When we got to Como it was probably about 9 o=clock. If you have ever been in Como at 9 o=clock you know that it is deserted. There was not a soul around so we didn=t stay long. We started back with a new crew in the cab and a new crew standing up in the back of the pickup holding the lights. The flashlights were all but useless by now, the batteries had run down and we could barely see the road.
The road to Como was not paved at the time. About half way there was a large sandy section in the road. This was hard to drive in and hard to steer the truck. While standing in the bed of the truck there was very little to hold to in order to stay in the truck. We held on as best we could and hit the sand and the truck slowed down abruptly. We barely were able to stay in the back.
After we were on solid ground again we keep going across Obion River, through the swamp and over the swamp bridges and back past the farm of my grandparents. We really didn=t want them to see us with the truck so we drive very slow by the house.
Somehow we managed to get the truck back to where we had found it. By this time we had figured that James had not wanted to get rid of his pickup, that he was only upset because it would not start and he would have to walk home.
We tried to set the pickup exactly where it was when we started trying to start it. We didn’t mention to my grandparents what we had done. We didn’t tell anyone because we were afraid we would be in trouble if James Dale and his father found out that we had taken the truck. In our mind we had stolen the truck and were afraid of what would happen if anyone found out.
Well that was the end of the Old Pickup and the Wild Ride to Como. This was just one of the many adventures we had as children growing up in the Liberty IV area of Henry County, Tennessee.
Many years later about 1993 I ask James Dale if he remembered his old pickup and how it wound up not running long enough to get him home that night. He remembered the pickup but said he did not remember it conking out on him that night.
NOTE: I found out about May of 2005 that James had died in February. He had open heart surgery sometime before this and was recovering. He had a second surgery on his shoulder. He died from a blood clot from this last surgery while asleep at his home. James was a farmer on a large scale and well to do. Everyone in the community liked James. He always helped people when they had problems. I saw James a few times over the years and we spent the night with him while visiting in Tennessee during the summer of 2004.