Alexandria, VA – Ever since I drove my car into a ditch recently and had to seriously consider the consequences of no longer driving, I’ve been musing about automobiles and the automobile industry. My online research says there are 40 auto dealerships in Alexandria. When you include auto repair shops, car rental agencies, collision/body repair places, car washes and gas stations, it’s a large and important industry.
Online research also tells me the first gasoline-powered automobile in America was built by Charles and Frank Duryea in 1893 and that was followed by other early automobile manufacturers including Ransom Olds, who founded the Oldsmobile brand in 1897, and Henry Ford who later revolutionized the industry with the introduction of the Model T in 1908.
In a way, automobiles are in my blood.
My maternal grandfather Sam immigrated to New York City from Russia in 1907. His naturalization papers listed his occupation as blacksmith. He went from horse and buggy to auto garage. He was in the right place and time for the newly emerging automobile industry.
In the 1925 census Grandpa Sam and his eldest son, then 15 years old, were listed as mechanics in an auto shop. Later he and two sons owned S&S Sales and Service in Brooklyn, N.Y. (They were all listed as auto mechanics in the 1940 census.) I hear that my brother, artist-Illustrator Murray Tinkelman, made all the signs for that shop.
Grandpa Sam used to take me to the shop sometimes when I was little. A favorite memory is when he gave someone a repair estimate and said if they didn’t accept right away, it would be more when they came back because it meant his price was lower than others – meaning too low.
My son David pumped gas at a nearby gas station when he was a teenager. That was in the days when there were attendants who pumped gas, checked your oil, and washed your windshield.
Son Steven who now runs Tisara Photography also worked pumping gas as a teenager one summer. Now, Steve chooses to buy old cars so he can do basic repairs himself. He enjoys learning how things work. “Everything was someone’s design, a design to solve a problem of function.” Now that’s a thought worth pondering!
My youngest daughter Lynn works for Ourisman Automotive on Richmond Highway. From an article by Holly Dougherty, President of the Mount Vernon-Springfield (then Mount Vernon-Lee) Chamber of Commerce, Lynn learned that CFO Michael Bennett’s first job in the automotive industry was at age 13 at a gas station on Beacon Hill. Staff writer Mona Kazour wrote in Patch, a local news and information platform, that Bennett ”later worked at a Hess gas station on Telegraph Road to pay his tuition to Bishop Ireton High School.”
My 2011 Hyundai Elantra has since been repaired and I am profoundly grateful to again be able to do my own errands. And I’m grateful for the invention of the automobile despite problems like traffic congestion and pollution. After all, in the pre-auto days, folks had to deal with other problems (think horse droppings!).
I’m especially grateful for family members who have researched and recorded the history of our family — my niece Ronni and Elayne Denker, author of “Traveling in the Past Lane.” Denker and I share great-grandparents.
Mosaic artist/photographer Nina Tisara is the founder of Living Legends of Alexandria.
