(Editor’s note: The following was submitted by e-mail by Jo Ostergren Yates and refers to the article titled “301 corridor work moves ahead” that appeared on the front page in the Jan. 7 edition.)

Thought you’d like some info on the “little car on the pole”—It is a Crosley, manufactured by the same people who used to make Crosley radios. It was basically a four-passenger vehicle, but the back seat could fold down for extra storage or carrying space.

A Mr. Conrad Carter owned it in the early 1950s. He was our neighbor, the first house on the left on Patrick Henry Boulevard. He worked for one of the bus companies, and got transfered to North Carolina, I think. Anyway, my Mom had put out a wish—just one of those “Gee, I wish I had a car, a station wagon, in blue” sort of wishes, that was spoken more in jest than anything else. My mom was Callie Foos Ostergren, who also wrote “Callie’s Chatter” for the Herald-Progress.

Mr. Carter came by a week or so after Mom’s wish, and offered to sell her the little Crosley wagon, which was blue at the time. For $100, my Mom had a great little car that carried her and us all over Hanover County, to football games, to practice for my brothers, on her route as a reporter for the Richmond News Leader, just everywhere. All four of us then teenagers learned to drive in that car; it carried groceries, trash to the dump, pets to the vet, and even one time, some pet snakes to school for show and tell. (Our school bus driver would not let us bring the snakes on the bus. They were only garter snakes, and one king snake, but he got really upset!)

It was sold after I was married, to Billy Fulwider, who then sold it to Gordon Lawhorn, for use as an advertising gimmick, atop the pole as it is now.

Somewhere I have a photo of it in our front yard. If I can find that photo, I will e-mail it to you. It’s a shame it cannot be repaired or refurbished, but after nearly 40 years out in the open, with no maintenance, it is to be expected. It was a great little car, got nearly 40 miles to the gallon of gas, and we could use such a car now. I hope someone thinks enough of it to try and refurbish, as it would be a shame to just sell it for scrap metal.