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May 1942. Washington, D.C. "Student's car in front of University Club on K Street N.W." Our second glimpse of these collegiate Colonials and their graffiti-garnished jalopy. Medium format acetate negative by John Ferrell for the Office of War Information. View full size.
I notice that the big guy had to put down a newspaper so his shoe didn't mess Muttzie's paint job.
This picture forms the basis for the Archie comics I grew up reading. The old jalopie is full of kids with more outside the vehicle and hanging on. I can readily pick out the Jughead, Reggie, Betty, and Veronica of the group but I am left asking, "Where's Archie?" There's no red-haired boy in the picture.
If so, they might note that the fine edifice they are parked in front of is the former home of President and later Supreme Court justice William Howard Taft. It was his during the first decade of the 20th century when he was Secretary of War. His provenance is noted in the name of the restaurant behind, the Taft House Inn. K Street in this area north of the White House little resembles its prior self, and the former Taft House and adjacent buildings seen above are long gone to progress.
If 1603 is indeed the address, then all of this has been replaced with modern buildings, and there's a Kia parked in their spot.
This is five months after the entry of the U.S. into WWII. You have to wonder where these guys were one or two or three years later.
... has the ever-so-slight makings of a smile in this second photo!
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