Charlie Ballantyne's new Chevrolet Touring car

In the previous blog I posted a photograph taken in 1918 of Charlie and Allie Ballantyne standing proudly in front of their new Dodge Chevrolet Touring car. While I use both names in reference to the car I am sure that the reality was that the car "belonged" to Charlie. Alice never learned to drive and Charlie took complete responsibility for the upkeep and maintenance of the vehicle.   Here is a story as told by Gordon McEwan, that speaks to Charlie's relationship with his car.  When the story begins Charlie and Alice had a hired man named Eddie Dietrich who lived in the community. " One day Charlie and Eddie were washing the family car, a very early Dodge.  Cars were objects that were few and far between and therefore, objects of great pride.  Just when they were finished, the car began to back down the grade that led to the garage.  Shouting for Eddie to help, Charlie threw himself behind the car and held while red
spots danced before his eyes.  Before Alice could get out to put on the emergency brake, the car's speed backwards began to increase and the wary Eddie leaped for safety, leaving Charlie the car to himself. Now the car got out of control, Charlie barely got out of its road and he saw the fender of his new purchase buckle against a post. Eddie who had been watching the proceedings at a safe distance now poked his head around the car to ascertain Charlies's position.  Seeing the face of the object whom he considered to be the cause of the happening, Charlie rid himself of some frustration by landing a round house right which sent poor Eddie head over heels down the slope.  "No sooner had I done it," Charlie admitted later, "but I was sorry that I had taken it out on poor Eddie!"
Attached is a copy of Charlie's 1920 motor vehicle permit for the Dodge Chevrolet. In the second photo a group of relatives is standing in front of another car in about the year 1912 (Tom the boy standing in front of his mother was born in 1901). The owner of the car shown in the photograph is uncertain but my guess is that it may have belonged to Charlie's nephew Frank Ballantyne (the fellow on the left holding the camera).