Life in a Streetcar

When Jack Delano was visiting North Carolina in the spring and summer of 1941, he came across this home. It’s an old streetcar converted into living quarters for a family of four. Mr. Delano wrote in his notes that the family members were born and raised in Fayetteville, but could not get a place to stay. The husband worked at Fort Bragg, just outside of Fayetteville, North Carolina.

Old Street Car Home

Obviously life was still hard for some folks struggling with the depression. Direct involvement of the United States in WWII was still almost nine months away. I can’t see any signs of tread on the front tires of the family automobile. And judging from the single smoke stack on the home’s roof, it’s likely the only heat was provided by a pot-bellied stove.

There’s still snow on the ground in this scene captured in March. A few months later Mr. Delano was in Elizabeth City, N.C. where he photographed summer scenes on the Norfolk Southern Railroad. I posted one of his images of ten-wheeler #134 just last year.