Ulrich A. Watlington acquired a Ford car in the mid 1920's--a Model T. He learned to drive it but never learned to like it. And then, it was a product dependent on a cash economy for gas, parts, tires, and replacement. After a few years the Depression struck hard. The car was traded for a buggy. Another car was acquired also which was retired on the farm. It became a favorite piece of scrap iron and the children could use it to ``play like'' they were driving.
Later, when gear shift cars came into use Ulrich tried to learn the new method of driving but had difficulty handling clutches, gears and the steering wheel at the same time. He did drive the Chevrolet ``Cabrolet'' which had a rumble seat, but often ended up in a ditch. So he ceded the driver's seat to Clara Mai and a growing group of sons who were sure they knew how to drive. He let the children wrestle with clutches, gears and flat tires. He was too deeply involved in livestock to be confused by an inanimate object. His father, Mack Rob, always kept his buggy and a buggy horse or two. He made trips to Dyer County to visit relatives and visited friends over Madison and Chester County using his horse and buggy. He also helped with the transportation of the children to and from church and school in bad weather with his buggy. O. W. Hammond never ventured into the automobile age either, although he had early on used a gasoline engine to power tools for his work shop and the cream separator, using overhead pulleys and leather belts to transfer the power for various uses.
Clara Mai needed a car for transportation to Adee School and so in the summer of 1932 bought the Chevy with a rumble seat. After that the family always kept one car, and has many memories of the Chevrolet Cabrolet with a rumble seat, the old Durant Sedan which would lose a rear wheel occasionally, and the Ford Sedan which served to get Clara Mai to school and all of us to church and ``the city.'' Evelyn remembers though that the Watlingtons were still using a horse and buggy to attend Sunday School and church when our horse would be the only one hitched on the lot. When Herman and John William served as janitors after the Malesus Church installed a central furnace under the church (1935-40), they would ride a horse to church to clean and start the fire on Saturday afternoons. Later Elton took over this duty and also rode a horse to attend to this duty as late as 1941. One car simply couldn't provide all our need for transportation.