F. Scott Fitzgerald, Zelda, and "The Cruise of the Rolling Junk"

I took an hour or so to read "The Cruise of the Rolling Junk" this afternoon. The trip took place in 1920, but the series of articles describing this impromptu tour were published in 1924. The car was a 1920 Marmon, although photographs used the articles probably depict a Nash. The articles traced an off-the cuff decision to travel from Westport, CT to Zelda's family home in Montgomery, AL, to feast on biscuits and peaches, items not available in New England. Eating biscuits and peaches, it is claimed, resulted in happiness, while the Northern breakfast diet of bacon and eggs led to a down and dejected people.

This is a very funny story series that I would seriously think of using in a seminar or even regular "Automobile and American Life" class. The adventures along the way are entertaining and humorous. But I think there is a very serious side to this read, one in which the prose reflects notions of regionalism, race, and class during the years immediately after WWI. Commentary on African-Americans, White southerners, working class northerners, and others at the margins  highlight attitudes  from all points within the social pyramid. Descriptions of the car, its mechanical difficulties, repairs, ongoing struggle with tires and wheels, are illustrative of motoring adventures now only a memory.

a 1920 Marmon like that taken on the Westport, CT to Montgomery Al "The Cruise of the Rolling Junk."