In the 1950's the main highways were two lanes and you carefully abided by the "no passing" laws. Two solid yellow lines meant no passing and they weren't kidding! Those designated areas meant there was danger ahead and nobody, with the exception of drag racing teenagers, took the chance of meeting a semi-tractor-trailer head on at the top of the hill!
My Mom used to travel those highways often.The soft rolling hills in central Ohio dictated that many of the roads were "no passing" areas for miles on end. Those "semi's" that we feared so much were also known as the "Road Angels".
When you found yourself trapped behind one of the big rigs on the two lane thoroughfares, with no chance of seeing over, under or around them, you simply waited for the driver to most courteously signal you that it was safe to pass! And they always did. I grew up knowing that the most trusted and respected people on the highways...were truck drivers!
As odd as it may sound today...another ritual of the road was to pick up hitch hikers. It was just good manners and the incidents of harm coming to anyone who obliged someone who had a "thumb out" was so rare it was inconsequential.
One of the funniest incidents that I recall about a hitch hiker was a young man that my Mom picked up a couple of times on Route 61 highway just outside Sunbury Ohio. He never got in the car. He would just hop onto the running board, link his arm through the window and hang on for dear life until we got into town. Mothers old cars were such wrecks that he must have always felt lucky to get to his destination!
On the ocassion that I remember, Mom had lost a hub cap somewhere in our travels. On the next trip into town she asked us girls to be on the lookout for the hub cap along the road or propped up against a tree. That's what folks did with hub caps when they found them.
We weren't too far into our journey when our new friend "Benny" appeared along the road with his arm extended and thumb pointed toward town. Mom slowed and pulled up beside him. "Hi Mary!" Benny grinned and stuck a muddy, dented disc through the window."I found this in Olive Green. I figgered it was yers!" Mom's hubcap was home!
I miss the two laners with the solid yellow lines. And the truckers who signaled safety ahead and waved their arms off in greeting when you passed them. But I especially miss all the Benny's. The strangers that you could trust. The good hearted Benny's that wanted nothing more from you than just a ride.
Author©MaryMax4470 (M.F.F.) 2008
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