Unusual Americana: the drive-through cedar tree

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Could you resist the temptation to drive straight through a giant tree when you see one? It seems like most people can’t, as there are thousands of pictures of people doing precisely that, from way back before the war when these ‘drive-thru trees’ were a real attraction in the US of A.

We found one particularly nice picture of Mr. Darius Kinsley proudly standing next to his automobile, parked under the red cedar stump on the Pacific Highway near Snohomish in Washington. The picture was taken in 1920 and Mr. Kinsley’s car is an air-cooled Franklin with its typical slant nose.

A little further research brought us to another picture taken at the same spot. That is perhaps not so strange, but the boy standing there with his mother is also named Darius Kinsey. This picture dates back to 1914 and we see a Model T Ford rather than the Franklin! The caption here reads: ‘Darius Kinsey, Jr., and his mother Tabitha Kinsey with the Model T in tunnel through a large tree’. We’d love to think this is the same man who after growing up came back to the place he visited with his mother all those years ago to see that marvellous tree again. On the other hand, maybe it was his son…

Words: Jeroen Booij; pictures: Library of Congress
 

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