By Michael Callander
Author's note: this article is best enjoyed with a glass of whisky in hand!
If you've watched an episode of CBC's Frankie Drake Mysteries, you'd be inclined to wonder if you might see a Model A you recognize. This show is set during the prohibition era in Toronto, Ontario.
Toronto was my home for two years when I was studying jazz trombone at Humber College. During my stay I got the wonderful opportunity to experience Model A clubs out east. One of my adventures took me to a private collection to see several rare or unusual Model A's and AA's. Jack Langen is the proud owner of this collection, which includes everything from a snowmobile delivery van to a AA school bus body.
One of the gems of his collection is a 1929 AAC Stake Truck (C=Canadian). The most interesting thing about this truck is its history. It is actually a survivor of the fleet of trucks and other vehicles that Al Capone used during prohibition era. First, however, let's review the history of prohibition in Canada.
The way prohibition was organized in Canada is very different from the way it occurred in the United States. In Canada, a long series of attempts to illegalize the sale of alcohol had been underway as early as 1864, starting with the Dunkin Act. Prohibition was a complicated procedure in Canada. The making and trading of alcohol was the responsibility of the federal government, but selling liquor remained in the hands of the provinces. For this reason, there are no 2 dates that can describe the beginning and end of prohibition in Canada.
Many might be familiar with Emperor Pic and the rum running in Alberta's Crowsnest Pass. Alberta elected to prohibit the sale of alcohol starting in 1916. This was in effect until 1924. Therefore, Alberta's prohibition was discontinued 4 years before the Model A Ford was introduced in Canada. In Ontario, it lasted until 1927, which is still before the Model A Ford came to Canada (The Model A was introduced in the United States in late 1927 and introduced in Canada in early 1928). So wherefore do we see the historical significance of a Canadian Model A or AA being used in prohibition in Ontario? This lies in the fact that the United States prohibited liquor more severely. The entire United States was under prohibition from 1920 – 1933. In the USA, neither the making or selling was permitted, whereas Canada produced it and exported it but could not sell it in bars or liquor stores. Al Capone and other smugglers would come up to Canada where they could legally obtain liquor to export, and smuggle it across the border. This lead to many nasty border confrontations.
Now back to the main story. Al Capone, the mastermind of a multi-million dollar organized crime scheme based in Chicago, owned a fleet of trucks that came into Canada to collect booze and then smuggled it back into the US. The 1929 AAC in our story was owned by a gentleman in Owen Sound who used it to haul booze for Capone. Jack Langen, the current owner, came across it when he was buying fenders from Tom Burgess in Oshawa, who had restored the truck with his son Paul. It was parked underneath a tarp and he asked to have a looked at it. Naturally, after one look, he knew he had to have it.
It has the typical features of a 1929 Canadian AA truck: wooden wheels were used instead of wire wheels for this year in Canada because the farmers didn't believe the wire wheels would be strong enough for farm work. It also has cables instead of brake rods. Behind the standard 3-speed transmission is a Warford Auxiliary transmission, which yields both speeds below 1st gear and speeds above 3 gear.
Naturally, a prohibition truck would need to be able to have the low gear option for off-roading and steep hills, and the high gear option to outrun the American cops.
Another interesting feature is a delivery bell mounted underneath the driver's side splash apron. This would have been operated by a handle beside the driver's seat and alert the warehouse guys of an incoming delivery so the truck could drive right in and start unloading immediately. The less time it takes to “unsmuggle” a truck, the better.
The most curious part of this story is that this truck played the role of a truck used to haul booze for Al Capone in Frankie Drake Mysteries. The star of the show (from a Model A perspective) was not only acting as an Al Capone truck, but it was originally an Al Capone truck in real life! I had heard about this truck before I went to Ontario, but I didn't expect to see it. It is a truck that still enjoys touring, but doesn't need to worry about bullet holes. This is where we see the legacy of the Model A hobby: our own enjoyment of these vehicles helps preserve not only the vehicles themselves, but their legacy. Each vehicle can tell a greater story than we ever imagined, whether we know our car's specific history or not. On a greater scale, an audience which loves to sit down in a comfortable sofa (with a glass of whisky) and absorb themselves in an prohibition adventure finds the tale more believable when a real historical car from that time is used.
This is equivalent to doing a school project on the Apollo missions and flying the actual rocket to school to show your classmates. It may not always result in new memberships, but it certainly serves to remind us that we are the privileged guardians of another era. Enjoy that Model A!
“ Secret Alberta: Prohibition"
This item relates to the prohibition era in the Crowsnest Pass area of Alberta and for those with a TELUS Optic TV connection it can be found on channel 707. For others they can cut and paste the following link into their search engine to view it.
https://www.bing.com/search?q=Secret+Alberta%3A+Prohibition&src=IE-SearchBox&FORM=IESR4A&pc=EUPP_
Of SCMAFC interest is that this video features the first '28 Open Model A Pickup that Ron Rigby restored in the late 1990's and which is still owned by Mark & Dawn Rigby who are based in Coleman, Alberta.
