Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Atlanta’s Joel Chandler Harris Streetcar in 1939
Posted by: lain // Category: Good Questions, Historic Preservation, Historical Quagmires, Song of the South, Technological Advances // 12:43 pm
Our neighbors at Westview Atlanta stumbled across this picture of a Joel Chandler Harris streetcar from 1939.
With all the hullaballoo ’round these here parts about a new streetcar, isn’t it funny that Atlanta once had a fairly comprehensive system?
Many of the Marta bus routes follow the same path as the old streetcar lines. Every once in a while you can spot some old track where the pavement has run thin.
I guess it’s like they say–there’s nothing new under the sun. How fitting that this nearly-forgotten streetcar bears the name of Joel Chandler Harris. I’m glad that the legacy of each is being reconsidered.
Speaking of old streetcars and Joel Chandler Harris, has anyone watched Who Framed Roger Rabbit lately?
Incidentally, not only is the film a direct descendant of Song of the South, but it’s also very much about the demolition of Los Angeles’ public streetcar system in the 1940s.
Maybe that’s a stretch and maybe it’s a little random, but maybe the film is next on my Netflix queue.
Even more of a stretch–the film was produced by Steven Spielberg, who is batting 1.000% in terms of being mentioned on our blog over the last two posts. I wonder if he knows anything about Br’er Rabbit.
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