What the station wagons of the fifties do to me is tap into my adult susceptibility to vintage advertising, prompting fantasies about putting on a Pendleton, lighting up a pipe, and driving my family through the Northwest evergreens. What the station wagons of the mid-seventies do to me is remind me of real life childhood vacations before seat belt laws, when you could freely roll out sleeping bags in the back, set up a smorgasbord or play croquet.

I bought this Kinsmart brand 1955 Chevy Nomad toy after spotting it by chance at a Walgreens in Albuquerque. I looked up the company and was disappointed that they didn’t also have a 1972 Ford Country Squire family wagon, white with wood panels and a red interior.  But this will do nicely.

I amassed the whole collection circa 1974 by being good and waiting in the car while my mom went in to the grocery store to pick up a few things. (Shut up – everyone’s moms did this in the seventies.) They were available for purchase in a cookie jar by the cash register. I remember their distinct vinyl smell.

Bassist Pete Comita joined Cheap Trick in 1980 and was gone by early ’81, so he was in the group just long enough to (1) co-write and record “Reach Out” for the Heavy Metal movie soundtrack and (2) appear in the group’s historic view master photo shoot.