As young boys in the 1950s, my brother and I spent many wonderful hours sitting on East Franklin Avenue in Minneapolis watching the trucks go by and, of course, trying to coax drivers into sounding their air horns. Using a collection of 323 black-and-white photographs, Ron Adams offers a look back at that world. With only a few more-than-acceptable exceptions, as the book’s title suggests, the photographs feature semi-trucks representing the numerous makes hauling freight during the decade. The two-page introduction provides brief reflections—covered in alphabetical order—about some of the truck brands pictured. Providing a richness of what was once available and a reminder of what has been lost since the 1950s, the photographs include a great variety of GMC, Mack, Freightliner, White Freightliner, Autocar, White, Ford, Corbitt, Brown, International, Sterling-White, Sterling, Chevrolet, Reo, Peterbilt, Brockway, Kenworth, Diamond T, Hendrickson, and Fageol Twin Coach trucks. In general, each page of the vertical-format paperback features two photographs, with some pages including three. Captions generally provide information based on what is shown in the photographs. While not expansive, the captions often offer additional details about the specific truck models, the trailer manufacturer, and the companies that used the trucks.

Book Review by Robert Gabrick