In 1953, I got a driver's license. The license numbers were the next in line. My license number was 53467, so the next person would be 53468, regardless of where they were in Alaska. I was in line in the 1970s to renew when everyone was checking their numbers to see how low their numbers were. When I showed them mine. They all gasped, I was the winner by quite a margin.
When it came time for me to get my driver's license, Dad decided I should go to a driving school. The instructor was a fellow by the name of Cox. He was also a music teacher. So the day came for the driving test, and I told the examiner that I was taught by Cox. The examiner told me to drive around the block. Once around the block and that was it. I don't think he ever looked up from his paperwork.
I think the first driver's licenses were issued in the mid 1950's. My mom had driver's license #32. My dad, on the other hand, said said he didn't need one since he already knew how to drive. "No one is going to tell me I need a driver's license!" My dad's boss, general manager of the ARR, said otherwise. Dad ended up with a 5 digit driver's license.
Great memories of the driving test! I remember learning to drive from my dad, who meant well but yelled at me a lot, and my mom, who was a bit nervous but less prone to yelling. I finally took the test in March of 1978, 6 agonizing months after my 16th birthday, at the DMV on Dowling Road. It was probably the easiest driving test in the history of the automobile: I turned left on Dowling, right on the frontage road along Seward Highway, the right on Tudor, right on Lake Otis, and right again on Dowling, turning left back into the DMV. Two left turns the entire test. And then there was no parking test! My mom told me to take the rest of the afternoon and practice driving in the '74 Ford Pinto wagon that I took the test in. I kind of loved that car, actually. I probably should have had a lot more practice than I got, because I was in two fender benders within a year, but since then (knock on wood) it's been pretty safe driving.
Fantastic collection of test day nerves! That moment when Mike stopped past the sign and thought he'd failed captures something universal, honestly spent way too many minutes in my own test over-thinkng every little mistake. Wild how casul the standards were back then tho, just driving down the street and back. These stories preserve a time when bureaucracy hadn't quite figured out how to complicate everything yet.
I was 16 and was one of the few students in high school in Bethel to have a driver’s license in 1970. Back then the tests were given at the AST office. I was nervous but just had to drive down the street and back and that was it. I passed!
I turned 16 in 1971. By that time I'd been driving my dad's 1962 International Scout for almost two years. (Until just before the driver's test, the Scout had no tail lights; I just lightly rode the brakes whenever I passed a trooper or city cop). So I was a confident veteran driver when I arrived at the old DMV location on 5th Avenue. Even parallel parking was not a huge challenge. Passed easily.
In 1953, I got a driver's license. The license numbers were the next in line. My license number was 53467, so the next person would be 53468, regardless of where they were in Alaska. I was in line in the 1970s to renew when everyone was checking their numbers to see how low their numbers were. When I showed them mine. They all gasped, I was the winner by quite a margin.
Jerry - Fun story -
When it came time for me to get my driver's license, Dad decided I should go to a driving school. The instructor was a fellow by the name of Cox. He was also a music teacher. So the day came for the driving test, and I told the examiner that I was taught by Cox. The examiner told me to drive around the block. Once around the block and that was it. I don't think he ever looked up from his paperwork.
Pat - funny -
I think the first driver's licenses were issued in the mid 1950's. My mom had driver's license #32. My dad, on the other hand, said said he didn't need one since he already knew how to drive. "No one is going to tell me I need a driver's license!" My dad's boss, general manager of the ARR, said otherwise. Dad ended up with a 5 digit driver's license.
Pat - it was a different world in1950s Anchorage -
Where was the DMV office that you two received your DLs?
Pat - we think the DMV was somewhere on 5th or 6th Avenue -
So that would have been at 5th & Karluk, across Karluk from the Lucky Wishbone. DMV was in the same building as the state troopers.
Great memories of the driving test! I remember learning to drive from my dad, who meant well but yelled at me a lot, and my mom, who was a bit nervous but less prone to yelling. I finally took the test in March of 1978, 6 agonizing months after my 16th birthday, at the DMV on Dowling Road. It was probably the easiest driving test in the history of the automobile: I turned left on Dowling, right on the frontage road along Seward Highway, the right on Tudor, right on Lake Otis, and right again on Dowling, turning left back into the DMV. Two left turns the entire test. And then there was no parking test! My mom told me to take the rest of the afternoon and practice driving in the '74 Ford Pinto wagon that I took the test in. I kind of loved that car, actually. I probably should have had a lot more practice than I got, because I was in two fender benders within a year, but since then (knock on wood) it's been pretty safe driving.
Tom: You have a very detailed memory of your driving test. Great story.
LOL thanks. That was, to me, the best day of my life at the time!
Fantastic collection of test day nerves! That moment when Mike stopped past the sign and thought he'd failed captures something universal, honestly spent way too many minutes in my own test over-thinkng every little mistake. Wild how casul the standards were back then tho, just driving down the street and back. These stories preserve a time when bureaucracy hadn't quite figured out how to complicate everything yet.
Thank you for your observations -
I was 16 and was one of the few students in high school in Bethel to have a driver’s license in 1970. Back then the tests were given at the AST office. I was nervous but just had to drive down the street and back and that was it. I passed!
Michael - Your "test" sounds like the town wasn't all that concerned about new drivers. Glad you passed.
I turned 16 in 1971. By that time I'd been driving my dad's 1962 International Scout for almost two years. (Until just before the driver's test, the Scout had no tail lights; I just lightly rode the brakes whenever I passed a trooper or city cop). So I was a confident veteran driver when I arrived at the old DMV location on 5th Avenue. Even parallel parking was not a huge challenge. Passed easily.
Mark - I think my driving test was also at the 5th. Avenue location. Great story - thank you for sharing your memories.