1936 Packard

Fairbanks is a city of 33,000 people and a modern metropolis. There are no high rise buildings and everything is designed to withstand the winters and cold up to -40C. Today topped out at 12C. The city is very spread out on a flat plane, quite commercial and industrial and not very photogenic. There are tourists but without the tourist traps of the cruise boat towns of the coast.

We started the day late after a good sleep in. Nothing starts here before 10am anyway. Our first visit was to the Large Animal Research Facility where the main animal being studied at this time is the Musk Oxen.

This animal is important to the eco system and was re introduced in the 1930’s after being hunted to extinction. The photo above is of a 1 year old male, already 140 kg and will grow to about 400kg.

We then visited the University of Alaska Museum of the North. This place was quite incredible and a must visit. The displays are very well done and the information is brief but complete.

The Museum of the North

In the gallery of indigenous artwork a piece called “fish fingers”.

Another piece featuring porcupine quills.

A grizzly bear greets us at the door, all 2.7m of him.

There are two quilt shops in Fairbanks which the girls put on their must do list. The first one Nicky rated as one of the best she has ever been to.

Meanwhile, Peter and I looked for a laundromat and did the washing. The plight of a quilter’s husband.

Shop 2 had a great A Frame outside.

This time Peter and I visited the Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum, a collection of fully restored cars dating from 1898 to 1930’s. This place is incredible with at least 85 cars, all but two of which are in driving order. The collection has limited itself to American made cars and specialised in cars used in Alaska.

Along with the car exhibit is a collection of fashions from the period of each of the cars. The girls were disappointed to learn I devoted most of my photos to the cars. This place will interest everyone but is a Mecca for old car buffs. Again the choice of photos to show is very difficult.

Cars and fashion of the early 1930’s

1917 Model T Snow Flyer, a modified Model T for snow travel

1926 Fordson Snow Motor, a modified Fordson F tractor, not massively successful as the fuel consumption was prohibitive.

1919 McFarlan, dubbed “the American Rolls-Royce”, boasted owners such as Jack Dempsey and Al Capone

1904 Buckmobile

1912 Rauch & Lang Electric Brougham, an electric car with up to 120km range per charge. The driver sat in the back seat while the passenger rode backwards to talk to the driver. The originator of the term “back seat driver”.

1910 Stanley Steam car, Model R Steam Roadster

1898 Hey Motor Vehicle, a prototype with a production run of 1, brilliant design for its time but with a flawed engine that wouldn’t run

1933 Hupmobile Silver Anniversary Series K-321 Victoria

That’s enough cars for this blog. Tomorrow we are off to Denali National Park where the temperatures are forecast to be 3C to -4C and we are camping. We will be seriously testing our sleeping systems.

19th Century Albany Cutter Sleigh