Several years ago, St. Albert airline pilot Tony Soloway donated his 1966 Ford Mercury truck to the Reynolds Museum, never imagining the pickup would become a centrepiece at the Royal Alberta Museum.
The vintage Mercury M-100 is a significant artifact in the Human History Hall, symbolizing the resilience and resourcefulness of Alberta’s agriculture sector.
When the museum approached the St. Albert resident with its intent to exhibit the truck, Soloway was super pleased.
“It was like, ‘Wow.’ It was pretty cool. But I also thought, that truck’s not old enough to be in a museum,” Soloway chuckled.
Not only was the two-tone pickup in great shape, but over the years it amassed an important historical record that started in southern Alberta near Skiff, 75 kilometres southeast of Lethbridge.
Kon Acehaida, Soloway’s uncle, a grain farmer who lived near Skiff, initially purchased the half-ton Mercury as a fancy town truck from Raymond Motors in Raymond, Alberta.
Manufactured in Oakville, Ontario and sold primarily in Canada, Mercury trucks were rare and a step above the more common Ford F-150. As with Mercury cars, the pickups represented a slight uptick in both price and trim. Drivers also enjoyed one more special distinction: a V-8 engine.
The pickups displayed heavy bumpers, big chrome headlights, a three-speed column stick shift and a built-in toolbox on the bottom right-hand side for tools and spare parts.
Acehaida immigrated to Canada from Ukraine after the Second World War. He arrived with a few dollars to his name and retired owning six and one-half sections of land. A good working truck was critical to the growth of his business and pickups such as his grew to symbolize rural farms.
“My uncle would drive it 30 or 40 klicks when he was in Lethbridge, and there was always a long lineup behind him. But when we got out on a gravel road in the country, he’d drive 60 or 70 miles an hour. He’d just go,” said Soloway reminiscing about his assertive uncle.
After a few years, Acehaida modified the Mercury M-100 into a field truck. It became the farm workhorse and endured a great deal of abuse riding gravel roads and bumpy fields.
When Acehaida retired in 2008, he offered his nephew the pick of his trucks. Soloway chose the Mercury, in part due to the bond between uncle and nephew – and also because he was attracted to the style.
However, his new treasure offered a few surprises.
“When it was a field truck, it carried a big fuel tank for machinery and eventually it got beat up. When I picked it up, it was a mess. There was even a nest of mice in it. I put new parts in it. When I drove it to Lethbridge, I didn’t realize the brakes weren’t working until I tried them. And then I had to coast,” Soloway recalled.
Dubbing his new truck “Molly,” Soloway gave her a thorough face-lift. It included replacing brakes, engine parts that leaked oil, new bearings, shocks and springs.
Originally a three-speed, Acehaida had refurbished it to a four-speed to handle heavy loads. Soloway modified it back to the original three-speed.
“It had a radio, but no air conditioning and it was hard to steer. If you were turning tight, you had to have really strong arms.”
To car enthusiasts, Molly was eye-catching and attracted a lot of attention – especially at the 2010 Rock’n August car shows. Soloway even drove it to work. But the more Molly packed kilometres on roads, the more Soloway fretted.
“It had a fuel tank behind the seat. If you got into an accident, even if you had a seat belt on, you probably wouldn’t survive.”
With this thought in mind, he contacted Reynolds-Alberta Museum in 2012 to ask if Molly was eligible to become part of their award-winning collection of historic vehicles.
The provincially operated 89-hectare museum houses more than 350 vehicles, 130 aircraft and 5,000 pieces of agricultural equipment.
Justin Cuffe, curator of Reynolds' transportation collection, stated Molly was accepted for various reasons. The truck featured an Alberta story and it was in excellent condition.
“After Tony’s uncle bought his truck, the Mercury 100 lasted another two years before Ford ended the line in 1968. It’s a rare item to have in a provincial collection, and to be in such good condition is surprising. It still had original parts and the toolbox door on the side made it unique. It’s a fantastic addition to the provincial collection,” said Cuffe.
Reynolds’ staff picked up the Mercury at Soloway’s home using a car-hauler. They strapped it down and drove it to Reynolds Museum, where it received an oil change as well as new spark plugs and air filters.
“We cleaned it thoroughly so there was nothing to cause fire and deterioration.”
When the Royal Alberta Museum was planning how best to represent Alberta history, they realized pickup trucks were a key symbol of the provincial character.
“We wanted to tell a story about pickups. We were trying to ask, 'What is it that Albertans are made up of? What are the best expressions of Alberta identity?' ” stated Mathew Levitt, RAM digital media coordinator and story author.
“We realized the pickup was emblematic of our agricultural past as a working tool to produce food for people. Pickups allow us to traverse the province and it allows us to see different geographic areas. And it’s a symbol of having made it. Even trophy trucks are just as valued to the person who owns them.”
To complicate matters, organizers were searching for a truck that spoke to different ideals.
“We wanted something unique and eye-catching, something visitors would want to explore, but also something universal that spoke to the past or our childhood memories,” Levitt said.
Soloway’s Molly fit the bill in terms of age, style, function and the memories it generated.
“Tony remembers growing up with it, and it’s a fixture in his memories. That spoke to us. We wanted to share Tony’s memories, hoping it would bring back similar memories for visitors.”
When Molly arrived at RAM, it underwent a few changes. As per Alberta’s building code, the battery was removed and oil and fuel were drained.
Standing on a platform in RAM’s Human History Hall, the Mercury M-100 is more than a truck. It represents the strength, ingenuity and hard work Albertans have displayed in carving a life and future for their children and grandchildren.
There are several panels surrounding Molly, chronicling the truck's history, as well as a short video of Albertans describing what pickups mean to them.
