I noticed door handles on the car. 1921 and earlier Dodge touring cars did not have exterior door handles. That would make the car a 1922 or 1923. I’m leaning toward 1922 because the photo was taken in 1923 as indicated by the license plate and the car does not look that fresh (although it could be just dirty from being on the road).

If I had the original photograph in my hand instead of looking at a scan on a computer screen, I could pull out much more detail with a magnifying glass. To really see details, proper technique is to hold the magnifying glass close to your eye and lean in close to the photograph in a well-lit area (the same way a jeweler uses a loupe to look at jewelry).

I am not an expert but I believe it is a 1920-1923 Dodge, based on the following:

- Location of headlight in relation to the front fender
- Contour of the fenders (pronounced hump running down the middle of the front and rear fenders)
- Rear spring configuration (you can see it sticking out, just left of the spare tire)
- Location of tail-light and license plate
- It appears to have a slant windshield (you can see part of the windshield frame at the right side of the photo) which indicates 1920 or later. If the windshield is straight up and down, then it would be 1919 or earlier
- The rectangular window in the rear curtain of the top would help pinpoint the year. Earlier Dodges had multiple panes in the rear curtain and I am not sure when they went from multiple panes to a single pane.

The automobile pictured is definitely NOT a Model T Ford. My father and I are antique automobile enthusiasts and we both own Model T Fords.

Regarding the “B” on the 1923 Minnesota license plate: in Minnesota, passenger cars that weighed less than 2,000 pounds (one ton) were issued “A” plates and passenger cars that weighed 2,000 pounds or more were issued “B” plates. Model T Fords weigh much less than 2,000 pounds and were issued “A” plates. As you wrote in your blog, the car in the photo has a “B” plate.

However what about those who were, for instance, 5 months old in 1851? How can I enter 5 months in your age field? An idea would be to enter 5/12 (5th month of 12 months) to help this compute!.

But otherwise an excellent tool! Thank you very much!

FYI, the census date for 1790-1820 was the first Monday in August, for 1830-1900 was June 1, for 1910, Apr 15, for 1920, Jan 1, and for 1930, Apr 1.

I always assume the enumerator followed directions, but of course realize that is not always true–just as the information given by individuals was not always true — people sometimes stated they were younger than they actually were!