Issue 15 :: The Perfect Fifth: Wheel

Olive: A limited edition journal devoted to the perfect fifth.

issue n^o. 15

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Contents – September 2026

Editorial

Letter from the Editor

Fifth Wheels

Friends of Judy

Retro concert illustration of two singers facing each other at microphones while other band members stand at the edges.

Stylized illustration of a brain floating above a whiskey glass, surrounded by musical notes on a split dark blue and golden background.

Retro-style illustration of a sharply dressed woman seated at a table under a spotlight, reading a newspaper with a champagne flute beside her against a deep red background.

Editorial

Letter from the Editor

I

’ve been thinking about the perfect fifth for a long time. First, in elementary school when I began taking piano lessons. Then as an adolescent, I was obsessed with mathematical and geometrical ratios and proportions. In undergraduate and graduate school, I studied music theory and was further introduced to philosophy and symbols.

And so it goes — right into the present when I’ve just finished reading The Jazz of Physics: The Secret Link between Music and the Structure of the Universe.

Continuing in this vein of thought, the September issue of Olive focuses on the Perfect Fifth Wheel.

Originally developed to solve steering problems, fifth wheels were first used on horse-drawn carriages before finding their way into automobiles. They have also become a familiar literary metaphor, often describing someone who feels unnecessary or out of place in a relationship or social setting.

My ruminations begin with a brief history lesson on fifth wheels in carriages and cars, then move into its use as a metaphor in literature and relationships. The issue concludes with Friends of Judy. There you will find an essay from Brenda and a brief film — New School thesis project –by Miles Lewandowski. The cover artwork is in the style of British artist Dame Tracy Emin.

Please enjoy Issue 15 on The Perfect Fifth: Wheel in which I continue my third attempt to be perfect.

Judy Green

editor and contributor

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Fifth wheels

Fifth Wheels: Carriages and Cars

Conceptual illustration comparing a horse-drawn carriage with an early automobile driven by a man in a top hat.

O

riginally fifth wheels were used with horse drawn carriages. First occurring in the 1800’s, the term “fifth wheel” referred to a literal, horizontal fifth wheel, which allowed the carriages to turn corners. Because this extra circular device was added on top of the original four wheels, it became universally known as the “fifth wheel.”

Educational illustration of a horse-drawn carriage with four visible wheels and a cutaway view of the horizontal fifth-wheel mechanism beneath the front axle.

Next, the steering wheel of a car was sometime known as the fifth wheel. The first known steering wheel in automobiles appeared in 1894. French engineer Alfred Vacheron added a steering fifth wheel onto his four-horsepower 1893 Panhard to give him an edge in the Paris-Rouen race.

Retro illustration of an early automobile beneath an oversized spoked wheel, surrounded by sweeping geometric lines.

Another use of the term fifth wheel in automobiles was to designate the spare tire at the rear of the car as the fifth wheel. In an idea dating back to the 1930’s, this fifth wheel was used to assist in parallel parking. A specialized hydraulic mount that lowered the rear-mounted fifth wheel perpendicularly to the pavement, making parallel parking somewhat less difficult. The concept had its downsides, e.g., excessive weight, elaborate trunk mechanics, and cost, so in the 1950’s it was ultimately abandoned.

Then came the fifth wheel as a true spare tire. It also had limitations and today has been replaced with temporary inflation kits or run-flat tires.

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Fifth Wheels

Fifth Wheels: Relationships

I

n literature, philosophy, or ordinary speech, a “fifth wheel” refers to something superfluous, unneeded, or out of place in various situations. This expression is a direct reference to how cars and carriages only need four wheels to operate, making a fifth wheel completely redundant.

In the 1800s

Stylized illustration of a man walking beside a large wheeled carriage on a shoreline beneath a glowing moon and distant sailing ship.

“A soul’s a sort of a fifth wheel to a wagon.”

This cynical observation is delivered by the prophet Elijah to Ishmael, suggesting that a soul is basically useless and unnecessary for a man just trying to get by in life.

Herman Melville, Moby-Dick (1851)

onceptual illustration of Victorian women positioned separately beside a wheel divided into symbols of marriage, home, children, and domestic life.

Odd Women are characters in a novel tackling the late-Victorian concept of “superfluous women”—unmarried women who had no defined place in a society that valued women only as wives and mothers. The protagonists live with the structural reality of being societal fifth wheels.

George Gissing, The Odd Women (1893)

In the 1900s

Retro illustration of a vintage car driving toward a radiant sunset framed by an enormous wheel.

On the Road in which the steering wheel is the ultimate vessel of freedom. It is the tether connecting the roaming narrator to the vastness of the American landscape.

Jack Kerouac, On the Road, (1951)

“Intelligence is not necessarily a good thing, something to value or cultivate. It’s more like a fifth wheel – necessary or desirable when things break down.”

Susan Sontag, As Consciousness Is Harnessed to Flesh: Journals and Notebooks, 1964-1980

In the 2000s

Daisy Jones & The Six focus on bands and creative partnerships in which certain members inevitably feel like extraneous wheels, functioning on the periphery while the central, toxic romantic and creative dynamic consumes the spotlight.

Taylor Jenkins Reid, Daisy Jones & The Six (2019)

Mid-century illustration of four people gathered closely around a table while a fifth woman sits alone nearby.

There once was a wheel some called Perfect.
Front, rear, or steering, still perfect.
Sometimes a Fifth,
Perfect’s not miffed,
So like a boring Pluperfect. (Yawn)

Limerick By Olive (2026)

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Friends of Judy

The Work Trip

By Brenda

T

he work trip: three holy days pretending I’m a competent professional who doesn’t regularly lose arguments to people under four feet tall.

I have this down to a science. Security: breezed. Coffee: acquired at a temperature befitting civilisation. I check every reflective surface to confirm I still look…tired. Concealer crosses my mind for about eighteen seconds, then I skip duty-free’s perfume gauntlet to buy Sour Patch Kids instead. Priorities.

Waiting to board, I fantasise about watching an entire film without someone narrating the obvious or asking why the sky is blue. It’s a delicate, morally complex balance: relief at being alone peppered with just enough homesickness to avoid feeling like a total sociopath. Obligatory family photo scroll, performative text home about little Billie’s spelling test. She’ll manage, or she won’t. Either way, not my problem for the next 72 hours.

And then the universe, ever the comedian, reminds me bliss is temporary. Apparently you’re joining me. Not just any colleague but the one I least want to see: young, eager, still thinking business travel is glamorous. The first-timer who’ll want to “explore the city” and “try the local cuisine” instead of hiding in your hotel room like a sensible person.

Thankfully we’re not sitting together – I’m temporarily reassured the world isn’t completely evil. We’ll share a congenial taxi to the hotel and I’ll perform small talk like an actor doing a cameo in my own life. However, once we reach our destination, the hotel lobby is where I will ghost you with the delicate precision of a trained assassin. Don’t take it personally; take note.

Retro illustration of two professionally dressed women talking in an elevator, one holding a drink while the other laughs.

There will be no nightcap. No convivial bar jaunt. If you see me before the 8:30 meeting, act like you didn’t. I’m collegial, but remember, I’m not actually your friend – I’m just very good at pretending I am. I will feign warmth and then, like clockwork, become unavailable: “need to call the kids,” “must prep slides,” “so much to process.” Polite fibs. We both know they’re nonsense, but they’re useful nonsense. Don’t press. That’s gauche.

During the day I’ll banter with the best of them: efficient, charming, capable of laughing off any work blunder. After hours though, count me out. Under no circumstances will I do karaoke when I can have peace and lukewarm room service.

So when I play Fleetwood Mac as we pull up to the hotel lobby and casually mention how much I love this song, I’m not actually trying to introduce you to good music. I’m being polite and casual while desperately hoping you’ll take the hint. It’s a clue, not a gift.

Go your own way. I’ll be in room 247, tucked in bed and watching reality TV – exactly where I want to be.

Brenda is a Friend of Judy

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friends of judy

“Rising Sun”

A Thesis Final Film

By Miles Lewandowski created as graduation requirement from The New School

issue n^o. 15

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