Playtime Caravans. Maidstone, Vic.

Hi Cobber, in the '56 KW touring manual they also have an advert for the Playtime, except this add says they also built a 20 ft model, whereas in your advert of '57 they only say up to 15 ft. There motto was '' The Caravan you will be proud to own at a price you can afford to pay''. It shows a picture of the Playtime Factory and Showground at Maidstone. Oh and it also said they have TWO porthole windows!!

Cheers Exocet

Trodler,

There is no denying that the “Playtime & the “Rowvan” look pretty much like they came out of the same mold, but what strange behavior on somebody's part

The “Playtime” advertisement says they were “ manufactured by Geo. m. Lewin designer and builder of high-class caravans”.

Apart from an add in the 1961 “ Australian caravan and touring manual” placed by an agent (I think) by the name of Keith Odgers for Rowvan & Falcon caravans, I can find no other addvertisment for “Rowvans”, or any evidence of who claims to have made them.

What evidence do you have that Mr. And Mrs Rowe actually built the “Rowvan” Trodler

Who is telling a porkie here..... Mr. Lewin or Mr. Rowe and did Mr. Odgers try to get into the act around 1962.

A case for Mr. Sherlock Holmes maybe.



Cobber.

In the '56 KW mag there is another advertised van very similar to the Playtime and Rowvan, it's called a Travelo, is that the 3rd brand??

Exocet

Playtime caravan advertised on Ebay, March 2011:



















The seller described the caravan as being both a Playtime and a Rowvan, but there was no indication of the basis for this. Our understanding at this point is that Playtime vans were built by Rowvan and sold in Victoria under the Playtime brand.

Don Ricardo

Playtime caravan photographed at the 2013 Ballarat swap meet by Frank and posted on 24 February 2013:

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In their post Frank mentioned that the owner of the van had been told it was a 1950 model, to which Don Ricardo responded on 2 March 2013:

Based on what we do know about Playtime and the photos you've shown us, my personal thoughts are that the van you saw is definitely not a 1950 van, and that it is probably from the second half of the 50's. My reasons for saying this are that:

• The van is more of a late 50's shape, particularly the back end. That shape would have been unusual in the early 50's.
  
• The aluminium framed windows on the van didn't come into general use until the mid-50's.
  
• The rubber sealed front and rear windows are also more typical of a van from the second half of the 50's. A van from 1950 is likely to have had a wooden framed windows.

Despite the fact that the Playtime advert shown on the DHL thread claims that they manufacture their own vans, we know that the vans in the advertisement were built by someone else, and we have no evidence of Playtime actually building vans themselves. On that basis my guess is that the van you saw was probably built by someone else and badged as a Playtime.

By the look of it, the aluminium cladding may be after market. It would be interesting to know if there is bondwood underneath it.

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Later the same day, Hughdeani added:

Hi Don and Frank,
looks to me like a Wayfarer with a Playtime badge on it!
Just to set the cat amongst the pigeons!
Cheers
hughdeani

Playtime advert published in the Melbourne Age on Saturday, 21 July 1956 (page 24):


(Source: http://www.newspapers.com)