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Post by crikeyitsbruce on Nov 24, 2012 18:21:25 GMT 10
"Travelo" was also the name of a US caravan manufacturer. At this point there is no evidence one way or another to indicate that there was a link between the Australian and US Travelo makers."
There was indeed a Travelo made in the US by Raymond Products Co. of Saginaw Michigan. Travelos were produced from 1934-1986. Early models were masonite sided and had a treated canvas roof so very few pre-WWII examples still exist. I own a 1950 Travelo that is aircraft grade aluminium clad. There is no relationship between the Australian Travelo and the American Travelo except the name.
Note from the moderators: This post and the posts which follow originally appeared on the Travelo thread in the Down History Lane section. However, the information provided by Crikeyitsbruce about his vintage trailers and American trailer development demanded its own thread. Don Ricardo
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Post by Roehm3108 on Nov 24, 2012 19:59:18 GMT 10
Hi crikeyitsbruce and welcome! Would love to hear more abour your van and how it got to be aly clad.
Cobber, do you notice a similarity between this van and the early Hawthorn? Wonder if the 12 ft version would be even more so?
Ray
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Post by crikeyitsbruce on Nov 25, 2012 2:20:02 GMT 10
Hi Roehm3108 I am a Yank that is immersed in the American vintage caravan culture. I will retire in 2013 and have "collected" 5 campers as we call them in various states of "decline". I purchased the Travelo off of Ebay sight unseen in person 1600 miles from my home, because I liked it's lines. After WWII all the early 50's Travelos were "skinned" with surplus aluminum left over from the aircraft factories. I am a member of another proboards Forum, so I will try and post a pic of the Travelo.
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Post by crikeyitsbruce on Nov 25, 2012 2:36:09 GMT 10
Looks like the pic turned up, but maybe not for long I didn't go through the photobucket route. Anyway it has the standard birchwood interior of most vintage campers of that era, and would be considered a "breadloaf" the smaller caravan is a "canned-ham" Shasta Compact also with the brichwood interior. The rear end on the Travelo must be completely rebuilt. I will remove all the exterior skins on the Compact to see to what extent there is water damage in the wooden framing and go from there. I also have a 1938 Hayes which is a steel-shelled breadloaf, a double prow-ended 1952 Silver Streak Clipper that is completely gutted and dented that I saved from the wrecker's yard, 2 weeks AFTER it was scheduled for crushing and a 1959 Shasta Airflyte that will need a box off complete rebuild...should keep me busy the first few years of my retirement. I read in one post a comment that a caravan had the American front end, and someone wondered what that meant. Many of the American vintage caravans of the era you are discussing had simple curved front ends with a single window like the Compact pictured above, or like your small Atlantics, it was not until the mid-60's that too many of them had the rounded protruding top front like on the Gilda, with another rounded kick-out below the full width windows found in, I believe caravans like the Viscounts? Basically very simple leading faces. Sorry to talk American vans, I am basically here to learn as much as I can about all the wonderful Australian caravans and their history. I found your proboards thread and was immediately thrilled because I had tried every way I knew how to identify cobber's '36 which is pinned and re-pinned on almost every vintage caravan Pinterest thread in the US. And there it was with the history! Fantastic van cobber!
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Post by Roehm3108 on Nov 25, 2012 5:56:58 GMT 10
Thanks for the info c.i.b! Sounds like you have your hands full in retirement - at least you'll be out of your other half's hair for a while ;D ;D ;D A pit you had to tell all about cobber's '36 - he's got enough of a swelled head already . But it is a cool van and looks even better in real life!!
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Post by crikeyitsbruce on Nov 25, 2012 12:30:55 GMT 10
Roehm3108...cobber isn't the only Member of your forum who has a stunning caravan...if any of them were mine, I would have to modify the doorway just to get my head in the van.
I still do not know my way around this site yet, so I apologize for asking the question here, but this pic is also pinned and repinned a lot and I am very interested in adapting the wheel-well "skirt" to a small smooth-sided aluminum caravan in the future. Do the "skirts" simply bolt to the bondwood siding, and what are those very cool accent pieces, reflectors?
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Post by kaybee on Nov 25, 2012 14:27:46 GMT 10
Hiya Crikey, those accent pieces are these..... ....the lower ones are what you saw,all were made locally by "Streamlux" in the late 50's , early 60's, probably inspired by the Buick "portholes"..... cheers, Col.
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Post by cobber on Nov 25, 2012 14:58:12 GMT 10
G'day Bruce, Thanks for noticing Ol' 36 and if your search for info about her helped lead you to this site........that's good Thanks for your comments too Ray Mate, I don't see any resemblance between the Hawthorn and the Travelo but maybe you are looking at a different Hawthorn to those in DHL The Atlantic van you're asking about now Bruce belongs to our Mrfj55.......got some nice photos of it here in the members profiles so he'll let you know how he glued the spats on when he sees the post. Thanks for the info regarding Travelo in the US...it would be fair to say yours and ours developed independent of each other. Don't be offended if the posts regarding things other than Travelo caravan history get moved elsewhere Bruce, they/we like to keep the DHL section free of waffle ;D that's all. Cobber.
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Post by Roehm3108 on Nov 25, 2012 15:03:15 GMT 10
Those spats, you will find are screwed into the frame itself, but MrFJ55 will be able to tell you more once he reads this. he too will be chuffed that his little Atlantic is getting some overseas attention.
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Post by seeshell on Nov 25, 2012 20:01:04 GMT 10
Hi All Gee that van looks like one owned by Maurie (MRFJ55) and his lovely wife - I believe the van's name is Doris. I'm sure I've seen this same van with her in a 1950's pinafore dress and a duster. Darned if I can find the picture though. Here's another shot of it: somewhereelse.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/1950s-atlantic-caravan-1.jpgAnd text from the Somewhere Else website (www.somewhereelse.com.au): Here’s a stylish retro touring rig that feels like an icon from Australia’s holidaying past. The tow car is a 1955 FJ Holden ute/pickup and the vintage caravan is an early 1950s Atlantic, nicknamed Doris. The rig belongs to Maurie C, who quips that he has a bit of a weakness for curves. So he loves the rounded shape of both the car and the caravan. You may remember that we have previously featured another of Maurie’s cars – an FX (or model 48-215 if you are a purist) Holden convertible. You can read our feature article about this rig in the December 2009 issue of Caravan World magazine. But you’ll need to hurry, since the next issue is due out soon. Cheers, Seeshell
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Post by crikeyitsbruce on Nov 26, 2012 15:04:41 GMT 10
Thanks all for your great info. I am glad to have any of my comments shifted to the right sections...we do the same thing on the Vintage Shasta Trailer Forum the other proboards site I am very active on. As I said I'm here to learn and oooh and aaah!
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Post by Don Ricardo on Nov 26, 2012 23:09:59 GMT 10
Hi Crikeyitsbruce,
I would like to join with those who have posted before me to welcome you to the V V forum, and to thank you for the info you've provided about US Travelo trailers and your own trailers. It's fascinating, and what a collection you have! As you may have gathered from looking around the forum, we are always pleased to hear from vintage caravan enthusiasts from other places around the world and to hear about their vans - and its very encouraging when they show an interest in our Australian touring heritage, as you have.
You mentioned that you were happy for your posts to be moved to a more appropriate location, and since some of your posts and the posts that have responded to yours have moved away from the Australian Travelo vans, I have moved the posts to this new thread in the "Member's Photo Album" section where the discussion can be of a more general nature than in the Down History Lane (DHL) section. However, I have copied your initial post back to the DHL Travelo thread and provided a link to this thread. I hope you are OK with all that?
I was interested in your comment about the "American front" which was used to describe the Australian Ramble(r) caravans in the late 50's or early 60's. We weren't sure what that meant, but from your description it refers to the 'bulge' over and under the front window which became a very common style on Australian vans in the early 60's, and I presume was common in the US at around the same time. Perhaps Ramble(r)s were one of the first van manufacturers to adopt that style in Australia, and therefore made mention of it in their advertising? I don't know whether or not that's true though. We know very little about Ramble(r) caravans.
I liked your description of your Travelo as being a 'breadloaf' caravan. That is a very good description. The style is not unlike what we on the forum refer to as a 'toaster' style van, because the vans remind us of a pop-up bread toaster. The most common 'toasters' were built by Carapark, but you may have noted that they are not dissimilar in design to your breadloafs.
I also have to comment on your forum handle: Crikeyitsbruce. It's a very Australian name - 'crikey' is an Australian slang expression indicating surprise, and Bruce is a not uncommon Australian given name in the generation of men in their 50's and older, although I know there are a lot of Bruce's in the US as well. But perhaps you know all that and that's why you chose your handle, or perhaps you even have some connection with Australia?
Don Ricardo
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MRFJ55
Full Member
" KEEP HOLDEN ON "
Posts: 441
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Post by MRFJ55 on Nov 27, 2012 16:10:13 GMT 10
G'DAY BRUCEY BABY HOW THE HELL ARE YOU ! YEP DORIS IS MY LITTLE V V. I HAVE OWNED HER FOR 14 YEARS . ALL TIMBER CONSTRUCTION WITH A LIGHTWEIGHT STEEL CHASSIS (2 1/2''- 1 1/2'' C-SECTION) CONSISTING OF SIX LENGTHS GOING N-S AND FOUR LENGTHS GOING E-W . WITH THE SHORTEST A-FAME(16 INCHES) . OVERALL DIMENSIONS - 9'6'' LONG(NOT INCLUDING A-FRAME) - 6' WIDE - 7'9'' HIGH DRY WEIGHT - 837 POUNDS. THE WHEEL SPATS ARE MADE OF PLYWOOD AND ARE SIMPLY SCREWED INTO THE TIMBER FRAME. I ADDED THESE FOR A BIT MORE CHARACTER AS THE ORIGINAL WHEEL ARCH WAS SMALLER AND A BIT PLAN LOOKING .THEY STILL REMAIN UNDER THE NEW SPATS . I USED AN EARLY MODEL FX HOLDEN SPAT AS A TEMPLATE SO AS TO MATCH THE TOW VEHICLE . THE ACCENT PIECES ARE EXACTLY AS MENTIONED ABOVE AND I THINK SET THE WHOLE "SHOOTIN MATCH" OFF NICELY . I LOVE DORIS ! CHEERS BIG EARS . REGARDS 8-)MAURIE p.s WHERE IN AMERICA ARE YOU ?
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