Jennison Caravan Cruisers [pre-1945] (Adelaide & Cremorne)

[Don Ricardo]

POST UPDATED - JANUARY 2021

Jennison Road Cruisers and Jennison Caravan Cruisers

Manufactured by John A Jennison, Salisbury SA
and later by Jennison Caravan Cruisers Pty Ltd
292-6 Military Road, Cremorne NSW

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Note: Jennison caravans were manufactured by John A Jennison and his several companies, and after his death in 1950 by the Pym family, from 1933 to 1967. As a result the history of Jennison caravans has been placed into three separate threads, each reflecting a distinct era of Jennison production. The purpose is to make information about each era easier to find:

• 1933-1944: Jennison Road/Caravan Cruisers - this thread
• 1945-1961: Jennison Pathfinder
• 1962-1967: Pathfinder (by Jennison)

In early 1939, the Jennison Caravan Cruiser company also produced a coach style caravan which has been referred to as the "Wildeshott" caravan, and is the subject of its own thread.

In addition to producing Jennison caravans, John Jennison was involved in the development of Nomad caravans produced by the Trailer Engineering Co from 1937 to 1943.  Jennison was a creative and inventive person and turned his mind to a number of different automotive and mechanical projects, some of which are recorded here

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In 1952, following John Jennison's death, his wife Doris wrote an article for a magazine telling the story of their involvement in the caravan industry, from the construction of their first caravan to the development of the Jennison Pathfinder. Interestingly, as Doris told it, the idea of building a van was at her instigation.

Forum member Jennison has kindly provided a copy of the draft of his grandmother's article to be posted here. The text is as it appears in the draft apart from the correction of some typos.

The story of “Jennison Pathfinder Caravans”

by D Jennison

“Big Trees from Little Acorns Grow”

What made your husband begin on Caravans? I have been asked over and over again. Nothing more romantic at first, than having a family of three, we found camping the most comfortable, satisfactory and economical type of holiday possible. Moreover every one had a holiday and could do pretty much as the mood dictated. Consequently when I came upon an article on Caravanning in an English magazine, I was very interested.

At this time John A. Jennison was proprietor of a Service Station in Salisbury, South Australia, and summer temperatures were often well over the 100 mark for days on end.

A sweltering night, and the bed almost too hot to lie on and no hope of sleeping, I wistfully thought out loud of the pleasure it would be to have a Caravan parked under shady trees on the banks of a cool flowing river. “Have you got that Magazine handy?” J.A.J enquired, I had and produced it. He was nothing if not impulsive, and to think a good thought was to get busy with a pencil and paper. So at about 2 am we sat up in bed, and the plans for the first Jennison Caravan were begun.

First came a lot of paper work as to weight, balance, materials and costs etc, then the plans were properly drawn. We were doing our camping in a caravan in future and this one was to be ready for the next Christmas Holiday period. Work was begun with the aid of a friend who was a wizard with tools, and all slack periods in the Garage were used up, and much midnight oil was burned in the months that followed.

As the work progressed, all hands and the cook were pressed into service, where ever and when ever possible. Even if one only held the portable light for a while for those hard to see spots of work. Cutting off screw ends with a hacksaw, holding windows and doors in place while screws were driven in to hold the hinges, also the upholstery and curtain making were my job. We were so tired in spots that I almost wished I’d never seen that article on Caravans.

However, it was finished at last, at about five minutes to Christmas, and we packed up and set off. I cannot say we enjoyed that trip. Nerves were at cracking point. How would it track, would the old Chev. truck make the graded up Sellicks Hill with a trailer in tow?

It fell to my lot to watch it round the curves, to see if there was any tailwag or hopping or rolling, and if it followed the track of the truck tyres. My neck felt as if I would never get the kink out of it again, and my eyes looked like being set cornerwise for good. J.A.J himself was like a cat on hot bricks, and woe betide any of the family who felt like being smart in the wrong places. There was more to it than just performance, he had calculated balance etc on paper, and his pride would have suffered badly had he been wrong. However for all her plain appearance, she was a perfect lady, and sailed along as if trailing was no new thing to her at any rate.

The building of that first Caravan created such interest in and around Salisbury, that it was a leading topic of conversation. Interested spectators held up the work dreadfully in spots, and requests for hiring it when it should be completed were so numerous, that the commercial possibilities of Caravan building impressed Himself very forcibly. He did not fancy the risk of hiring it however, so after we returned from our holiday he sold it and began work on another, which had some improvements on the first.

When this second ‘Van went up for sale, a camping visitor to S.A. Mr B.T. Hassell of Mosman inspected it, but was of the opinion that it was too high for safe towing and commissioned the designing of a lower type for his use. The Collapsible roof Jennison Road Cruiser was the result. On completion this ‘Van was shipped to Sydney, and many headaches were endured over seeing it safely on board the ship, and waiting for word of its safe delivery.

A second ‘Van of this type was built for Mr Hassell and we decided to combine pleasure with business, by delivering it ourselves by road, and with the view of a probable starting up production in Sydney, which was home to us, although we had been away some thirteen years.

Eventually with Mr Hassell’s assistance we secured a small workshop in Cremorne, and Jennison Road Cruisers went into production. A hire fleet of these little Caravans was put on the road. Selling Caravans was hard work in those early days. People wanted to try things out first, and hiring really was the education period for the present Caravanner. There was certainly no waiting list of purchasers at that time.

Gradually as sales were effected, the demand for bigger and better Caravans was created, and the domed roof Caravan became popular. However J.A.J felt he could improve on these, and a company was formed and bigger premises on Military Road were secured. Here improvements both in exterior and interior fittings were effected and the lantern roof job came into favour. This was the beginning of roof ventilation. Height had been a bugbear at first, but by designing a cranked axle which a Sydney firm made up for him, he had conquered this.

Some time later J.A.J joined the staff of Nomad T.E.C. as designing engineer, taking with him a new design. This was a streamlined domed roof coach. It was a really beautiful job, but its construction was too costly to be able to produce it profitably for sale in those prewar days, before Caravans became a must with so many of the motoring public. Modification was the only answer to this, and the J model Nomads that followed, formed a very fine hire fleet which was always popular and kept very busy.

The War stepped in at this period and Caravans had to be shelved. J.A.J joined the Small Arms factory at Lithgow and was later transferred to an Annexe at Marrickville, until the end of the war.

With peace proclaimed his mind returned to his old love and he designed the first Pathfinder for Mr R. Sturrock of Mosman. Then Mr J.C. Burrell joined him and the Jennison Trailer Engineering Co. came into being.

The “Jennison Pathfinder” has had improvements here and there in interior fittings, but the Streamlined exterior had reached the perfection that had been the ultimate aim over the years, and this has stayed as standard.

The long lifting roof and walled floor giving head room without excessive overall height. The elimination of all waste space, and the utility of four rooms, Lounge, Bed, Dining and Kitchen all fitted into the space of a small sleepout, with a good area of floor space left, has about reached the acme of Caravan perfection. Finish in the less seen, as well as in those that are seen parts, have always been strong points of the “Pathfinder”, and the most common remark of inspecting clients has been “No other Caravan has the finish of this one”.

We his family feel that the “Jennison Pathfinder” is a fitting memorial to the man whole love of his job has made the “Pathfinder” what it is. The Aristocrat of Caravans.

Jennison has also provided a photo of the first Jennison van mentioned in the article (the people in the photo are unknown):



The caption states "Jennison 1st van  Built 1933  Sold 1934"

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[The following was originally posted on the Jennison Pathfinder thread on 6 March 2008, and relates to the 'Collapsible roof Jennison Road Cruiser' referred to in Doris Jennison's magazine article above.]

Hi all,

I've had quite a few interesting conversations recently with Jennison about his grandfather, John Alfred Jennison, who manufactured Jennison Pathfinder caravans.

John Jennison was a very innovative motor engineer who was born in New South Wales, but started building caravans in South Australia before returning to Sydney in 1936/7. John Jennison had broad mechanical interests, and during his lifetime built not only caravans but also racing cars and speedboats.

As Jennison told us in his posts of 21 January 2008, he has been able to obtain from the Australian National Archive "...copies of his original designs and patent applications for a pop top van submitted in 1935".

Jennison has asked me to post these documents for him. The application consists of a number of pages, but is well worth reading - a real gem of Australia’s caravan heritage. And check out the photo at the end of the post!

Don Ricardo





































Jennison has pointed out that, although at this stage it can't be proved, there are obvious similarities between the description of the caravan described in the patent application and the following photo which is labeled as John Jennison’s ‘first caravan’. "If you look closely you can just make out the window in the door and on the side behind the door, in the 'first van' photo and that they match up with one of the diagrams in the patent application."



Note the shape, the height of the van compared to the vehicle, and the height of the door. Jennison’s comment is that: “I would think that given he built his first van around 1930, that he would use his "current design/model" as the basis or starting point for any pop top adaptations”.

[Don Ricardo]

Evidence that John Jennison actually implemented the plans for a pop-top caravan contained in his application for a patent (see post above), is provided by the following photos from Jennison. The first photo show the framework for the pop-top at the back of John Jennison's workshop in Salisbury, South Australia sometime in the early 1930's:



Note the large pop-top opening in the roof.

The second photo shows the frame from a slightly different angle, and includes a metal bar. Jennison surmises that "...the bar was I think fitted during travel to stop frame movement/wear because of lack of roof structure/bracing":



The bar in the picture has actually been added by hand in ink. The back of this photograph includes a notation by John Jennison:



The notation says: "...Suggested Tie rod position shown in snap removable when camping". A cross section drawing of the bar is also shown.

The notation makes reference to the placement of the door caravan, which ties in very closely with the location of the door of the van shown in the photo at the end of the preceding post.

One of the features of John Jennison's later Jennison Pathfinder caravans built in the 40's and 50's was the very large roof hatch which was significantly longer than the hatches fitted to other caravans of the period. It seems reasonable to assume that the origins of these large roof hatches lies in his original concept of a pop-top caravan. For more information about Jennison Pathfinder caravans go to the following location:
vintagecaravans.proboards30.com/index.cgi?board=chat&action=display&thread=1197787600&page=1

Source: Photographs and information posted on behalf of Jennison

[Don Ricardo]

In 1936/37 John Jennison moved his business to Sydney from Salisbury in South Australia. According to Jennison: “…someone from NZ originally persuaded John Jennison to leave SA to open a factory in NZ. It was after he hit Sydney that there were problems with NZ trade/business protection laws…(and) he stayed and expanded in Sydney instead”.

By the end of the 30’s John Jennison had established a factory in Cremorne. Jennison’s mother remembers that the first factory was in Parraween Street. This was soon moved to 298 Military Road. Jennison shut down his factory during WW2 and took a job as an engineering foreman at the Lithgow small arms and ammunition factory for the course of the war. After the war he re-opened his business at 500 Military Road, Mosman. The Cremorne factories were where the production of Jennison Pathfinder caravans commenced.

These photos show John Jennison standing beside/inside the frame of a caravan in a lane at the back of what is thought to have been the Parraween Street factory:





The shape of the frame and the large hatch opening in the roof are strong indicators that the frame was for a Pathfinder caravan. One of the features of the Pathfinder design was a very large hatch area compared to other caravans of the time, and indeed modern caravans.

In regard to the vehicle that can been seen in both of these photos, Jennison has commented: “NOTE the vehicle behind the V V frame, this is the one that Cobber probably owned at one stage!!”. ;D ;D ;D Please note Cobber, this is Jennison’s comment, not mine!

Any thoughts from anyone about what the vehicle may have been? It is certainly very streamlined for the period.

Following are some further Jennison factory shots. It is not certain whether these are all of the same building, or whether they are of a series of factory buildings over time:



Notice the range of caravans in this photo, including a Nomad, two Pathfinders and what appears to be a smaller version of the Pathfinder. For further information on the Nomad caravan click here





The Jennison ‘Willys Jeep Wagon' in the foreground of the last photo indicates that this pic is from the post-WW2 period, even though the dates of the other photos are uncertain.

(Source: Photographs and information provided by Jennison)

[kingy]

WHAT is THAT parked behind the van in the first photo

[firefighter]

::)Hi kingy

good question

the 2nd photo the rear shot of the car is a......... 36 chev sedan
f/f ;D ;D ;D ;D

[Jennison]

Yeah guys you are right there . Donricardo and my point regarding "what sort of vehicle is that? referred to the laneway picture with the vehicle facing towards the photographer. What the bloody hell is it? Sorry for the confusion !! regards Jeff

[sutcac]

Gotta be a 'homebuilt' on an Austin Atlantic chassis ................no? ..............well at least I had a guess. ................all be it,..... a not very 'edumacated" one ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

[neilncheryl]

Forerunner to the Citroen 2CV?
Europeon Delivery Van?

By the style of the front split windscreen, curve of the front guards & teardrop like pattern on the side I'm guessing that a caravan manufacturer had a play at building a mini motorhome.

[Jennison]

I'm glad you guys said that because the first time I noticed the vehicle(actually it was bobshannon who picked it out on a tiny original photo) we decided that it was home built with a very much VV or motorhome feel and look about it. Another possible JA Jennison project or experiment!!
Jeff

[Don Ricardo]

Posted on behalf of Jennison

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Photo of a 1933 Jennison Pop-top published in a promotional supplement of the North Shore Times (which is still published and distributed in parts of northern Sydney). Judging by the HQ Holden in the illustration at the top, the paper was published sometime between 1971 and 1974.



Note the outline of the pop-top roof which is clearly visible in the photo, and the characteristic Jennison swoosh, which appeared on some of the later vans in a modified version.

Pity the bottom part of the text is missing. Maybe somebody still has a copy of this edition of the North Shore Times lying around their caravan? Earlee where are you... ;D ;D ;D

[Jennison]

G'day all,
As a matter of interest if you check the nomad thread, Bobbin head (1939?-40?-didn't check!) JAJ was still using the same towcar by the looks of it!
My mum reckons it-(1933) is the van they towed from SA to Sydney with.
I have a contact in the library at the telegaph(nth shore times is owned by murdoch) who is going to check the microfish for the rest of the article!
Jennison

[Jennison]

Nth shore times is owned but unfortunately run differently to tele. They want $140 to search for the article. If they wanted around $40 i might have considered it but at $140 they can jam it!!!!
Jennison

[Jennison]

Donricardo, the Roadcruiser might very likely be that one featured in the nth shore times photo, quoted as a 1933 model . It would match in with the fact we don't/didn't have a name for the vans JAJ built in SA , our photographic records and now powerhouse museum article stating the Nomad being constructed in Sydney
regards Jennison

[Franklin1]

From the Sydney Morning Herald archives, comes this information...

Sunday 23 May, 1971, Page 58



Using a magnifying glass on my computer screen (...Sherlock Holmes, eat your heart out!...), and making a couple of guesses on the words and the years, I think the caption under the photo says:

How times have changed! (Left) the first Australian built caravan, the 1933 Jennison, and right, the 1971 Chesney.

Maybe one day we'll see that actual newspaper and see if my guesses are right

cheers,
Al.

[Jennison]

Franklin 1
If I,m right a copy will on the site shortly. In 1971 the Sydney Morning Herald sponsored the NSW caravan and mobile home show in Sydney and my grandmother, Doris attended as a VIP. I will send copies of newspaper article and my grandmothers original invitation from the tourism minister to Donricardo for posting. I have them already on computer
regards Jennison

[Jennison]

Yep, Franklin 1, I have the orginal newspaper. Article and invitation on the way to DonR Jennison
PS Geoff Robinson and Franklin caravans get a mention in the article as well!!

[Jennison]

The roadcruiser in the article extract posted by franklin 1 above is very similar to the "Nevs" Nomad we were looking at a while back on this thread .We know JAJ called his vans roadcruisers up to about 1935-6 and then Nomads after that. Could it be after all , that Nevs Nomad is a Jennison? built on the "cusp" of relocation from SA to Sydney and the name change?? Jennison

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Editorial comment - December 2020: More recent research has established that John Jennison produced his Jennison Road Cruiser and Jennison Caravan Cruisers up to at least 1940. Nomad caravans were produced by a separate company called Transport Engineering Co established by Henry Young. John Jennison worked with Young on the design of Nomad caravans but no Jennison caravans were called Nomads. Don Ricardo

[Don Ricardo]

Article and invitation referred to by Jennison in above post:

[Don Ricardo]

Hi Jennison,

Comparing the pics of Nev's father's van here

and the pic of your grandfather's van in the following article:



I'm pretty sure that Nev's father's van is much newer than the Jennison in the newspaper pic. Nev's father's van has aluminium windows, which I gather dates it as mid-50's at the earliest. In addition to me the profile of the rooves on the two vans are quite different. These two points lead me to the conclusion that Nev's father's van isn't an early 30's Jennison. However, that's just my opinion and I'm open to alternative arguments.

The other thing to mention is that the Jennison van pictured in the Sun-Herald above, is quite different from the pic of the van purported to be the first Jennision, published in the North Shore Times:



The North Shore Times pic fits better with other photos of your grandfather's vans from the early 30's, so I wonder if the Sun-Herald photo is actually of a later van. You are probably able to identify whether the people in the Sun-Herald photo are your grandparents...?

Regards,

Don Ricardo

[kingy]

That's some great history you guy's are unearthing of my favorite vans, keep it up ;D - kingy

[Franklin1]

Hi Jennison, back on page 3 of this thread you've posted (via Don Ricardo) a newspaper feature story about the 1971 Sydney Caravan Show. In that article it tells the story of the start of Jennison caravans in Sydney and how they were originally called Jennison Roadcruisers before becoming Pathfinders.

Two years later leading up to the 1973 Caravan Show, [CORRECTION] - In the leadup to the 1971 Caravan Show, a feature article appeared in the May 23 newspaper, and gave an overview of what people would see at the Show.

This is the important part:

"HISTORICAL
FIVE VINTAGE caravans in the historical section are likely to be the basis of Australia's first caravan museum. The organiser of the section, and vice-president of the Caravan Trades and Industries Association, Mr John Morris, says some of the vans have only recently been discovered and restored.
You'll see an American covered waggon, reminiscent of the old west, a 12ft restored gipsy caravan, the first Millard caravan produced in Australia, the first Jensen and an early Chesney more than 30 years old.
Now that the vintage caravans have been collected "under one roof", consideration will be given to forming a museum - probably based in Sydney."

That's the story as printed. Note the word 'Jensen', because a month later in June there was a follow-up article about how well the show went, etc etc. Included in that follow-up article was a photo of the first Jennison Roadcruiser built, which had appeared at the show...



[photo reference: Sun-Herald 1971 June 06 page 117]

So there you go. Now all you have to do is find out where it is. Shouldn't be too hard...after all, it was restored in the early 1970s so it should still be around somewhere.

...don't come home till you've found it!! ;D ;D

cheers,
Al.

[Deleted]

Al,
I'll probably get 'busted' for posting this here , but that is a fascinating article.
To think that waaaaay back in 1973, there was interest in old caravans, and thoughts of starting a caravan museum, ......and I'm also fascinated that way back then they used the words "vintage caravan"

Thanks for posting that .......awesome

Mark

[Jennison]

Well done Al, what a beauty. I WILL BE INVESTIGATING FURTHER!!!!!!!! regards jeff

PS I have sent an email to the caravan and camping assoc of NSW . Never know your luck!!

[Franklin1]

I found this article in a 1972 Sydney Sun-Herald newspaper...



...and a close-up of the caravan...



I believe this van relates to John Jennison's original pop up model.

_{[Ref: SH 1972 10 01 78]}

[Jennison]

THat is JAJ and my mum,Betty (aged about 12) in the photo! Mum confirmed it today when I showed her the pic, so 1935/36 fits in nicely with what we know- I gave her no background info to the photo before I showed it to her and she was quite definite in her recollection of the day
regards..........
PS As I said in the general thread, it is a Jennison Roadcruiser