Post by Don Ricardo on Mar 3, 2007 21:32:29 GMT 10
Hello everyone,
I'm interested in finding out whether any V V'ers out there have any information about the use of caravans by government departments in the years prior to 1970.
In a post last week about colour schemes for early Dons, Mark mentioned that Doug and Vicki’s 12’ van had been painted grey because it was originally produced for government use:
vintagecaravans.proboards30.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=1171804732&page=2
The Don sales brochure of the late 40’s mentions the production of “COMMERCIAL DISPLAY MODELS suitable for all purposes”. It also proudly states that:
“For TEMPORARY HOUSING REQUIREMENTS on rural work, many “Don” caravans have been sold to contractors, farmers and graziers, Shire Councils and various large industrial organizations. Several repeat orders have been supplied to the Postmaster General’s Department, the Public Works Department of Victoria and other Government Departments for the accommodation of men engaged on important development projects.”
Maybe Doug and Vicki’s van was one of these?
When I was a kid (ie the 1950’s and 1960’s) it was not uncommon to see Victorian government Don caravans near road works, etc. I assume these were the Public Works Department (PWD) vans. Many Victorian V V’ers in their 50’s will probably have similar memories. However, my impression was that these vans were more along the lines of mobile sheds rather than mobile accommodation, as shown in the following picture.
I took this picture of a ‘PWD’ Don in 1983 near the wharf at Mallacoota Inlet in East Gippsland. I am not sure whether you will be able to pick it out from the photo on your screens, but the truck has red Victorian number plates beginning with 'M' which indicates that it is a Victorian government vehicle. So it would seem that the ‘PWD’ vans were still being used by the government in the mid-1980's (even if they were beginning to look a bit run down!). However, this is one of the last I ever saw on the road and they were getting rare then (the reason for taking the photo).
This van is pretty typical of the ‘PWD’ Dons I remember. A couple of points to note: From its length it seems to be derived from the 14' 6" model. The van is painted grey all over - no aluminium paint on the roof - and from memory this was always the case with the ‘PWD’ vans and the paint was always matt or low gloss. The windows also seemed to be pretty rudimentary - hatches rather than windows.
My impression was that the inside of the vans was pretty sparsely fitted out, but I may be wrong about that. There may have been a table, benches and a galley, however you will note that the van in the picture does not have a chimney on the roof (as the 'recreational' Model 140 Dons did). I don’t know whether or not vans such as these provided any sleeping accommodation, hence my comment about them being mobile sheds.
It might be possible that this is a regular van which has been turned into a ‘shed’, except that similar vans painted the same colour and without normal windows were relatively common in Victoria for a couple of decades.
I’m interested to see what information other people can contribute on this topic – it all expands our fund of information about V V’s! (And if a PWD Don turned up it would an interesting addition to somebody's collection. Not me though - I don't have the room!)
Regards,
Don Ricardo
I'm interested in finding out whether any V V'ers out there have any information about the use of caravans by government departments in the years prior to 1970.
In a post last week about colour schemes for early Dons, Mark mentioned that Doug and Vicki’s 12’ van had been painted grey because it was originally produced for government use:
vintagecaravans.proboards30.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=1171804732&page=2
The Don sales brochure of the late 40’s mentions the production of “COMMERCIAL DISPLAY MODELS suitable for all purposes”. It also proudly states that:
“For TEMPORARY HOUSING REQUIREMENTS on rural work, many “Don” caravans have been sold to contractors, farmers and graziers, Shire Councils and various large industrial organizations. Several repeat orders have been supplied to the Postmaster General’s Department, the Public Works Department of Victoria and other Government Departments for the accommodation of men engaged on important development projects.”
Maybe Doug and Vicki’s van was one of these?
When I was a kid (ie the 1950’s and 1960’s) it was not uncommon to see Victorian government Don caravans near road works, etc. I assume these were the Public Works Department (PWD) vans. Many Victorian V V’ers in their 50’s will probably have similar memories. However, my impression was that these vans were more along the lines of mobile sheds rather than mobile accommodation, as shown in the following picture.
I took this picture of a ‘PWD’ Don in 1983 near the wharf at Mallacoota Inlet in East Gippsland. I am not sure whether you will be able to pick it out from the photo on your screens, but the truck has red Victorian number plates beginning with 'M' which indicates that it is a Victorian government vehicle. So it would seem that the ‘PWD’ vans were still being used by the government in the mid-1980's (even if they were beginning to look a bit run down!). However, this is one of the last I ever saw on the road and they were getting rare then (the reason for taking the photo).
This van is pretty typical of the ‘PWD’ Dons I remember. A couple of points to note: From its length it seems to be derived from the 14' 6" model. The van is painted grey all over - no aluminium paint on the roof - and from memory this was always the case with the ‘PWD’ vans and the paint was always matt or low gloss. The windows also seemed to be pretty rudimentary - hatches rather than windows.
My impression was that the inside of the vans was pretty sparsely fitted out, but I may be wrong about that. There may have been a table, benches and a galley, however you will note that the van in the picture does not have a chimney on the roof (as the 'recreational' Model 140 Dons did). I don’t know whether or not vans such as these provided any sleeping accommodation, hence my comment about them being mobile sheds.
It might be possible that this is a regular van which has been turned into a ‘shed’, except that similar vans painted the same colour and without normal windows were relatively common in Victoria for a couple of decades.
- Does anybody have any further information or memories about these ‘PWD’ Dons? Perhaps some V V’ers father used one for work?
- Were they as sparsely fitted out as I think they were?
- What other makes and types of vans were used for government or commercial purposes and were they normal vans or stripped versions? Somebody mentioned on a thread a while ago that aluminium Caraparks were often used by government departments.
I’m interested to see what information other people can contribute on this topic – it all expands our fund of information about V V’s! (And if a PWD Don turned up it would an interesting addition to somebody's collection. Not me though - I don't have the room!)
Regards,
Don Ricardo
........ Told ya thats the way our grandads use ta set up on tour. Gotta be within 10 feet of the tracks to be a true vintage van holiday 