A Book " Galloping Bungalows"

[Deleted]

Hi All.

I picked up a book at a garage sale today.
It is hard bound.
Titled
"Galloping Bungalows..The Rise and Demise of the American House Trailer" By Thornburg Archon.....

(I cant believe i am typing this. I have very little interest in Old caravan mags, manuals and books etc. I leave that sort of trivia to the established Historians and researchers on this site).
Just thought it might be of some interest ....

The book contains 197 pages and has some excellent photos . It dates yankee vintage trailer homes back to around 1917


Caption reads: In the poorer camps, like this one near san diego, there was no paving or landscaping, and the prime requirement for a trailer park - shade- was missing. During the war such parks became common"..


caption is clear enough to read.
.


Caption reads:
Aviator Glenn curtiss built his camping trailer in 1917. a fifth wheeler he called "the Bungalow". A clever combination of aeroplane and boat design. It became the prototype of the house tralers of the thirties and forties !!


Oh bugger this . I am taking my book and heading off to bed for a read. Might post some more pictures tomorrow night.

Wheres my Teddy..... Good night now.
Mr Bean

[cobber]

That's good stuff Reddo... shows the Yanks did
have some variety in their vans in the old days.

Now that you've started reading up on the historical
side of this hobby keep your eyes open for some
Aussie stuff aye

Cobber.
P.S. Don't know what you paid for it ol' mate but the
cheapest price for it on a book search is $123 and it
goes up to $381 and there's only seven of them
available in the whole world

"The person who won't read has no advantage over the one who can't read".
Mark Twain.

[Deleted]

Hi Cobber ..Me n Teddy had a bit of a read last night before "lights out"

Seems Mr David A Thornburg spent 2 years researching his book. It is based around the heady days of "Trailerites " taking their "trailer Homes" on Holidays ( liesure or working) from the early 20s through to around 1952 or there abouts.
He spent 2 years researching his material and it deals with not only the vans but the Trailer home craze that gripped America back then.
He talks a lot about how people took to the roads in old trailer homes .. back as far as pre 1920s
people saw it ( the lifestyle) as a way of avoiding taxes , rent , and the everyday ho hum of life.. ( Smart people us vanners).

The book differs from most books i have seen and read ( not many may i add) about vintage caravans. Blokes like K.winser basically illustrated designs and talked about layouts, weight distribution. etc . etc.
This book deals with the evolution and subsequent boom in trailer homesin USA and ... what he referrers to as "Trailerites" .. those people that became obssessed with the lifestyle of being on the road.

It is interesting to read comments from the early Trailer home owners ( what is referred to as "Tin Canners" in his book).
comments like .... "everywhere we stop at people are asking questions like can you sleep in there"?? .. "Do you live in there"??

"Where do i go to buy one". ??.. "Can you build me one??"...

;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

Now where have we all heard that before

There is a comment in the book from around 1937 that states.
" There is 6 major citys in America... the 7th is the Trailer home citys"
It appears that the first person to realise the potential to mass produce "Trailer Homes" in America was Mr Arthur George Sherman.
He had a really bad camping experience in in 1928 with a very flash hired canvas folding camper set up.. ...It flogged down rain and it took him and his wife 20 minutes to erect a 5 minute assembly of canvas and poles in therain ( sound familiar ).
He came home and designed and built his first trailer home.. it was made of Plywood ;D PAUSE HERE TO APPLAUD MR SHERMAN......
The business venture was a success (Hmmmm.. "Is wood is Good " ) say again... "a success " and he went on to sell tens of thousands of his creations...

MAN I WISH I WAS AROUND BACK THEN AND KNOW WHAT I KNOW NOW !!! . ;D ;D ;D ;D
Heres a few more pics from the book.









Highlight of the book for me so so far??

The acknowledgement that "Gypsy trailers" .. or "Trailer homes " as the Americans came to call them ,, was a BRITISH IDEA which dated back hundreds of years before Trailer homes became popular in America.
What Mr Thornburg states his compatriots claim to fame is that the english never took extended holidays in their vans due to the cold climate up there..
His countrymen took the Trailer home on very extended Holidays, selling up their homes for a life on the road ( what we call "The Grey Nomads" here in OZ ;D) and actually living in them permanently on working Holidays for several years at a time.. moving on to where ever work was plentiful.. fruit picking...also the outskirts of Detroit was popular back in the 30's and 40s due to the boom in the Automobile industry .
Even upon retirement they chose not to moveback to the "mainstream Home ownership stereotype"... again harking back to the days of the first "The Grey Nomads
Plain to see the yanks seen the benefits in what the likes of Lovshack, Daggsey and carrots , The Kingys call... "On the Wallaby".

How lucky are the the likes of these guys.

As i said earlier, The book not only captures some of the major players in the'Merican van building industry back then ( sorry Will & Lyn .. no mention of Airstreams as yet) but also describes in detail the emergence of the Trailer home parks in places like sunny Florida and how the owner occupants of the trailers where looked upon by mainstream Americans as "Bums, vagabonds and tramps"....

Hmmmpphh... Just let someone call me that while i am enjoying a cold "King Brown" out of my old tin Malleys esky in some outback "trailer Park"

More later.

OBTW.. value of book noted. I thought it was much older when i picked it up. It was printed in 1991.by the shoestring Press Inc. Hamden . Connecticut . USA
Photos are courtesy "library of of Congress"....
Might be worth" googling" them

Reddo

[Don Ricardo]

G'day Reddo,

Fascinating book you've got there. Keep going with the extracts - I'm enjoying them! Bit like being in primary school and sitting cross-legged on the mat while our teacher reads a few pages from a serial story book...then having to wait until tomorrow for the next instalment. ;D ;D

Does the book say anything more about the "bread loaf" Silver Dome van behind the 'York' caravan in the last pic you posted? It reminds me a bit of the 'Wildeshott' van in photos that came from Jennison's grandfather.

Don Ricardo

[cobber]

G'day Reddo,

Thanks for that rather generous book review ... keep 'em coming... especially those old time photos.

I'm not much of a fan of American 'vans because I don't think they had much influence on the development of the early Australian industry.... I think the British had an influence on the early design of touring caravans both in the USA and here, so I tend to collect books relating to the beginning of caravanning in the UK.

What you said about Keith Winser is pretty true... he didn't have a lot to say about the very early history of the caravan industry in Australia which is a shame, because he would have had the contacts to get that information.

But this book you have seems to be the type of book we need on the history of the caravan in Australia..... I wonder if we will ever see one

Cobber.

[Deleted]

Heres a cuppla more pix...


Is homemade.. is good


Hurry up woman.... i'm starving. Cint ya see ma ribs a stickin' through ma shirt



Well, well ... now where have i seen this scene before...

WHAT... ... NO ESKYS....!!!




Gunna git maself a hammer. some nails and a saw .. n.. ima gunna build Marylou one of them thar picket fences down in the good ol' shed of invention.... Llllllllllllllllllloooorrdy they look dang good now dont they Myrtle. ;D

Oh yar.. iza found this'n here ebay idum while i was browsin' US ebay .....

cgi.ebay.com/Galloping-Bungalows-The-Rise-and-Demise-of-the-America_W0QQitemZ350193743030QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUS_Nonfiction_Book?hash=item51892c74b6&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318|301%3A1|293%3A1|294%3A50

Decimal point dyslexic our American friends

My copy cost less than 94 cents

As Porky pig would say
"Thee..a , thee... a.....thee. a.. that's all folks

Reddo...Luney tunes