Bluebird Caravans [Belmore, NSW]

[Don Ricardo]

BLUEBIRD CARAVANS [Belmore, NSW]

Hired and/or sold by Bluebird Caravans,

4 Robert Street, Belmore

and 780 Canterbury Road, Belmore  NSW

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Over the years there have been at least three manufacturers or dealers who have sold caravans or operated under the 'Bluebird' brandname. These include caravan manufacturers located in:

• Burwood, Victoria - click here
  
• Belmore, New South Wales - this thread
• Elsternwick, Victoria - click here

It seems unlikely that there were any links between these manufacturers/dealers. If anyone has information which shows a connection between these three companies, we will combine the threads.

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The earliest reference we have to the Bluebird Caravan company operating in Belmore, NSW, is the following advert for caravans for hire published in the Sydney Morning Herald [SMH] on Saturday, 20 November 1954 (page 28):


(Source: newspapers.com )

Similar adverts continued to be placed by Bluebird Caravans in the SMH right through to the end of 1956. There is no indication at this stage that the caravans for hire were branded as Bluebird vans.

On Saturday, 2 February 1957 the following advert was printed in the SMH (page 28):


(Source: newspapers.com )

This tells us that some of the vans - presumably the 2-berth models mentioned in the previous adverts were only 5 cwt and suitable for towing by 10 hp vehicles.  A similar advert placed in the SMH on Saturday, 12 July 1958 (page 38), expands on the 'all sizes' in the advert immediately above by revealing that there were 'six sizes' for hire.  It also refers to the vans as 'Bluebird caravans' although that might just be referring to the vans that Bluebird caravans had for hire, rather than indicating they were built by or branded as Bluebirds:

(Source:  newspapers.com)

A little less than a year later, on Saturday, 16 May 1959, Bluebird Caravans advertised in the SMH (page 42) that they had for hire the 'new Gypsy Holden' vans which were 4-5 berth and 11 cwt:

(Source:  newspapers.com)

The phrase 'Gypsy Holden' is intriguing, but I am supposing that it refers to a caravan built by Gypsy specifically to be towed by a Holden of the day. This was not an uncommon practice, and several other manufacturers told potential customers that their vans could be towed by a Holden.

The connection between Bluebird Caravans and Gypsy caravans continued and is reflected in the following adverts published in the SMH on Saturday, 29 October 1960 (page 39) which tell us that Bluebird was an agent for Gypsy (or was it Gipsy? ).  However, the first advert also refers to 'Bluebird' caravans in a way that suggests that the company was branding some caravans with the 'Bluebird' name at that point:

(Source:  newspapers.com)

Note that in the second advert immediately above that Bluebird Caravans was actually selling as well as hiring out Gypsy/Gipsy caravans.  The advert doesn't state that Bluebird Caravans was the 'Western Suburbs Agent', but that is evident from the address given.

Moving forward to Saturday, 16 February 1963, we find that Bluebird Caravans was now apparently an agent for Wayfarer caravans, and the company had moved to (additional?) premises at 780 Canterbury Road, Belmore:

(Source:  newspapers.com)

In 1965, the range of vans Bluebird Caravans had for hire had increased as reflected in this advert in the SMH on Sunday, 21 March (page 35), and included vans built not only by Gypsy, but also Millard and Goodtime.  The hire vans were still apparently available from 4 Robert Street, Belmore:

(Source:  newspapers.com)

The last advert for Bluebird Caravans I have been able to find in the press is this one published in the SMH on 24 July 1965 (page 48) for new aluminium vans for hire:

It is unclear from all of the above whether Bluebird Caravans branded any of the caravans they hired out or sold as 'Bluebirds' although there is a hint that they may have.  The only photographic evidence we have of a van supplied by Bluebird Caravans is the following caravan purchased by Caterpillar in Perth in 2015:

The manufacturer of this van is unknown at this point.  More photos can be found here.

I will conclude this post with one other intriguing possible connection.  On Wednesday, 11 October 1950 a private seller in Sydney advertised what appears to have been a second-hand Bluebird caravan in the SMH (page 24):

(Source: newspapers.com )

We are not aware of any caravan builders producing Bluebird vans in NSW at that point, so it might be possible that this van was built by whoever established Bluebird Caravans in Belmore, and that they became involved in the caravan industry earlier than the first SMH adverts for Bluebird Caravans in 1954 suggests. This is speculation, but I'm just noting the possibility.

Don Ricardo

[Don Ricardo]

Hi all,

The mystery about the various Bluebird caravans continues! As we've noted higher up this thread, and in other related threads, the 'Bluebird' brandname and/or business name was used by at least three different businesses in at least two different states (NSW and Victoria) at different periods in the Vintage era. As far as we can tell there was no connection between any of the businesses.

Recently a 1966(?) 'Blue Bird' caravan in Perth was advertised for sale on several Facebook pages (see here for a sample post):























There are several initial points to note about this van:

1. The sticker on the van says 'Blue Bird' (two words) not the usual 'Bluebird'.
2. The van was listed by the seller as a 1966 model, but the profile of the cladding and the style of blue panels suggests that it may be a little earlier, around 1963/4.
3. The van was for sale in Perth, and according to a sticker on the rear at one stage went through Fred Holman's second hand caravan dealership. Fred Holman was based in Perth.

What do we take out of these points? Given the spelling of 'Blue Bird' and that fact that the van was sold at some stage by Fred Holman in Perth, does that mean that the van may have been built in Western Australia by yet another business using the Bluebird brandname? Maybe, except that...

The caravan shown in the post immediately above this one was 'supplied by' the Bluebird Caravan business, located in Belmore, NSW (a suburb of Sydney). That caravan was also for sale in Western Australia, and had also been through the Fred Holman dealership in Perth at some point. One possibility is that Bluebird Caravans in Belmore exported caravans to Western Australia, perhaps through Fred Holman.

As indicated earlier, the design and finish of the caravan which is the subject of this post suggests that it was built around 1963/4, but possibly as late as 1966 if the seller is correct. That means it could have been built or sold by either Bluebird Caravans in Belmore, NSW or Bluebird Caravans in Elsternwick, Victoria. Both firms were operating around that period. However, given the WA and Fred Holman connection I have chosen to post the info about it on this (Belmore, NSW) thread. Ultimately that may turn out to be mistaken, but the info can be moved if that is the case.

Don Ricardo