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Post by janbar1935 on Jul 6, 2021 12:06:19 GMT 10
Hi all, my grandfather George Borig built Janbar caravans in Sydney in the late 30s early 40s. The name Janbar came from my mother and my aunties names Janice and Barbara, hence Janbar.
The only reference I can find on the internet is an old add from a newspaper. When my Aunty sold her house in Clayton Melbourne there was a Janbar caravan in the driveway. It would be interesting to know if any of the vans my grandfather made are still around today.
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Post by Don Ricardo on Jul 6, 2021 13:31:39 GMT 10
Hi Janbar1935,
It's so interesting to hear about the Janbar caravans built by your grandfather. It's not a name we've heard of before on the forum, but it's always fascinating to hear about those who were involved in the early stages of the Australian caravan industry. It sounds like your grandfather may have been amongst them.
Although we haven't heard the Janbar name before, it may be possible that a photo of one of your grandfather's vans has been posted but we weren't able to identify it as such. Sometimes the signage on older vans has been painted over at some point, etc. Do you have any photos or descriptions of the vans?
I've done a quick search via newspapers.com and the National Library of Australia's 'Trove' search engine and have found quite a number of references to Janbar caravans in the Sydney Morning Herald from 1951 to 1958, but they are all line adverts offering Janbar caravans mostly for hire, but also for sale. It appears that the vans ranged in size though, because they were available as 2, 3 or 4 berth. Nevertheless the adverts do indicate that your grandfather was still active in the 50's.
We'd certainly like to hear more your grandfather and Janbar if you can tell us more.
Don Ricardo
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Post by mondotv on Feb 13, 2023 22:24:01 GMT 10
Hi Don - old post I realise - and I'm not sure which one of my family posted the original thread? But George is also my grandfather and I believe he started building caravans when work was tight (he was a plumber by trade) during the GreatvDepression. I think they made at least part of the frames out of galvanised pipe (because he was a plumber) and like nearly all vans back then they were a plywood shell. I have seen one when I was quite young and they had Janbar in italicised print across the back of the van. I'll check with my Mum but I doubt she has any old photos now. It would have to have started after 1937 because my mother (Janicej wasn't born until that year. I'm not sure how long the business ran but I do remember the house at Croydon quite well and I'm pretty sure he wasn't building them by the time I can recall which was the early sixties (born in dec 58). cheers John
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Post by Don Ricardo on Feb 18, 2023 10:24:27 GMT 10
Hi Mondotv, It was great to see your post about your grandfather and his Janbar caravans. I'm sorry I've taken a while to reply, but your post sent me back to reviewing what we know about Janbar, and also looking to see if any other information has become available via the National Library of Australia's Trove website since your cousin or sibling posted in 2021. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be anything new. It would be wonderful if you could chat to your mother and see what she can recall about her father's activities. Obviously photos would be gold, but anything she remembers about the caravans would be fantastic to hear. The 2021 post indicated that George Borig built Janbar vans around 1935 to 1940, and you have suggested a 1937+ commencement because of when your mother was born. The 1940 end date suggests that production may have stopped due to the commencement of World War II, as happened for many caravan manufacturing businesses. I cannot find any advertisements for Janbar in Sydney newspapers, etc, for that earlier period. So perhaps your grandfather just sold or hired out his caravans using word of mouth? There were many regular line adverts for Janbar caravans for hire in the Sydney Morning Herald from early in 1951 to 1954. According to my search on Trove, the first was published on Saturday, 20 January 1951 (page 21):  (Source: National Library of Australia nla.gov.au/nla.news-article27569546 ) A similar advert placed on Saturday, 4 August 1951 (page 22) included the address for Janbar - 6 Parramatta Road, Croydon:  The last advert printed in the Sydney Morning Herald was on Saturday, 24 April 1954 (page 29) and offered caravans for both sale and hire:  (Source: National Library of Australia nla.gov.au/nla.news-article18422156 ) These adverts raise a few questions that you or your mother may be able to answer: - Was 6 Parramatta Road a factory or the family home?
- Did your grandfather recommence building caravans more or less immediately after the War?
- Was your grandfather still building caravans in the early 50's?
- Were the vans he was hiring out (and selling) in the early 50's vans he had built himself, or was it a fleet of caravans built by others that he put together to hire out as a business?
- The last of the adverts was published in April 1954 - did your grandfather wind up his caravan business at around that time, or did he continue after that?
It will be really interesting to hear more about your grandfather's activities. Don Ricardo |
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