Yaralla Caravans (East Oackleigh, Vic)

[Don Ricardo]

YARALLA CARAVANS

Manufactured and/or sold by Yaralla Caravans
291 Box Hill Road, East Oakleigh Vic

---

Hi all,

While searching for information about Glen Caravans, I came across a name I hadn't noticed before - Yaralla Caravans.

The first newspaper adverts for Yaralla I've been able to find were published in the Melbourne Age on Wednesday, 16 November 1955 (page 16):

As can be seen from the adverts, Yaralla was offering two 12ft, 4-berth caravans with 3-tone interiors, stainless steel sink, inner spring mattress, 13 gallon tank with pump and nine windows.

One of the intriguing elements about these adverts is that the first pf them refers to 'Yaralla Glen Caravans', and the mention of 'Glen' was how I came across the Yaralla adverts in the first place.  However, this is the only advert in which Glen is mentioned.  Was this a typo, or was there some connection between Yaralla and Glen caravans that appear to have been manufactured in nearby suburbs of Melbourne?  As far as we are aware, Glen had ceased producing caravans several years before the date of the Yaralla advert, but was someone - possibly a member of the Lewis & Matthew partnership, which had failed earlier - trying to revive the Glen name?  There isn't an answer to that question at this point.

Moving on, an advert placed a week later in the Age on Wednesday, 23 November 1955 (page 40) tells us a few more details about the Yaralla caravans:

It seems that, in addition to their other features, they were wired for 240 volt power, and had ample cupboard space, flywire screens and curtains.  They were priced at £550.

An advert printed in the Age on Saturday, 31 December 1955 (page 31) indicates that the 12 ft vans were 12 cwt in weight, but also that they were 'factory built' which suggests that they probably weren't built by someone in their backyard:

By January 1956, Yaralla was placing simpler adverts without much description.  This one from the Age on Saturday, 7 January 1956 (page 38) is an example:

Yaralla was offering caravans of 'any size', built to a standard fit out, or custom designed.

A later advert printed in the Age on Wednesday, 25 August 1956 (page 48) reveals that DIY purchasers could have a 10, 12 or 14 ft caravan completed to lockup stage:

It seems that Yaralla wasn't around for very long.  Their last advert was published in the Age on Saturday, 6 October 1956 (page 31), not quite 11 months after their very first advert in November 1955:

The unanswered question is whether Yaralla actually built their caravans or were procuring them from someone else, and merely acting as a sales agent.  The 31 December 1955 advert states that the caravans were 'factory built', but in whose factory?  The address of 291 Box Hill Road, East Oakleigh no longer exists under that road name, but a clue may be provided by the following advert for Eastleigh Sales & Service which appeared in the Age on Saturday, 14 November 1953 (Page 48):


(Source:  National Library of Australia nla.gov.au/nla.news-article206912913 )

Eastleigh was a service station that operated from the 291 Box Hill Road address.  Further adverts for Eastleigh appeared through to June 1955.  Then the following advert was published in the Melbourne Argus on Saturday, 2 July 1955 (page 30):

 
(Source:  National Library of Australia nla.gov.au/nla.news-article71665255 )

This advert for motor mechanics was on behalf of Oakleigh Sales & Service, also located at 291 Box Hill Road.  This may mean that 'Eastleigh Sales & Service' had changed its name to 'Oakleigh Sales & Service', or it may mean that the service station had a new owner.  However, it is worth noting that the Oakleigh advert was printed only a few months before Yaralla Caravans first announced itself in the classifieds.  It is also to be noted that Eastleigh, Oakleigh and Yaralla Caravans all had the same phone number (UJ1159).  I think in those days phone numbers tended to stay attached to a particular property, so the fact that the phone number was the same for all three businesses may not tell us a lot (and the after hours numbers for all three were different).  All the same, the adverts seem to suggest that in the second half of 1955, Eastleigh/Oakleigh Sales & Service may have decided to venture into the world of building and/or selling caravans?  That was not an uncommon move for people involved in the motor trade in that period.

There is more to be discovered about Yaralla Caravans though, I think. 

All of the above items have been sourced from www.newspapers.com unless otherwise indicated.

Don Ricardo