Franklin History

[firefighter]

FRANKLIN CARAVANS

Manufactured by Franklin Caravans (proprietor Geoffrey Robertson)
Armstrong Street, Ballarat
then 7-9 Dawson Street North, Ballarat
then cnr of Learmonth Road & Caravan Street, Ballarat

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Hi All

I Have met up with Mal Coulter a former Franklin employee. Mal started working for Franklin at age 15 in 1960 as a body builder. His employee number at Franklin was 24. Mal is now the manager of the Avoca Caravan Park in Victoria. He spent 13 years building caravans in Ballarat. It was very interesting talking to Mal about his working experience at Franklin
Geoff Robertson the owner of Franklin Caravans started building vans at the rear of his father's Town Hall Hotel Armstrong St Ballarat. The Town Hall Hotel is no longer there, having being pulled down some time ago and the Myers Store is there now.
Geoff built 3 caravans at the back of the Town Hall Hotel possibly sold under the name of Robinson
( Al Franklin 1 has told me geoffs father told him to get the vans out of the hotel yard as there is no future in caravans )

Geoff Robertson then moved his business to 7-9 Dawson St Sth Ballarat and this is where Mal started working for Franklin. As the business grew, it outgrew Dawson St and moved to the outskirts of Ballarat. The new address Corner Learmonth Rd & (Sunraysia Highway) & Caravan Street Ballarat Once again as the business grew at this address the workers at the factory welders, carpenters etc. would work back at night and weekends to put another extension on the factory. ;D

When Mal started at Franklin, the welder had a full time job at another factory and would come to Franklin after he finished work there at night he also worked at Franklins at the weekends.
As more extensions were added to the factory the production line would weave its way through the factory. The production line was not like a car assembly production line. The vans would be pushed along to different sections to be assembled by chassis, roadwheels and jockey wheel. Mal remembers the bondwood sides being primed in redlead before they were stood up on the chassis. Another of Mal,s stories was that as a 15 year old aprentice he would ride his bike around the corner to another factory, pick up 6 table legs and ride back with them across the handlebars of his bike.
As you walk into the vans, on your left the cupboards up at roof level were round, these were made in about 6ft lenghts and sliced off at the depth of cupboard that was required. The corner was round so that you didn't hit your head on a square corner.
All upholstery was made on site. The body builders job was also making and fitting aluminium windows etc. One interesting story from Mal, the aluminium skin, insulation and inside ply was all molded together before being fitted to the vans. Some time in the 70's Franklin started to cast the word Franklin into couplings and the stainless steel sinks.
In its hey day Franklin was the largest company in Ballarat employing approx 300 people

The owner of Franklin Caravans Geoff Robertson in the end, sold the business to a consortium some years later the consortium closed Franklin Caravans up and the factory was sold and is now divided up into a lot of small factoryettes Geoff Robertson went on to become a developer in the Ballarat area.
If any of you franklin fans are passing through Avoco drop in and have a yarn with Mel maybe stop a day or 2 as it is a very nice c/park
photos of the factory as it is today to follow ;D
Cheers
Geoff ;D ;D ;D ;D

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Editorial note:  For further information about the history and beginnings of Franklin caravans click here.  Don Ricardo

[313royal]

Well spotted F/F its the details like this that add the the icing to the V V cake

313

[will and Lyn]

;D
looks like a little bit of divine intervention the phone camera has picked up Geoff
I guess we can start having van confirmations and Baptisms now

keep the photos coming guys
we were lucky enough to see that fantastic 5th wheeler restoration in Sth Australia last year
man I just luv those magnificent cars and Vans Royal 313

doo doo doo doo dood doo doo dooo doo


Will and Lyn

[firefighter]

sorry about the photos the way they are ,I will get Kris to delete
them and start again
F/F ;D ;D ;D ;D

[firefighter]

The following forum members have Franklin vans in
Members Photo Album

Franklin 1....... page 7 Als taken the plunge 1956 franklin ;D

Franklin1....... page 5 franklin freedom

Snail....... page 7 Snails vans 1960 franklin ;D

Tinnie ...... page 4 Our franklin 1960/61 ? (was my van F/F ) ;D

Jrod....... ...page 4 j rod & sams franklin 1969 franklin ;D

Rexbuick .......... page 4 1979 franklin ;D

Rexbuick............page 8 1968 franklin ;D

robertc..............page 3 my 70s franklin ;D

For Sale/Wanted

Maxine......page 7 1964 franklin now owned by Earlee

F/F ;D ; ;D ;

[tinnie]

Thanks Geoff for the history.
It is great to be able to learn early history on the favorite brand!!

To add a little to your piece about Franklin casting their name into components, I have had two early seventies Franklins (actually still got them). The oldest I think is 1972 , it has Franklin cast into the hydraulic brake hitch - actually it has the words "Franklin Engineering". It also has the ridiculous centre mount jocker wheel holder that forms part of the brake assembly. The sink has Franklin on it and the light shades have the Franklin 'arrowhead' symbol frosted onto them. All of these trends they continued through the seventies.

Incidentally, the Franklin brand has been reborn, to quote the site, Australia's Caravanning Icon...Is Back:
www.franklinrv.com.au/franklins.htm
Warning - link is to modern stuff that none of us would be interested in in a million years...... ;D ;D But it is good to see that the brand is not dead like most brands of the 50's and 60's. I shouldn't say dead, us vintage vanners continue the history!

Thanks again FF

Tinnie

[earlee]

hi there F/F.

you had better put my 1964 Franklin on the list as well ...

page numbers change so here is the link:

vintagecaravans.proboards30.com/index.cgi?board=forsale2&action=display&thread=1156146236

regards earlee. ;D ;D

[Franklin1]

Following the tremendous effort that Geoff has put in above, let the Franklin fraternity be a little indulgent for a moment, and present
you with a parade of stars over the ages, taken from this website...

1) 1956



______________________________

2) 1959-1960



______________________________

3) 1960



______________________________

4) 1964



______________________________

5) 1968



______________________________

6) 1970



______________________________

7) 1970



______________________________

8) 1970s



______________________________

What a great TEAM!! ;D ;D All we need to do now is fill in the missing years!!
Thanks again to Geoff for a fantastic job in gathering the information on the Franklin history.

cheers,
Al.

[jrod]

Hi Geoff,

Thanks so much for taking the time to share the info. Was a great read, and being a Franklin owner i appreciate it that much more!

And to think his old man said there was no future in Caravans...!

Cheers, J-Rod

[firefighter]

Hey fellows

What about we keep this thread all franklin stuff
any body got any franklin ads to put on here
if we find any photos of early franklin vans they can also be put on here
Geoff ;D ;D ;D ;D

[tinnie]

Thanks for all the contri's.
Great idea Geoff - let's keep adding to the thread.

Here's my three current franklins (sorry folks, two of them are post-1970), but they are still part of Franklin history.

Number 1 (already pictured above and is ex-F/F) 12 foot 4 berth with 2 way Hallstrom fridge, I think it may be around 1961-1962??:


Number 2 is a 4 berth, 12 foot Franklin Regent and approx 1972 - very late sixties style - I call it 'the egg'

Currently the egg is undergoing internal resto to repair water damage to framework and ply panelling in front and rear walls.

Number 3 is onsite now so hidden by flyover, decking etc, it is an 8 berth, 20ft Franklin Statesman and circa early seventies 1972-1974.


-Isn't white aluminium a horrid product!
I have also owned two other Franklins, both were Franklin Sunwagon windup campers, aged mid/late seventies and very similar in style to the Jayco campers of that era.

Please lets see more Franklins! ;D ;D

Cheers,
Tinnie

I had to edit i had written birth instead of berth, and ther would have been a total of 16 'births' in the posting - EEEK!!

[frankidownunder]

Thanks for the photo's fellas,
I now know roughly how old my Franki is, seems it's a '69 model caravelle, in reasonable nick too. Will be doing her up this year so will post photo's as i go.

Cheers, Frankidownunder

[firefighter]

Hey you Franklin buffs

Kris has deleted the first lot of photo,s
& we have worked out what was wrong with photopbucket
so here are the photos of the last Franklin factory in Ballarat
" been choped up in to lots of small factorys " ;D ;D













How many streets in Aus would there be called CARAVAN st
Geoff

[firefighter]

Still had trouble with photobucket puting them on, wanted the large size but they all turned out difference sizes maybe it US not photobucket

It was late in the afternoon raining, storm coming when I took
the photos thats why the photos not the best
Geoff ;D ;D ;D ;D

[firefighter]

Hi All

I think franklin got this wrong, Humber" towing a 27 ft van "
I think it should have been a chev ;D ;D ;D



F/F ;D ;D ;D ;D

[firefighter]

Interesting reading the ad for 1961
It seems franklin was way out in front of other caravan builders
in the early 60s building vans up to 30 ft with showers
& in 61 you had a choice of bondwood or aluminiun
F/F ;D ;D ;D ;D

[firefighter]

Hi All
1966 Franklin taken from this years vintage caravans 2007 calender , west aussie van if somebody can P M me who owns
this van I will put it on this post
F/F ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

[Franklin1]

G'day All,
Just linking the current Franklin van on ebay to this thread...

Supposedly a 1960 Franklin...but when you compare our other photos earlier in this thread, it looks closer to earlee's 1964 van than the other two from 1960...



I think Geoff 'n Jude should go for this one. Not only will you get a Franklin caravan, but you'll also get the flourescent lights you're looking for, Geoff. AND, you'll get what looks like a gas lamp fitting.
(But you'll probably have to trample over gristy to get to it! )

Item # 120146547312 ($99 start with a reserve of )

cheers,
Al

[Franklin1]

Well, what a loooong drawn out auction the "Franklin" van created. From a starting point of $99 it took 35 bids, with a winning bid of $2000 to finally beat the reserve and win the auction. AND to top it off, the seller put a revision on the item with a day to go, to say that the van is apparently not a Franklin, but is actually a Viscount!

...So if it is a Viscount, then what does the "F" stencil above the rear window stand for??



And if it is a Viscount, would this be one of the earliest ones we are aware of? And if it is not a Franklin, then who poisoned this thread with it?!

Oh...I did...D'oh!

Al.

[tinnie]

Hi,
I have posted this elsewhere recently, but thought it would be well duplicated here, approx 1966 Franklin Caravelle original dealer flyer/brochure:



Cheer,
Gristy

[Franklin1]

Franklin caravan circa 1967:

(source: posted by Franklin1, Aug 27, 2007, who wrote: ...this one is taken from this blogger link: www.blognow.com.au/GDS/26932/Back_in_the_Old_Days.html )

Back in the Old Days
Posted at 10:52, Wed 9 August 2006 in The Old Slide Show



The owner of the photograph wrote: "Taken sometime in 1967 somewhere in South Australia. This was our home. Dad would drive the drill rig and Mum would follow him in the FJ (rego NCC-600), towing the 18 foot Franklin caravan. Dad's main job was water bores. My sister and I would have been 6/7 and 3/4 yrs old respectively. Most of the time we were out in the scrub, so school was Correspondence lessons given to us by Mum. We had a pet Magpie chick at one camp. That is until Roz and I killed it accidentally by throwing wet paper on it. We bathed in a half 44-gallon drum that was filled with water, and heated by a fire before we jumped in. Just like kidlet soup! I remember once a bloke that was friend of Dad's. I would have still been three at the time, barely close to four. This man had no legs and got around everywhere by walking on his hands. I have vague memories of having a race with him up a dirt track somewhere in the middle of nowhere..."

[Franklin1]

1968 Franklin Caravelle:



(source: posted by pkp, Dec 9, 2007)

[aussieambo]

Hi All,
Thought you might like this excerpt from Caravan Tests, No 2 which was published in 1971.







Please enjoy and there is plenty more to come.
Kind regards
Graem

[aussieambo]

Here is another extract from 'Caravan Tests No 3' which was issued in the summer of 71 - 72. Once again, should anyone want a clearer copy of any article I post, please contact me with your address and I will be only too happy to photocopy and forward on.
Cheers
Graem

[Daggsey]

Met a gentleman the other day in Paynesville who gave me some interesting information about the history of the name "Franklin". This gentleman comes from Sorrento (Vic) and told me that a house belonging to the Robinson family in Sorrento was called "Franklin" and apparently the house is still there. I gave this gentleman my email address and our website and he was going to take some photos for me.....he also had a family connection to the house. So far I haven't heard from him, but if anyone is in Sorrento in the near future and wishes to take some discreet photos please pm me and I will disclose the address, (in the interest of privacy, I'd rather not blast the address over the internet)

Cheers
Daggsey

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Editorial comment - September 2018: The suggestion that Franklin caravans were named after Geoffrey Robertson's family home was confirmed in an interview reported in an article in Time to Roam magazine - see here. Don Ricardo