Post by Don Ricardo on Apr 14, 2015 0:11:20 GMT 10
Advertisements for "Trail – a – Home" caravans in Keith Winser's “Australian Caravan and Touring” magazine, the first one from 1954 the second from 1957 and the third from 1959.
The 1959 article states "All are of marine ply" but the photo of the bottom 'van looks very much like the larger model of the 'van in the 1957 add that claims to have an "aluminium outer skin".
They are listed in the Directory of the 1948 Year Book of The Australian Monthly Motor Manual.... when they actually started we don't know....... yet
If you wait long enough...
An interesting snippet about Trail-A-Home Caravans came to light when I was searching Trove for something else today. Following is an advert from the Brisbane Courier-Mail of Thursday, 10 November 1938 (page 10)
(Source: National Library of Australia nla.gov.au/nla.news-article38713623 )
Another advertisement published in the Dayboro Times and Moreton Mail on Saturday, 24 June 1939 (page 4) sets out Trail-A-Home's model line-up:
(Source: National Library of Australia nla.gov.au/nla.news-article163723463 )
This reveals that Trail-A-Home was building caravans prior to World War II, and at least as early as November 1938. So they are one of the relatively small number of caravan manufacturers that were operating in the 30's and then resumed operations after the war. In these advert their name is listed as 'Trail-A-Holme', but I don't think there's any doubt that we are talking about the same firm.
Note that their address in 1938 was 319 Gympie Road, Kedron. During the war their address was listed as Kitchener Road, Lutwyche terminus, Kedron, then in 1946, Oxley Street, Chermside. By 1954 they had moved back to Kedron, but this time 537 Gympie Road. All of these addresses appear to be within a stone's throw of each other.
Don Ricardo