Our Touring Past

I thought it might be of interest to explore the origins of our hobby a little and look back at horse drawn caravans.

Thinking about the definition of a caravan I realised that when my father was a youngster at school in the 1920s, the caravan of today was almost non existent and looking at my old dictionary (1966, only at the end of my school days) I found the definition to be,”Car’avan, n. convoy of merchants, covered dwelling-wagon” despite the present day caravan being very common by then. A 1981 dictionary provided a definition we are now be familiar with, “large vehicle for living in, pulled by car etc.”

A ‘convoy of merchants’ is the original meaning of the word, adapted at some time to horse drawn living quarters. With the coming of the car and truck the name seems to have transferred to these vehicles when fitted with assortments of living quarters, before again transferring to the separately towed vehicles we know now. The term motor home came into vogue for vehicles with built in living quarters.

During my rummaging around libraries and magazines over time I have found quite a few articles relating to caravanning when it was just a horse with covered dwelling wagon and thought it might be appropriate to start a thread for these items.

The first article is from a 1960s magazine “In Britain” and it gives illustrations of four styles of gypsy caravans in England with some interesting history on the way of life.

As a kid I remember when Gypsies came to town and they would set up camp a couple of miles out of town but by then they were in big caravans and using big American cars to tow them. I wonder if we ever had Gypsies here with horse drawn caravans and if any have survived? George

Hi George.
What a great idea for a topic, considering this is basically where caravanning started from.
I have added 5 pages on the History of Caravanning from my 1945 The Caravan Manual. The 5 pages covers the history up untill the 1930's and there is another 5 pages that takes it up to the present time ( or in this case 1945 ).

Hi Richard

Some interesting stuff there in your post too.

Trolling around the www doesn't seem to find much other than eco friendly holidays with horse drawn caravans that seem to be modern imitations. The Cobb & Co Museum at Toowoomba has a horse drawn caravan in it's collection which is described as a conversion of a former furniture van but it finished it's life as a caravan.

The Powerhouse Museum annex at Castle Hill, NSW has a genuine English horse drawn caravan on display. It does not seem to fit into any of the four styles described in the above article however.
It is a fantastic piece of workmanship and I'd hate to take one on for restoration. The photos do not do it justice as flash can't be used and the lighting isn't great but I'm sure your get the idea of the detailed work involved in the timber and paintwork. Very nice of Mr. Thompson to donate it to the citizens for their enjoyment too.
George

This photograph and news item is from the Coach and Motor Builder magazine dated May 15, 1925 and shows a pair of horse drawn 'commercial' caravans. From the article is evident that horse drawn vehicles too were labouring with insufficient horse power. The goods advertised were all very well known household brands of the time. The article read:-

"AN ADVERTISING SCHEME THAT FAILED.

Some little time ago two large caravans with bodies measuring 21 ft. long, 8 ft. wide, and 8 ft. high, were fitted up by a Melbourne advertising man whose object was to travel from town to town right through the State. The outside surfaces of the vans were used as advertising hoardings, and the interior fittings served as samples of various of various manufactured articles, which included piano player, billiard table, stove, leadlight windows, wireless outfit, three-ply panels, ice chest, beds, type writer, fire extinguisher, etc.
The work of constructing these huge vehicles was entrusted to Mr. F. Northcott, of Elizabeth Street, Melbourne, and was well carried out in every respect, but the one important aspect, weight, was apparently overlooked by the originator of the scheme, who reckoned on using four horses as tractive power. It was found that the vehicles, with their contents, were far too heavy to be drawn by horse power along the country roads as such that exist across the State, and the “Trans-Victorian Trades Exposition” as it was named, very soon ceased to move from town to town."

George

While searching the index cards at the Mitchell Library recently I found a reference to a caravan trip in 1912 which immediately caught my eye.

The following four pages, written by Charles Barrett, were published in an interesting early Australian magazine titled “Life” on 1 July, 1912. Two things were of interest to me when I got my hands on the magazine, firstly the quite good quality photos of an early Australian horse drawn caravan and the fact the article was written by Charles Barrett whose name rang quite a bell.

The article I found to be quite interesting and I could see myself enjoying such a leisurely pace in a caravan at that time, I think it would have been a wonderful way to see the country. For Barrett, as a naturalist, the pace would have been ideal, allowing him to observe all sorts and stop and collect specimens as needed. The caravan style intrigued me too as it is very unlike any of the British horse drawn vans already included in this post and could be assumed to be Australian designed and built. The reference to ‘outspanning’ is interesting, explained as the erection of canvas extension rooms at either end to provide additional space, just like putting up your annex on a modern van. The fact that the poles are permanently attached to the sides of the van and slide out for use seems ingenious. The author, Charles Barrett (1879-1959), was a very interesting character too, to me at least, and if you go here and here you can read more about him. He was a naturalist and journalist with 56 titles to his credit. As a youth, with an eye set on a career as a lepidopterist (if you need to know) I owned and regularly consulted a well thumbed copy of his book “Butterflies of Australia and New Guinea” as I careened about the bush in search of prey. In addition to the publications listed he also published articles on natural history in early issues of Australian Modern Motor Manual and was the author of Motor Manual’s Tourist Guide, ‘Highways of Australia’, 1st Edition, 1949-50.
His biography says he was married in 1911 and I can’t help but wonder if one of the ladies at the lace trimmed caravan window was his wife. It also reveals he travelled about Australia extensively after WWI and I can’t imagine it wasn’t without some form of early caravan given his obvious love of the lifestyle in this article and his subsequent associations with Keith Winser. More research??

I may have missed the last part of the article as I re read it, sorry, will catch up to it in due course.

George

Something for the kids to make back in the days before they buried their heads in electronic wizardry for entertainment. This item was found in a kids section of The Queenslander newspaper on Trove, dated 7-11-1929. As well as giving the kids something to do it recycled old shoe boxes as well. Wonder if I have an old shoebox
George

I recently attended an outing with a car club to the "Fairground Follies" at St Peters, near Sydney airport. When we arrived we parked in a small car park in front of a very nondescript looking warehouse with a large roller shutter and a normal entry door. I must say I was beginning to wonder just what lay in store, and if I should have found something more industrious to do with my Sunday.

The owner, a very pleasant chap, greeted us and ushered us though the door to an interior which was quite gloomy after the bright outdoor light. But what a surprise. As our eyes acclimatised to the gloom we found ourselves in an absolute huge Alladin's cave of magical fairground equipment. We proceeded to tea and cake before being taken on a tour of this fantastic collection, all the more exciting when you realised that most of the light was coming from a huge fairground carousel, one of the main attractions, set up complete with a steam traction engine which would have once provided the power through a large generator mounted on the front.

Now I must say I don't think there was a single item of the many dozens displayed which didn't interest me, and to see the workings of the largest mechanical music machine the world has to offer is certainly astounding. Without the wizardry of computers and modern technology these machines produce all the sounds of a band, all controlled from some folded cardboard with holes in it!

In a corner was an item of special interest for me though, a 1904 horse drawn gypsy caravan, the full details of which are found here, http://www.fairgroundfollies.com/showmans_wagon.php. It is a good match to the one already shown at the Powerhouse Museum, but it has far more elaborate carvings and details, inside and out, and is a work of art.

It used to be exhibited at Marysville Motor Museum in Victoria, the town destroyed by the bushfires a few years ago. Amazingly the museum and contents all survived.

So here are some photos. The last photo shows part of the interior, a cast iron stove on the left and at the end the double bed with a 'cubby' underneath (with doors) where the smallest children in the family would sleep, it wouldn't have done to be claustrophobic or too afraid of the dark. Older children slept under the van apparently.

George

Here's another item from the "Fairground Follies" collection, and it might be drawing a bit of a long bow to include it as a caravan, but it is partly a van as I see it.
It is a fairground organ built in Germany in 1908 where it was used to attract customers and provide music for a carrousel. It remained in Germany until 1976 when it went to America. The timber construction is top quality and it is believed that it originally was fitted with large, centrally located timber wheels to allow it to be moved, the wheels and axle being removable. When obtained by the present owner it was fitted to the table top bed of a truck and is now mounted on casters, but the original axle fittings are still there.

So, how is it a caravan? Well, this organ, unlike any others in the collection, some of them much larger, provided sleeping accommodation behind the organ with a bunk bed for the operator. There did not appear to be any of the other comforts a caravanner might expect, but at least there was somewhere to sleep. The ability to open the roof is a novel feature and seems to be a lot of effort just to accommodate the head board of the organ, but it might have provided pleasant relief on a hot night. This photo through the door shows part of the bunk which is now used to store the operating cards.

George

While trolling through eBay a couple of week ago I came across this horse drawn caravan. Well I might be stretching the rules of the term caravan a bit as it is actually a horse drawn workers wagon.

The following is part of the sellers description.

Australia is home to the occasional reproduction “Gypsy Wagon” but rarely, if ever, does one see an authentic colonial home on wheels.

Such is the case with this authentic and unique 19th Century workers hut from Victoria’s Western Districts.

Originally used by rail gang workers along the Colac-Ballarat Railway line, it was a based at the Beeac Rail Yards in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The Wagon was later purchased by a prominent grazing family for use on the Greyholme Station and other properties in the Beeac district. During the inter-war depression era, a farm employee lived in the wagon for 20 years.

It later became part of a heritage display at the Weering property “Wanui” where the iron was replaced over the original timber frame.

The hut is mounted on an original 19th Century dray which was constructed by the wagon works of R J L Hildyard in Melbourne.

Because of the protection afforded by the overhanging workers hut, the wagon is in excellent original condition for its age and is fully operational. Only some of the decorative timber wheel trims are missing and these could easily be re-fabricated

The hut includes a chimney housing in which a small one-fire stove and flu would have been mounted. Accordingly, an original or reproduction wood or gas fired stove could be refitted.

The photos arnt the best but it gives you a general idea of the living condition in the "caravan".

A very old postcard photo of what looks to be a bullock drawn living caravan.
The inscription on the back of the card says "Bull caravan. Mildura to Melbourne 73 days." considering its now about a 7 hour drive in the car.
Even the bloke next to the bull looks as though he could pull the caravan as well.