The History of AutoCamping Lifestyle

[wasanah2]

In my research, I found a lot of builds that were as old as from 100 years ago!  This particular build is from Popular Science Monthly, vol 100, June 1922, courtesy of Google Books Advanced Search.  Auto Camping was a great new way to travel for average Americans who were getting their first family cars.  Campgrounds popped up all over the country.  A lot of them were free, private businesses that made money on selling you propane or supplies or on your groceries.  If not free, some were extremely cheap.  

But in these years before interstate highways, it also wasn't all that odd for a family to take off in their vehicle, and when the driver sees a great place for a camp, he just parks and sets up camp.  Sometimes if it's private land, he might go up to the house and say, Hey do you mind if we stop here for the night or weekend?  So many city people did this as it was considered healthy to be in rural air.

It was a big industry, especially in the first half of the 20th century.  You could buy "off the shelf" outfits that turned your tin lizzie into a canvas, wood and rubber COMFORTABLE home on wheels.  So many people slept in and lived in their cars. 

The builds are so interesting.  I copied a few illustrations from the above mentioned build.  I added links that might have better resolution.  I particularly like the fold up bunk beds in the 3rd image. 

 

[bonvanroulez]

That's really cool, thanks for posting. I was once in the PNW where I saw a convoy of Model T camping rigs, some with matching vintage camping trailers.

 

[wasanah2]

Here is a camp bed made to fit into a car by removing the seat cushions and elevating them. This is from the March 1928 Popular Science Monthly.   NOTE: On the plans is also NO SEE UM screening in the windows! 

Excerpt:  In Fig 1, you construct one long bracket to support the rear end of the rear seat cushion.  The ends of this bracket rest on the rear window sills.  The 2 brackets that fit over the back of the front seat are heavy strap iron.

If the front seats are divided, you will need 4 brackets, 2 for each front seat.

Wooden supports hold the front edge of the seat cushions and a sheet metal support for the pillows completes the bed.  A long roll shaped cushions can be fitted into the space between the front and rear cushions of desired.

 

[speedhighway46]

Check out Tin Can Tourists, still an active group which was founded in 1919. Lots of early history of car camping on their website.

 

[KathyC]

[quote='Thanks for sharing...as my dear Mom used to say "]
In my research, I found a lot of builds that were as old as from 100 years ago!  This particular build is from Popular Science Monthly, vol 100, June 1922, courtesy of Google Books Advanced Search.  Auto Camping was a great new way to travel for average Americans
[/quote]

 

[wasanah2]

There are 100 years of good ideas out there to prevent us from re-inventing the wheel.

Because people were parking on the side of the road or in some field or savannah somewhere, the method of campfire was of utmost importance.  You wanted to have a fire that was safe and warm and something you can cook over too.  Just like today, you wanted to leave "no trace."  PLUS whatever implement had to fold up and fit into your car.

The fix is this folding camp stove.  It sits on the ground, and the ash forms in a contained way on the ground.  No chimney, but smoke comes out the back.  You can place pots directly over the fire through the "eyes" and keep things warm just by setting them on the stove.  The metal would radiate heat in the night for added warmth.   Then when you leave camp, a quick shovel of the cooled off ash into the earth means that in a very short time, the grass will recover the spot.

As an avid camper my whole life, I am dismayed at the number of campgrounds (at least in my area) that don't allow campfires.  A fire so contained would minimize any kind of flaring and prevent one from over feeding the fire since the window for putting the sticks in is of a moderate size.

This folding stove build came from the same magazine as the first illustration.  Popular Science Monthly, vol. 100, June 1922.

 

[wasanah2]

KathyC, Nash made excellent strides into the Auto Camping craze.  If you wanted to sell cars back then, you wanted to cater to this market because it was HUGE.   Here's an article Popular Mechanics Dec. 1953 about their 1954 line of Nash cars that have seats that fold into beds.

This was in no way their first year for their folding seats.  Nash was early into making car camping comfortable, so this may not be the model you were familiar with.  Selling automobiles was very competitive.  If you were an avid car camper, your car had to convert to comfortable living space.

 

[bullfrog]

We had a 1963 Rambler station wagon that the rear seat and front seat folded to make the entire interior one flat sleeping area.

 

[wasanah2]

We had a 1963 Rambler station wagon that the rear seat and front seat folded to make the entire interior one flat sleeping area.

Station wagons were great for car camping and designed with that in mind.  They had to do double duty.  They had to be a car you could use during the week and turn into a camper for the weekend.  Some models had a back gate like a pick up which was great for cooking meals.  The seats all lying flat gave room for 2 adults to sleep comfortably and you could put a child or two in a hammock above the front seat.  A baby or toddler's box bed could be slung over one of the front seats.

A lot of accessories were made for these machines.  You needed a car top carrier for your gear so you can sleep in the back.  You had to have an attached tent if your family was too big for everyone to stretch out in it.   The bells and whistles in station wagon comforts were immense and made car camping a joy for many. 

I love Mercury's 1957 station wagon gate and the details to give more viewing space for passengers.

 

[lenny flank]

I did a piece on my Hidden History blog a while ago about the history of the RV/camper:

https://lflank.wordpress.com/2016/06/16/the-tin-can-tourist-club-a-history-of-the-rv/

 

[wasanah2]

I did a piece on my Hidden History blog a while ago about the history of the RV/camper:

https://lflank.wordpress.com/2016/06/16/the-tin-can-tourist-club-a-history-of-the-rv/

Nice article, Lenny!  I just love these old builds, and some things I thought were sort of newer ideas are really old ideas put back into use.  A hundred years ago, the craze was going wild as people were owning their first cars and taking their families to see new places and the adventure out on the open road.  Ford called this phenomenon: "The Call of the High Road," and indeed, I think some of us today are bitten with that bug.  No longer was it only the upper crust that got to go on traveling vacations!  It was within reach of everyone.

And today with many of us, affording a week traveling with airfare, car rental, hotel, and restaurant costs can be a challenge.  But with a little planning, anyone who owns, leases or borrows a car can travel affordably, be it for a vacation or for a permanent lifestyle.

Very nice historical research, Lenny!

 

[Thirsty Boots Nomad]

Check out Tin Can Tourists, still an active group which was founded in 1919. Lots of early history of car camping on their website.

That statement always seems to irritate me slightly; the Tin Can Tourists WAS founded in 1919, but was disbanded several years later because no new members were joining; ... the current incarnation of TCT is because a camper/rv dealer heard about the old group, got permission to re-start the group in the 1960's, and the group continued growing/evolving to the current day.  There was a period of a couple decades without any Tin Can Tourists so the "still" they claim is false.

 

[wasanah2]

T.B. Nomad, I suppose it would be better if they included their history on their site and they said that it was founded and then re-established.  The original owners may have mismanaged it or lost interest, who knows.  Anything could have happened to have it drop because the number of car campers were soaring at the time they were defunct.  

The name is so dang cute that I see why they wanted to revive it.  Even if it were re-established in the 1960s, the old members who might have been alive then may have complained that their members of this group started it in 1919.  Especially if they honored the older members' memberships, I don't see any problem in saying they were established in 1919 as long as a history spelling it out is somewhere on the site.  But that's my opinion, which isn't worth a whole lot.

This brings me to the fact that local CAR CLUBS were formed everywhere.  You could take just your family on an adventurous outing or you could go with a number of likeminded buddies in a convoy.

 

[wasanah2]

Here are the plans for a pivoting folding camp table that looks fairly easy to make.  It's from Popular Science, June 1922.  The plans don't give the exact dimensions, and I assume that's so you can fit it to your exact needs.  The fold up compact size is brilliant and might be of use to someone today, so I'm including it here:

"Auto tourists devise much ingenious camping equipment that can be accommodated in a limited space inside their cars.  The folding table illustrated below is an example of a serviceable table.

When extended, it is of good size, but folded, it is a compact package, easily carried inside the car.  Two large leaves are hinged to a narrow center board, to which the legs are also secured by means of centering pins.

To close the table, the legs are turned around beneath the center board and the side leaves are folded against them."

You may need to click on the thumbnail to see how it's folded.  Those thumbnails are awfully small.

 

[wasanah2]

Excerpt from 1922 "Gipsying Motorists:"

"Near sundown we usually drove a mile or two from the main highway and asked permission to camp near a prosperous farmhouse.  We were never refused.  That hospitality is universal with our rural population is not the least that we learned on our trip.  Appreciation, however, must be shown to have this hospitality continue.  We showed ours by never building a fire without permission; leaving our campsite clean; sending back some word from our next camp; and keeping our hosts posted as to our movements, as they were invariably interested in our future.  Wherever we camped, we left friends and received a hearty invitation to return.

The pleasure of camping for the future generations of gipsy motorists depends on the consideration shown by the present day camper."

 

[wasanah2]

Here is a build from Popular Mechanics, Nov. 1923.  This guy put a WOOD STOVE in his car.  Not in his van.  Not in his bus.  Not in his travel trailer.  He put the wood stove in his car.

The guy made the door into a suicide type that was popular in the 1920s.  Evidently, the design of the suicide doors came from the stage coach type of doors that carried over to the horseless carriage.  At any rate, this roomy car not only sported the wood stove, but the claim is that 4 people can sleep in it.  I'd say 4 people who are pretty familiar with each other.

 

[wasanah2]

The LIMO build!

I'm still amazed with this!  The upper crust also wanted to go auto camping.  Why should the average guy have all the fun?  This build is from 1922.  The problem is, with all the cool stuff in it, there's no place for the chauffeur and the cook/maid to sleep!  I mean, you can't leave your servants behind! 

Pic 1 is of the limo itself.  Pic 2 shows the dining and kitchen arrangement.  And pic 3 shows the chairs that make into very narrow beds.  The Pullman chair design was adapted from railroad compartment furniture.

 

[wasanah2]

"America's Fastest Growing Sport"  (From Popular Science June 1924)

"Overland Park at Denver, Colo., the largest pubic camping place in the United States, is a striking example of what some of our larger cities are doing to encourage motor tourists.  Gone are the days of your pup tent.  Your motor camper car now demands a specially constructed motor camping tent or a set of beds under a more substantial roof than canvas can offer.  Many campers sleep in their cars on some form of swinging mattress fastened at the back and front above the seats.  If the car is a closed type, such a bed offers all the comforts of home."

The pic below is part of a full entire mile of car campers at this free park.

 

[wasanah2]

Hey, this one is for Bob Wells.  He keeps getting stuck in the desert.  In the June 1924 issue of Popular Science, the answer is HERE. 

If you look at the illustration:
A is what you usually do when you get stuck.  Pack in stones around the wheel so B, when the wheel is revolved, it'll form a solid foundation.
HOWEVER,  the stones seldom get under the wheels sufficiently to do any good. 

Barring a success with method A, Figure C is when the irritated motorist takes a few rails off a nearby fence (probably letting livestock loose!), trying to wedge it/them under the wheel, but generally it doesn't work and D (deeper hole) is produced.

Better are these 2 methods.  Take a long piece of rope, old tire covers or oil cloth side curtains or any bulky material to wind tightly AROUND the tires to give the necessary resistance as shown in E.   It can be anything that'll mummify the tires tightly, giving excellent traction on the rear wheels, freeing from the hole.

Alternatively, if you have chains (F), you can carry 6 pieces of heavy chain hooked around the tires of each rear wheel. 

So there you go, Bob.  No need to reinvent the wheel.  In 1924, without chains, they wound stuff, looks like anything that would wind, around the tire.  Next time I get stuck, I'm going to try that method.  Mummy wheel drive!

 

[highdesertranger]

I love all the old pictures in tis thread. keep them coming. highdesertranger