The History of AutoCamping Lifestyle

[wasanah2]

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

Glad you like them!  Here you go!!  I plan to actually make this one!

Packing Case Camp Chair made from discarded wooden packing boxes!

This folding camp chair is of the "deck chair" design and made from discarded crating and old broom handles and will take up little space in your car.  I don't see so much crating any more.  I see pallets though and probably this could be made from some broken pallets or when I make it, I might just go to Home Depot.  With the frame made of second hand materials, the canvas seat is made of new duck canvas.   Here are the directions from the Aug. 1930 Popular Science:

"This deck chair is very easy to make if straight grained hardwood is selected for the framework.  Broom handles may serve as dowels.  When boring the holes for these, clamp the pieces to avoid splitting the wood.  Hold the dowels or pieces of broom handles in place with a little glue and a screw.  Bore the half round holes in the side pieces of the seat frame by clamping them together edgewise and boring the center. (Great tip!)

The canvas for the seat should be nailed to the underside of the dowels.  The length is determined by the distance between the front dowel in the frame for the seat and the upper dowel in the back frame when the chair is folded flat."

The table in the third pic should read across the top:  # of pieces, Description, Thickness, Width, Length, Mark
All the dimensions are in inches.

Click on thumbnail for bigger pix.

 

[wasanah2]

Auto Folding Table

This is from the Oct. 1917 Popular Mechanics.  It amazes me how much wood was in the old cars.  If you wanted a trap door or a false floor or anything, you just got your saw out and cut it!  While this idea won't exactly stow the same way today, the hinge action might just give someone an idea to make something that would stow well.  So here you go!

"An ingenious method of construction and manner of stowing a folding table and other details of luncheon equipment is used by the owner of a light 5 passenger car.  The table consists of 2 nearly square boards, secured together by 2 strap hinges on the underside.  2 metal slides and 2 screw hooks are provided for setting it up in the rear of the car as shown.

At the rear of the upper edge of the front seat, two screw eyes are secured.  A leather strap through them serves as a robe rack.

The hooks on the edge of the table are placed through these screw eyes and the slides are extended, resting on the doors.  The slides are wooden strips set in sheet metal straps, fastened to the underside of the table.

Under the rear door of the car is a shallow container, and the floor boards have been cut out and fastened together to form a cover.  The compartment accommodates the table when folded and also other materials."

Click on the thumbnail for a bigger pic.

 

[wasanah2]

The Popular Science Ultimate, June 1924, Pop Out, Pop Up Auto-camping set up!  Part 1

This is in two parts due to the fact that I've got 6 illustrations to show this remarkable car.  This very normal looking 2-seater car for 1924 which pops into a cool camping machine.

Pic 1 is of the car.  It's just a regular car.  Not anything special if you were looking at this in 1924.

Pic 2 is what it looks like when popped up and out from the back.  It looks monstrous.  The back area is a kitchen and has detachable sides.

Pic 3 is a side view of the same.

 

[wasanah2]

Pop Out, Pop Up part 2

Pic 4 shows how it's framed up.

Pic 5 shows the plans for the build.

Pic 6 shows the versatile sides of the kitchen back.  They have it set up with wind shields, allowing fresh air but a brace against the wind.

The 2 seater camping truck build is surprising.  Imagine setting something like this up.  It looks like a mansion on wheels when set up.  It's plumbed for a water faucet.

Click on thumbnails for clearer pix.

 

[wasanah2]

The Camper's Emergency Pump

OK, you're out in your car camping, and you need water, but the water is down into a ravine.  You happen to have a garden hose, a bucket and a little water.  What do you do to get the water down the ravine?  Of course, you make an emergency pump!!

"Take a length of hose in camp that is dropped over into the water, well below the surface, and lay the remaining end on the bank.  Then whittle out a round stick from a sapling, with the plunger end, the longest and a sliding fit for the bore of the hose.  The shank of the stick is shaved down slightly smaller.

Then by working the stick up and down in the hose, after priming it with the water you do have, draw the water from down in the ravine which will flow out of the end of the hose." 

Click on thumbnail for clearer pic.

From Forest and Stream, April 1922.

 

[wasanah2]

The Auto Camper's Tackle Box!

Designed to ride on the running board of your car.  From Forest and Stream, April 1922.

"The tackle box represented below is designed for use of auto-camping parties.  In it fishing rods may be carried all "set."  As often as a tempting spot shows up, the occupants of the car have easy access to the rods.  Another feature is the tray and its compartment, where many pieces of tackle may be carried. 

Give the inside of the tackle box two good coats of spar varnish and paint it on the outside to match the car.  The irons holding the box to the top could be made at the blacksmith's shop for a few cents.  The loose washer provides ample grip.  Line the bottom of the box with corrugated rubber to keep it tight and from scratching the paint on the car."  (In all things, running the car in the boonies, through thick and thicket, we must not scratch the paint!)

Click on the plans below for a better look.  These thumbnails are small.

 

[wasanah2]

The Auto Road House

This is one of the earlier articles.  It's from the Popular Electricity and Modern Mechanics, November 1914.  Notice how MUCH this build is designed to carry!  Those early cars must have been like tanks.  The pictures in the thumbnail, if you click on it, are a bit bigger.  But the resolution isn't great on it.  The description, however, makes up for the deficit.   I wonder how you get the car doors opened with so much riding on the running boards!  And all this for six people for ONE MONTH!  For one, I think they were assuming you'd buy fresh groceries and refill the water jug.  But in those days, you had to carry a lot of gear just for the car as the tires usually were changed every 1000 miles!  And you couldn't buy them just anywhere!

"The latest method of camping is by use of the auto.  This fact being demonstrated by W. J Burt of Los Angeles, California, who vows that the camping trip is one of the most enjoyable outings possible.  He has built a car especially adapted to camping purposes.

Every available inch of space in it has been so completely taken up that although few of the necessities of the trip are seen, enough provisions are tucked away to accommodate a party of half a dozen (!) persons for a period of 30 days (!) --and this with the occupants of the car riding in perfect comfort.

The main food boxes are in the form of chests, located on the running boards of the car.  These chests are 12 inches wide, 12 inches deep, and as long as the ordinary running boards.  Each chest is divided into several compartments for the carrying of different kinds of food.  Two small sections at the forward end of one chest are built like a thermos bottle and used as refrigerator for perishable foods.  These chests are supplemented by food boxes that are strapped upon them; this occurring only when a large party is carried.

Upon these chests we also find a large water can, thermos bottle, extra gasoline supply, etc.  At the rear of the car is a spacious platform upon which the tent, stove, sporting goods, etc may be carried.  Under this platform are 3 drawers.  The center one of these is used, when in camp, as a table, but when traveling, it contains cooking utensils, etc.  This drawer is 3 feet long, 4 inches deep and almost as wide as the car.  The small drawers at the sides, being 4 inches deep, 6 inches wide and about 3 feet long are used to carry knives, forks and other necessities.

One of the main features of the car is its sleeping accommodations.  The back of the front seat has been so arranged that it may be dropped backward, where upon it fits tightly between the bottoms of the front and the rear seats, making one continuous surface.

For a foot rest, a folding board is arranged between the front seat and the dash, being folded and tucked away when not in use.  On the dash are two small boxes, one on either side.  One of these contains an emergency outfit, soap, towels, etc., while the other holds the light repair tools for the car.  The heavy repair tools, extra tires, etc, are carried in the drawers located beneath the seats of the car.

A drag brake, operated by the dash, may be dropped into the earth beneath the car should the machine start to back down a hill."

 

[wasanah2]

A 4 day trip from Sacramento to Lake Tahoe, with sights noted and how to do this trip TODAY!   Part 1

This is from American Forestry, May 1921.  Because good maps were often home made in 1921, this trip with map was one thing you could read and repeat.

---------------------------

"An auto trip over some of the best mountain roads in the west and where it is possible to camp every night in a public campground maintained by the forest service takes one through the Eldorado and Tahoe National Forests to Lake Tahoe.

FIRST DAY:  Sacramento to Phillips Public Campground near the summit of the Sierras on the Lincoln Highway.  Forty-eight miles of paved highway to Placerville and about the same distance along the beautiful American River which is lined with public camps.

SECOND DAY:  Phillips Camp to Lake Tahoe, with a lunch either at the Bay View or Eagle's Nest Public Camps at beautiful Emerald Bay.  Camp near Tahoe Tavern with plenty of time for boating and fishing on Lake Tahoe.

THIRD DAY:  Tahoe Camp to Truckee, following down the sparkling Truckee Rier and thence back to historic Donner Lake and over the summit to the Big Bend Public Camp on Yuba River where a delightful afternoon's fishing may be had.

FOURTH DAY:  Big Bend Camp to Sacramento, via Auburn, Colfax and some of the mining camps of the days of '49.  Paved Road from Auburn to Sacramento.

This was an easy four day trip, all roads and camps are well signed."

Pic 1, THE MAP, Pic 2,3 and 4 of the trip itself.  Click on thumbnails for bigger pix.

 

[wasanah2]

A Four Day Trip from Sacramento to Lake Tahoe -- Part 2

This 1921 trip can be done today.  The only place I could not find is the Phillips Campground, but I suppose a campground on the Lincoln Highway near the summit of the Sierras might be found with more research under another name.  I found all the other places though.

Bayview campground:
https://www.recreation.gov/camping/...tCode=NRSO&facilityId=239709&agencyCode=70903

Eagle POINT campground was Eagle's Nest campground:  Now a part of Emerald Bay State Park
http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=506

Camping near Tahoe Tavern:
https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=504

Big Bend Campground:
https://roadtrippers.com/us/soda-springs-ca/camping-rv/big-bend-campground

Tahoe Tavern:  Was a mecca for tourists, is now condominiums.  Here's historical info on it.
http://www.tahoecountry.com/oldtimetahoe/tavern/tt.html

Tahoe Tavern is really interesting.  It was a place where you got dressed up for dancing, drinking and gambling.  It was a popular destination for Californians.  It was built in 1902 and the way to get there was by rail.  But with the advance of auto camping, the railway closed and the area was a fine destination for the auto camper.

The first pic is a post card from 1908 from the Tahoe Tavern.  The second one is what it would have looked like to travelers who would have taken this trip in 1921.

 

[wasanah2]

Choosing the Motor Car and Camping Outfit

This is from Dun's Review, August 1914 regarding a Packard 1912 model that was outfitted for auto-camping. 

Pic 1 is the auto in the article, a Packard 1912.

Pic 2  is a pic of a fireless cooker.  In the outfitter's kit, the author mentions a fireless cooker.  I happen to own one from that era.  It's along the same lines as a "haybox cooker" but it's cleaner with aluminum casing, aluminum covered cooking vessels with lids that lock and use either iron or soapstone circular heaters.  Mine has soapstone heaters.  You heat up the soapstones very hot, put one on the bottom of the casing, the pot or pots on top and close the lid.  You can also bake in the fireless cooker by placing a soapstone heater on the bottom, the locking pot or an open stand holding the food in a metal frame, (like a pie) and then for baking you place a second hot soapstone on top.  It works VERY WELL, and I've used mine many times.  It's kind of heavy to take camping, but I decided to add mine to my camping kit because it's so helpful.  You heat up the stones and whatever is in the cooker will cook all day.  So I heat the stones up at breakfast, put one stone in the bottom, and on top of that, the evening's dinner in a locked lid pot, and you can put a second heater on top and forget it till supper time.  The soapstones are still hot when you pull out dinner.

Pic 3 is a pic of a self cooling water bag.  The inner bag is made cooler by evaporation.  You wet the canvas outer covering and hang it outside the car to get all the breezes that come from running down the road at 15 MPH. 

Here is the article:

"An exhibit attracted great attention at one of the many shows held this year at New York City was an automobile specially designed and fitted up for the use of sportsmen who wish to be independent of civilization.  The body of this car was of the modified prairie schooner type, constructed so as to be capable of withstanding rough usage, and provided with facilities for carrying sufficient food supplies to last for several weeks.

There are accommodations for two persons in the front compartment; there are two touring seats, while an ingenious arrangement of the cushions forms a second seat for 2 more passengers in the center of the car.

The side seats are easily converted into bunks , and by means of a side and rear curtains, with a windshield in front, the car can be entirely enclosed.  The car carries an entire camping outfit, including a fireless cooker, tent, water buckets, self cooling water bags, cooking utensils, dishes, electric lights, food bags, air tight tin cans, lanterns, axes and guns.  There is storage and locker room beneath the side seats and an extra luggage box is suspended from the floor.

Mounted on a 48 horsepower chassis, this camp car has possibly traveled into more remote places than any vehicle in America.  Early in 1912 it fought its way from Denver to the Grand Canyon in the face of terrific winter conditions on the Santa Fe trail.  In 1913 it traveled 5000 miles on surveys for the Lincoln National Highway."




"

 

[wasanah2]

Camping Trailer with a BATHROOM!!  From Popular Mechanics, Jan. 1915

Back in those days when not everyone had running water, a toilet might look a lot like a luggable loo today.  I won a "toilet" in an auction once.  I didn't even know what it was.  But on further inspection, I saw that I was the proud owner of an early American toilet.  It had a seat, which was just a cut out hole and there was room for an enamelware chipped up and rusted pot which was for collecting the waste.  What they did with it afterwards varied by location.  Back in colonial days, they threw it out in the gutters in the street!  You were careful not to walk in gutters.  And if you had your mind in the gutter, well, you knew that it wasn't a clean place.

 I asked my aunt what they did in the olden days with the "chamber pots" when she was on the farm and without electric or running water.  She said they had a particular compost pile for it.  You dumped the waste in a trench which served the purpose for the year and then you took some straw, hay or sawdust and threw it on top.  Once in awhile a farm hand gave it all a good turning with a pitch fork.  It was also far from any water source and didn't smell bad unlike their other option, a pit toilet out by the garden.

Sometimes back in the day they didn't throw the waste in a safe place, but we know today to dispose of it properly and in the forums here are many good and safe examples, so I won't go into that here.

However, in this issue of Popular Mechanics, the author gives us a camping trailer when this sort of motoring lifestyle was in its infancy.  This trailer build made a great tent but with something a lot of people wanted on the road...a bathroom.  The floor for the bathroom hinged out as an extension of the floor of the trailer, giving support to a 3 sided addition to the tent which was accessible through a simple flap from inside.  The many windows were celluloid, making a light, water proof window.

The inside of the tent structure was completely kitted out for a rustic kitchen and the sides held two beds.  However, the draw of this model was the ingenious bathroom where the toilet was the star of the show.

 

[lenny flank]

This old-school stuff is utterly fascinating.

 

[wasanah2]

WHAT FOOD TO PACK ON AN AUTO-CAMPING TRIP


From Outing Magazine.  May, 1922. 

When you planned to go on an auto-camping trip, you had to figure what foods to take with you.  You took a refrigerator with you.  Not the sort we know of, but an ice chest, either a metal one or home made after the idea of ice boxes.  The thing was, every town had a place where you could buy ice since that was the mode of keeping food cold for nearly everyone back then.  So the grocery list has several items that need to be kept cold.

I noticed the lack of green vegetables...and s'mores ingredients. 

Ration List Per Person Per Week:

Butter----1 lb.
Baking Powder
Bacon----2 lbs.
Beans----1/2 lb.
Cornmeal----1/2 lb.
Coffee----1/2 lb.
Fats----1/2 lb.
Fresh Meat----3 lbs.
Milk----6 qts.
Potatoes----5 lbs.
Prunes----1 lb.
Rice----1/2 lb.
Sugar----1 lb.
Tea----1 oz.
Tomatoes----1 lb.
Wheat Flour----4 lbs.

 

[wasanah2]

The Auto-Bed Slide Out  July, 1920  Popular Mechanics

"A canvas cover can be attached as shown, preferably with automobile curtain fasteners.  Bedding is laid out on the hinged floor extending some little distance into the body of the car.  In the morning, the bedding is quickly put away in the flat box, and the whole rear compartment is readily folded up into the body under the roof of the car body."

 

[highdesertranger]

with a food list like that I know what the prunes are for. lol highdesertranger

 

[wasanah2]

with a food list like that I know what the prunes are for.  lol  highdesertranger

LOL  It makes me laugh sometimes when they say people ate better in the old days.  I don't think so.

 

[wasanah2]

Every camper got their own pound of bacon per week though...

Guy

Priorities!  Bacon is a food group for campers.  And they got 2 pounds of bacon per person per week.  That's a lotta bacon.

 

[wasanah2]

The Auto Camping Lunch Serving Tray

Now we know where the Drive In eateries got their idea.  They stole it from the Auto Camping Lunch serving tray!!  It came from the Popular Science Monthly, June 1922 issue.  See pic.  How it's put together is evident.

 

[wasanah2]

Popular Science, Jan 1937

CAMPING HACK Contest!!!!  Win $250!  Well in those days they called them "Kinks" instead of hacks but it's the same difference. OMG, I looked up in the Urban Dictionary what a "kink" is and that is NOT what they had in mind.  

I noticed a huge difference through the Depression 30s with camping builds.  It was more about using your smarts and reusing materials and doing it on the cheap, whereas in the 20s, it was all about the cool toys you can either buy or make.

 

[tx2sturgis]

They have some classic campers on display at the Jack Sizemore RV museum in Amarillo:

A 1923 Lamsteed KampKar, only $535 when brand new! Built by Anheuser-Busch, St Louis.


(click for hi-rez pics)