from Fortitude Valley added annexes to their range of canvas goods. When packed up, an annex with poles, ropes and pegs, along with a camp table and chairs, stretcher beds and other items added considerably to the towing weight of the caravan, necessitating the bigger ‘family cars’. The little ‘teardrop’ shaped bondwood ‘vans were replaced by shiny aluminium-clad caravans with electric fridges and stoves.Īn innovation of the late 1940s was the canvas annex,(9) they were just becoming common in the late 1950s. Nearly half of all the cars in Queensland by this time were Holdens or Fords, with over 20 horsepower (14.9 KW) motors.(8) Cars could tow greater weights. Nearly every Queensland family had a car in the 1960s.(7) And cars were becoming more powerful. By 1961 there was a sedan car or station wagon for every six people (253,292 cars). Before the Second World War very few families had a car. P23.ĭriving the growth in caravans were the number of cars on Queensland roads. Underpowered cars pulling caravans was common in the early 1950s, but even the journalist covering the story embarked on the journey with ‘a spirit of scepticism’. Chesney Caravans at Chermside grew along with the increasing demand for caravans across the country, from a small business in 1950 to become one of the biggest manufactures in Australia.Ī 500CC Fiat hauls a Chesney Featherweight Caravan up the Marburg Ranger on the way to Toowoomba, at an average of 27 mph (42kph). (6)īy the mid-1950s caravans were all the rage. Petrol rationing finally ended in 1950 and the caravan holiday could become a road trip.(4) As far back as 1954 newspapers reported on the ‘winter influx of southern cars and caravans to Queensland.’(5) The ‘North Coast’ (Sunshine Coast) had previously been a little too far to go from Brisbane when petrol was scarce, but in winter 1954 there were reports of 50 caravans from the Queensland Caravan Club heading to Caloundra. On a busy weekend the traffic jam to the Coast started at Mt Gravatt. Many people left their ‘vans at caravan parks permanently and would head ‘down the Coast’ after work on Friday evening. Len and Myra Macpherson and their sons initially took their annual holidays at Currumbin, but in the 1950s moved the van to a friend’s house at Tugun. Most employees worked half a day on Saturdays, some even the whole day, but a forty-hour five-day week became effective in 1948.(3) The concept of a ‘weekend at the Coast’ was born. The interior of the Macpherson’s caravan, showing (from front left to right) an ice box, stove recess and cupboards, a sink, bed (minus a mattress) and a clothes closet. The mushroom pink and light green décor was very fashionable in the late 1940s. The Macphersons’ van was well appointed with 240-volt power outlet and lights, but ‘powered sites’ at camping grounds were rare in those days so the kerosene lamps were always taken as a backup. Lighting could be from a ‘tilly’ hurricane lamp or a battery light. They were Spartan by modern standards but generally did have cupboards a sink with a hand operated pump to a water tank a small ‘metho’ stove possibly an ice chest and a folding table that became a bed at night. The early caravans were made of plywood (‘bondwood’) with pine frames. Reading the latest edition of Caravan Magazine in a well-appointed caravan, 1950. So although petrol and even cars to put it in, was a limited commodity, there was a huge pent up demand for vehicles from thousands of ex-service personnel who had learned to drive during the War. Many cars were garaged for the duration of the Second World War, as the population served the war effort.Īusterity measures including petrol rationing continued for another five years after the War. Petrol and tyres were scarce, rationed commodities for the next six years. The predominantly British cars on Australian roads were smaller and less powerful than cars in the United States needed to haul a caravan. His wooden caravan is a tangible example of social changes that were about to sweep the nation.Ĭaravans were not completely unknown in the late 1930s, but were generally considered an American phenomenon, yet to have much impact in Depression era Australia.(1) Few people could afford a car let alone a caravan. Although simple in appearance, the caravan is evidence that Len was a bit of a trendsetter. A caravan in Queensland Museum’s collection (H46579) was made by Duncan (Len) Macpherson around 1945.
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