American Camp Culture: a History of Recreational Vehicle Development and Leisure Camping in the United States, 1890-1960 David Leroy Harmon Iowa State University
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Retrospective Theses and Dissertations Dissertations 2001 American camp culture: a history of recreational vehicle development and leisure camping in the United States, 1890-1960 David Leroy Harmon Iowa State University Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd Part of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine Commons, Leisure Studies Commons, Recreation Business Commons, and the United States History Commons Recommended Citation Harmon, David Leroy, "American camp culture: a history of recreational vehicle development and leisure camping in the United States, 1890-1960 " (2001). Retrospective Theses and Dissertations. 433. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd/433 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Dissertations at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Retrospective Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand comer and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6" x 9" black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. Bell & Howell Information and Learning 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 USA 800-521-0600 American camp culture: A history of recreational vehicle development and leisure camping in the United States, 1890 -1960 by David Leroy Harmon A dissertation submitted to the graduate faculty in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Major: History of Technology and Science Major Professor: Alan I Marcus Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 2001 Copyright © David Leroy Harmon, 2001. All rights reserved. UMI Number: 3003247 Copyright 2001 by Harmon, David Leroy All rights reserved. ® UMI UMI Microform 3003247 Copyright 2001 by Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 ii Graduate College Iowa State University This is to certify that the Doctoral dissertation of David Leroy Harmon has met the dissertation requirements of Iowa State University Signature was redacted for privacy. Major Professor Signature was redacted for privacy. For the Major Program Signature was redacted for privacy. Gr uate College iii Every time a man sees something new in the world, he finds something new in himself. What a man thinks of the trees and birds, of the sea and mountains and the whole panorama of the summer spectacle, is an exposition of himself. What you see reveals you. We do not so much interpret nature — for nature needs but little interpretation ~ we interpret ourselves. William Chalmers Covert, Wild Woods and Waterways ( 1914), p. 241. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER 1. THE ROOTS OF RECREATIONAL TRAVEL IN AMERICA 25 CHAPTER 2. GETTING AWAY FROM IT ALL - "ROUGHING IT" OR, CAMPING BEFORE CARS 39 CHAPTER 3. "FORDING ACROSS AMERICA" - AUTOCAMPING AND AFFORDABLE OUTINGS 62 CHAPTER 4. CRAMPED CARS, COLD QUARTERS, AND THE DESIRES FOR BETTER CAMPING ACCOMMODATIONS 96 CHAPTER 5. INDUSTRIAL DYNAMO IN DEPRESSION-ERA AMERICA: THE TRAILER COACH INDUSTRY 131 CHAPTER 6. DESIRES AND DESIGN - CULTURAL ICON OR SOCIAL MENACE? 166 CHAPTER 7. THE TRAILER COACH IN WAR AND PEACE: EMERGENCY HOUSING 199 CHAPTER 8. SOCIAL AWARENESS, CULTURAL COMEDY, AND INDUSTRIAL REALITY: THE LONG, LONG TRAILER REVISITED 222 APPENDIX 243 WORKS CITED 256 1 INTRODUCTION Whether taking a short jaunt around the region or an extended outing across the nation, Americans have traveled for much of their national history. Where migration and commerce facilitated much of the American mobility, travel for leisure purposes and recreation remained primarily confined to local or regional excursions until the latter half of the nineteenth century. The earliest tourists in America traveled by foot, horses, or steamship. By mid-century, railroads served as the primary form of transportation to many leisure-oriented destinations. When touring the sites, individuals traveled by carriage or on horseback until the automobile took on that role. Unlike the railroads, automobiles provided individuals with choices rather than set schedules, established routes, and limited alternatives. Seeking to understand the way Americans fostered recreational vehicle development in relation to automobile travel, this study focuses on the social needs and cultural desires of autocampers and the technological solutions to the problems presented by those perceptions. In that light, this is more than a history of recreational vehicles in the United States: it is an examination of ideas and beliefs and the outcome of those thoughts. The concern of this investigation is with the intellectual context of technology and culture, with how new objects are interpreted and integrated into the fabric of American culture and social life. By examining the changing role of camp equipment, especially camp vehicles, we can distinguish how the social needs and cultural desires of Americans directed technological change in the autocamping industry. This study deals with the period, roughly 1890 to 1960, when leisure camping and recreational vehicles were in their formative years. 2 when American popular culture publications celebrated recreational vehicle travel, and when recreational vehicle manufacturing matured into a billion-dollar industry. What began with a few manufacturers supplying tents and camp paraphernalia, within fifty-odd years developed into a dynamic industry producing an array of products for a diverse American market. DISSERTATION ORGANIZATION Lacking ancient ruins or majestic cathedrals to point to as symbols of their culture and civilization, Americans pointed instead to the sublime, pastoral landscape with its unique and abundant natural wonders. Against this introduction of ideas and culture, the earliest notions of camping are examined to reveal how changes in the ideas of camping effected changes in the camp equipment industry. The first chapter, then, recounts the roots of recreational camping and America's relation to the pastoral landscape to show that as "the art of camping" became more popular, and accessible, equipment manufacturers and suppliers worked to advance new ideas and solutions to camping problems. Building upon these notions of the sublime landscape and America's pristine wilderness. Chapter Two examines how the earliest notions of leisure camping evolved. This chapter attempts to explain the impetus or drive behind the early campers as well as document how they went camping. The art of "woodcraft" is discussed to show how the earliest, most primitive forms of camping evolved as well as show how these more primitive methods posed challenges to the more inexperienced campers. As more Americans took to camping, the basics of woodcraft came to be replaced, or at least supplemented, by more modern means. The canvas tent, for instance, replaced the lean-to or bark shanty. The development of early camp equipment suppliers and manufacturers as well as the role of the railroads is discussed to introduce the ways and means most Americans employed to go 3 camping around the turn of the century. Chapter Three continues the examination to reveal how, as accessibility to the American landscape increased, the changing needs and desires of individual campers influenced changes in recreational camping technologies. The role of the automobile is introduced and emphasized to demonstrate the distinct changes that occurred in camping once increased individual mobility via the automobile came to the fore. Accompanying the dramatic growth in autocamping, manufacturers and suppliers likewise expanded to meet the needs of a growing commercial market. In Chapter Four, the role of the automobile is further developed to show how the young camping industry responded to the social needs and desires of the camping public. Desires for better accommodations and improved designs are illustrated through the introduction of new technologies. Manufacturers responded to customer desires for quarters that did not leave them sleeping on the ground or that placed campers at nature's mercy. The chapter includes the 1918