Ford Treasury of Station Wagon Living

Ford Treasury of Station Wagon Living, the long promised predecessor to Station Wagon Living, Volume 2, blogged almost 2 years ago.

As always, click on the pictures for a closer look.

Really just advertisements for products, these two volumes disguised as books.

A little sock knitting in the woods, of course.

Tailgating, 1950's style.

I'm liking the idea of the 12 volt coffee maker.  Can't you just smell the coffee brewing, at 55, 65,or even 70 mph while driving down the interstate?

As for the picnic table with four attached seats that folds down into a suitcase sized version of itself, several years ago a friend picked one up at the local dump and gave it to us but we passed it on.  So regretting that now.

Apparently this is a good shade tent design as it's still available today here, here and here, but certainly not at 1957 prices.

Regrettably, long gone are the days when you could drop on into Abercrombie and Fitch  for a folding canvas wash basin or a camp torch.  As are the days when plug-in electric razors were "available at any Ford dealership".

"With the middle seat down, the rear of a wagon becomes a play room approximately 7 feet long by 4-plus wide.  Pad the floor with a mattress, put the luggage at the rear and strap it down..., toss a cushion or two on the mattress, strew some toys and books about and turn the kids loose."

"Devise your own means--either mandate or closed windows--to keep the kids from broadcasting books and toys over the passing landscape....Keep rear doors locked to keep the small fry from falling out....If you stack luggage in the rear of a station wagon, lash it down.  In case of sudden stops, free luggage can wreak serious injury."

Surely  you wouldn't want that precious luggage being injured in case of an accident, would you?  Let your children roam freely in the back of the car, but...

"In camp there's always the problem of what to do with toddlers when parents want to visit the neighbors....wise parents take measures to limit the range of travel."   

I'm pretty sure that, as a baby and toddler, my parents brought along a small play pen for me to sleep in inside the tent.

"Novel ideas for containing youngsters on automobile trips have come along in recent years....Wood lugs, wedged betweeen seat and back cushion, hold the seat securely in place." 

Different times, different times.

But not really so different.

Transparent bottom canoe/kayak available today, if you have the $$$$.

Inflatable boat that packs down into a suitcase.  Just be sure to bring along a patch kit.

Skin diving and aqualungers.  Remember?  How can you not love that kind of terminology?

About the last third of this volume is a guide to campgrounds at the time, state by state.

Well, tomorrow we're headed off on the road to Seattle, in the minivan (station wagon of the nineties and beyond) children and adults securely strapped in with the lastest of technologies.

I'm thinking of having some posts ready to auto-post while we're gone but may or may not pull that off before we go.  If not, I'll be back here in a week or so.

Off to finish packing the mini.

 

Comments

[Jennifer]

Ah, the good ol' days. Have a great trip. I hope you come up with some great mini-van camping ideas (maybe that double-layer sleeping contraption would be useful?)

[Jennifer]

What great memories this brought back! I grew up in the NYC suburbs and my parents were far from the camping types. (Dad is handicapped and Mom had a notoriously bad back.) BUT...we did have a Ford Country Squire wagon with a custom mattress for the fold-down back! We were the envy of our young friends. We spent lots of time visiting folks and my parents didn't want to be curtailed by early bedtimes for four little girls. I have happy memories of footed pajamas and vying for prime real estate--by the wheel wells in winter because the wheels generated heat!

I also have memories of the various baby contraptions my parents bought. First a chrome and web-strap device that wrapped over the seat and the baby sat in, then a series of straps that attached to the seat belts somehow. It was easy-entry because the baby was zipped into the straps. Back in the early 60s my parents were way ahead of their time. (My husband tells the story of his father going out to buy seat belts to retrofit their car.)

Of course, I also remember pit stops on long trips for my dad to have a beer. Ah...how times have changed. (At least I hope so!)

[Elizabeth]

What a hoot! The penthouse car tent really made me laugh.
I think my sister still has a baby car bed that was passed down to her.
Just yesterday my kids were saying what fun stuff there is for kids these days that we (the parents) never had. We pointed out that we experienced things they never would, like hanging out the back window of the station wagon and make peace signs and funny faces at the the car behind (And we lived to tell about it)
I think I'd like to come your way just to haunt the same thrift shops that you do. I never find this kind of stuff at mine.

[Anna of Helylle]

Why, oh why, does everything look so innocent and simple back then? Were things innocent? Were they simple? Or is it the mirror of time that does the trick? I'll start saving up to a time machine.

[Nancy]

I well remember taking a road trip from Missouri to California with my sister at age 2 standing in the front seat of the car the whole way....
In 1974, my husband and I would travel from N. Carolina to Florida with the bassinet in wedged into the back seat...
How times and safety have changed,...

[Melissa]

What fun that post was--I station wagon camped with my parents--and have good memories of it. My brother, sister and I traveled across the US rolling around in the back of the station wagon with nary a thought of seat belts.

Your trip sounds like fun. Interestingly enough, my husband, daughter and I will be doing a similar trip in June: flying to Portland then driving to Whitefish.

Travel safely!

[Melanie W.]

What a HOOT! The station wagon reminds of a VW bus some friends of mine had a few years ago. It was one of the special camping edition buses and they still had the tent that attached to the back. It was a coveted item at Dead shows. Happy Trails!!!!

[kate]

My favorite picture is the sleeping diagram - of course the baby goes up under the dash. Where else? Thanks for sharing this - it's awesome! We were never a camping family, but this sure brings back memories of our giant station wagon in the 80s.

[kara]

Thanks for the great scans, really enjoyed them. Love that rooftop tent! Ah yes... in the 70s my parents drove a VW bus; no seatbelts, of course. My sister and I rolled around in the back and my brother sat on a milk crate wedged between the two front seats. :)

Have a fun trip!

[Krissy]

Great post. I remember having the wooden booster seat with the metal arm rest for the seatbelt to go under. I always refused to wear the belt because it was so tight. Then we were in an accident. I don't think that the seat made any difference since it was all the glass that cause the most injuries.

[Louise]

Great book! Thanks for the scans. My mom tells stories of the fifties cross-country road trip that she and her brothers took with their grandmother in her grandmother's huge old station wagon. Complete with matress in the back and giant box full of comics and bubble gum.

[Michelle]

Love it!!!

[kate]

Oh man, thanks for the laugh! The "toss some cushions in the back and set your kids free!" is hoot! Can you imagine??

WHERE do you find these fabulous things?? Were your parents smart enough to hang on to them from way back?

I want that orange & white tent thing!

[tona]

S, when you blogged about the previous volume, I actually bought a copy off an amazon used bookseller and I just love it. Thanks for sharing this one too.

[mims]

we actually owned one of those wagons with the tent on the roof. Us kids were always afraid of rolling out in the night, or what to do if we had to go to the bathroom. It had a rowboat topper that capped the folded down tent for travel. oh those were good times.....

[Adrian]

Oh, wow, the child containment, or lack of, is so scary! I shouldn't be surprised, as I was strapped into some kind of harness with a leash in the car when I was little. Later on, we were always in the "way back" of the station wagon. No babies rolling around back there, though.

The Para-Wing is fantastic!

[Yarrow]

Oh wow! I love it! That is the coolest thing. I just love those old books, where do you keep comoing up with them? Thanks for sharing, I really enjoyed reading about it.

[Lizz]

:-)

[Ellen]

You can't hear me, but I'm giggling the whole time while reading this post. Thanks for sharing. The drawn illustrations are great.

[TheAmpuT]

I absolutely love this post. Thanks for scanning so many pages! I grew up in a family that did a lot of camping out of small spaces, and I currently own a conversion van myself. With a coffee pot ;-)

[Gift of Green]

Absolutely fabulous.

[Anne]

These pictures are too funny - love the child containment devices. Did you notice the men are lounging around while the women look busy? Thank you for sharing this.

[Sarah]

I picked this book up at a yard sale 2 summers ago, and I love it.

Even Jack loves browsing it's pages. Totally awesome. :-)