Motor Bungalows
In these days when the gypsy habit is being contracted by many thousands who tour to the southlands in the winter season and across the continent during the summertime there are many who find it most convenient to have special caravan car bodies which in effect are land yachts or traveling bungalows. Some of a mechanical turn or training will take one of the standard chassis and build upon it a bungalow top to suit the owner’s needs and tastes. In other instances a special bungalow body will be built to order by one or other of the automobile manufacturers; and local car dealers will give the inquirer a list of body makers who will undertake this kind of construction.
We give an illustration of a traveling bungalow built for a man prominently identified with the automobile industry who uses the outfit in his business, which takes him afar over this country, and also for gypsy tours with his family in vacation time.
This outfit is a real home. Measuring seventeen feet long and six feet wide, the house itself contains everything necessary for comfort. The furniture is skillfully designed so that the tables fold and other pieces nest into each other for economy in space.
The beds are made up at night from the seats in somewhat the same manner that a lower berth takes shape under the deft hands of George, the porter. But these berths are longer, wider and infinitely more restful. Then the windows are large [[48]]and can be raised without the aid of a crowbar. The ventilation is perfect.
As one-third of human life is spent in sleep and a considerable portion in consuming food, the dining apparatus of this portable home is designed with the same care as bestowed upon the sleeping quarters. The table, sufficiently large, folds neatly into a minimum of space. The refrigerator is commodious enough to meet the expectations of the keenest appetite.
This gypsy caravan contains five lockers, including one devoted to the commander’s dress clothes, a tent to provide extra sleeping space on the roof of the car, a thirty-gallon tank containing water under air pressure for the shower bath, a writing desk, electric lights throughout, a two-burner stove, fireless cooker and phonograph.
With this equipment the family toured New England in summer. The trip totaled 1,666 miles and the entire expense for gasoline, tips, cleaning and storage was only $66.44, or less than four cents a mile for the journey.