General Information

Serial #

424

Part Number

1

Total Parts

1

AKA

travel trailer

Patents

N/A

General Description

Unknown

Dimensions

Note: These reflect the general size for storage and are not necessarily representative of the object's true dimensions.

Length

5.5 m

Width

2.3 m

Height

2.4 m

Thickness

N/A

Weight

N/A

Diameter

N/A

Volume

N/A

Lexicon

Group

Motorized Ground Transportation

Category

Recreational vehicles

Sub-Category

N/A

Manufacturer

AKA

Canada Carriage

Country

Unknown

State/Province

Unknown

City

Unknown

Context

Country

Canada

State/Province

Unknown

Period

Unknown

Canada

Automobile camping is as old as the automobile itself but, until the advent of affordable cars and decent roads, its popularity was limited. In the 1910s and 1920s, motor camping was largely a pastime for the rich - who could afford to have large, well-equipped trailers custom-built for their outings - or for the adventurous - who didn’t mind sleeping in tents or in the backs of their cars. Ford’s introduction of the model T and the rapid increase in car ownership helped to foster support for road-building across North America and also created new opportunities for and interest in automobile camping. Automobile companies, carriage makers and home-handymen took advantage of these opportunities by developing a variety of what we would now call recreational vehicles for the emerging market. The earliest models were mainly of two types: systems in which the car body was used to support a framework for a tent and motor homes built on a car or truck chassis (like the Nash motor home). Many of these vehicles were home-made and others were custom-built. There does not seem to have been enough demand to support RV manufacturing as a separate enterprise until after the Second World War. The Brantford trailer fits neatly into this general narrative. The maker of the trailer was Fred W. Knechtel, a wood-worker from Kitchener whose first documented foray into the trailer business was as an amateur. In 1932 he entered a contest sponsored by Popular Science Monthly to design and build an auto camping trailer. His house trailer finished second to a collapsible trailer. Soon after he formed his own small manufacturing company to build trailers. In 1936, Mr, Knechtel sold his company to Canada Carriage & Body Company Limited of Brantford. Formed in 1924, Canada Carriage was a conglomerate of carriage and other equipment makers (dating back to 1863) who had managed to survive the disappearance of the carriage market in the early 20th century. The company had prospered by catering to the market for truck bodies. Beginning around 1930, though, truck makers started to build their bodies in-house. Canada Carriage & Body shifted its emphasis to specialized truck bodies and equipment, but in the midst of the great depression, also went looking for other products to diversify their offerings. They began building bus bodies to meet specialized Canadian needs, steel vaults, ambulances and house trailers. It seems that the company only manufactured these products for a short period of time. In 1939, the firm re-tooled for war production and after the war returned to its main business of specialized truck bodies and systems. It is not clear how many house trailers the company built (or how many Mr. Knechtel built before joining the company) but Mr. Knechtel stayed on as factory manager until 1958. The company remained in business as Trailmobile Canada and continued to manufacture equipment for the trucking industry in Brantford until 1990 and Ingersoll until 1993. This trailer, though, is not just a product of an interesting and long-lived Canadian manufacturing enterprise. It also represents the rise of automobility in Canada. Purchased by a prosperous, middle-class family in Montreal, the Brantford symbolizes both the rise of the automobile as a means of independent, long distance transport and the early development of motor tourism in Canada. Though Canada lagged behind the US in road and supporting infrastructure development, this trailer demonstrates that motor tourism was sufficiently established in Canada in the 1930s to support a small manufacturing enterprise (that clearly marketed its products beyond the local region) and to allow a family to set out on their own to enjoy the pleasures of Canada’s natural environment. [Ref. 1]

Function

A tow-able trailer equipped with living space and amenities. This trailer is intended for leisure activities such as vacationing and camping.

Technical

The Brantford trailer is a good example of the specialized design and construction techniques used to build recreational vehicles. As the photographs show, the handsome woodwork conceals a variety ingenious spaces and structures that provide many of the conveniences of home in a compact environment. Given the materials and tools available in the 1930s, this kind of design demanded a high level of craftsmanship and skill to achieve. The trailer also uses an interesting and innovative brake design. Early trailers did not always have independent brakes. As makers started to introduce larger and heavier house trailers, brakes became more critical. More research is required to determine whether the brakes were a standard feature or not. [Ref. 1]

Area Notes

Unknown

Details

Markings

"BRANTFORD/ TRAVEL COACH/ MANUFACTURED BY/ CANADA CARRIAGE & BODY CO. LIMITED/ BRANTFORD, ONTARIO/ SERIAL 424 MODEL C" recorded on plate fixed to inside of entry door. "BUDDY" and "FAIR AVE. TIN SHOP/ BENTON HARBOR/ MICH." cast in raised print on heater door. "NO./ 200" cast in raised print on heater body, below.

Missing

Unknown.

Finish

Metal trailer has maroon-red colour finish on exterior steel panels; black painted trim; clear glass windows; metal wire mesh screens; silver-grey doped fabric roof; black metal towing hitch; bright chromed metal bumper; red and green glass lights and reflectors; black rubber tires; wood panelling, cupboards, framing and floor boards, table, etc. on interior; wire mesh screens on windows and roof vents; cream-colour floral pattern fabric drapes; red crushed velvet (?) fabric upholstery on seat covers; silver metal hinges, door latches, etc; off-white enamel coated metal sink; mirrored glass over sink; trailer fitted with cast-iron heater; ice-box is tin(?) lined; other metals presumably present.

Decoration

Image of kneeling gunner feeding ammunition belt into large gun on tripod decorates heater body.