Camping 100 years ago next year

[Steve Jelf]

Of course I'll go to the Old Car Festival next year if they'll let me back in. When it's over I intend to head for southern Indiana for some group camping. Maybe somebody here would like to go.

Event by Nathanael Logsdon and Amalgamated Order Of Motor Campers
3213 IN-237, English, IN 47118-6504, United States
Duration: 5 days

SAVE THE DATE! September 13-17, 2023. (You have over a year to plan for this. You won't want to miss it!)
We will be hosting the first National Motor Camp! We hope there will be more, but this is currently being planned as a one-off event and therefore, we are pulling out all the stops! Our plan is to create an experience that transports you to somewhere in the first quarter of the 20th century in a tourist's motoring camp. We plan on starting the event mid-week with a mini-tour each day, followed by a double-feature silent film showing on Friday evening, camp activities on Saturday, pot luck dinner and live entertainment on Saturday evening. Might be an ice cream social while we're at it!
Additional information:
*Period clothing and period camp is REQUIRED. We will have an area set aside for modern tents in case some folks don't have that gear, but within the program area, you must make a strong effort at clothing of the era. Part of what makes this experience work for everyone is the cooperation of all in suspending disbelief for a few days.
*You do not have to have a vintage automobile to participate, except within the program area. Again, camp and clothes are a must. Modern cars are not allowed outside of the parking lot, but may follow the tours behind the antique automobiles. There may also be room to "bum a ride" with some of the early cars.
*This is NOT a public event and is NOT open to spectators. This is a reenactor experience ONLY. For this reason we will ask you to include a photo of your clothing with registration. We are not "jurying" the event, but we want to make sure everyone is on the same page.
*For those who are concerned about campfires in proximity to valuable antique cars and camping trailers, we will have separate areas for those who wish to be in a campfire-free area. We have plenty of room and are happy to accommodate.
*This is a CIVILIAN reenacting event. Our primary focus is on camping and touring as it was in the Golden Age of the American Vacation. We do understand that there was a small War in the middle of this period, and a large number of reenactors in this period only have military kit. Therefore, we will have an area for WWI camps, HOWEVER we will only allow U.S. impressions that are portraying homefront or other stateside based impressions. No military battles or foreign armies will be tolerated. Drilling and recruiting is allowed. Military vehicles are welcome.
*More information and details on how to register will be coming soon. This is going to be one event you absolutely won't want to miss!

[Wayne Sheldon]

I found a link and see that Linus Tremaine is involved with this endeavor! He and I are not close friends, but have known each other for a few decades. He is quite passionate about vintage camping, and was doing a vintage camping trip in California most years for several years before that covid mess interrupted it. Several of my best friends attended a few of his camping trips, and raved about how well organized they were. I always wanted to go, but was unable to do so. I have some vintage camping gear, not sure if I have enough or not. Probably still won't be able to go next year anyway.

Linus T does post on this forum from time to time, and has shared photos of vintage camping trips in the past. He also bumps up his "Vintage Camping Equipment Wanted" ad occasionally in the classified section. Fine antique automobile fellow!

Any idea what silent movies might be shown? (Or how? Too much to hope for a theatre organ?)

[Steve Jelf]

I don't think Nathanael has a theater organ, but it wouldn't surprise me if he got one.

[JohnM]

All they need is a sheet hung between trees, and one of these. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgiL5_PtnGM

[tiredfarmer]

Didn't Stan Laurel play one in one of the Boy's movies?

[BHarper]

I acquired an Estey folding pump organ some years ago. It needs to be restored. The Estey factory was in Brattleboro, Vermont, about 20 miles from here.

[TXGOAT2]

I believe at least one circuit riding preacher built a chapel on a Model T chassis, complete with an organ of some sort.

[Charlie B in N.J.]

Probably the best period piece I’ve ever read concerning car camping is in a Dyke’s Automobile Encyclopedia which is probably from the late teens/ early ‘20s. The first few pages are long gone so I can’t be sure however the last pages show “Aeroplanes” which look like the Wright brothers built them. Covers everything from what to buy, how much to buy, how to store it for the trip, (remember sealing wax? That’s what’s recommended to keep the containers sealed). What to make to use your car for a bed and tent, recipes and hot to cook and much more. So darn interesting to read. One thing that always stuck with me but I never had the chance to try was the suggestion to never buy sliced bacon. “Always buy it by the slab. Tastes so much better. And be sure to save the grease for frying later”.

[fbergski]

I like the sound of vintage camping, too bad I'm in California. It would be quite a drive in my 11 touring to Indiana.

[Steve Jelf]

It would be quite a drive in my 11 touring to Indiana.

Having the time to do it would be the big obstacle. That's where being an old retired guy is an advantage.

[Dan Haynes]

This one is sure on the calendar for me. If all works according to plan, I want to take the big Stanley (used as a camping truck). There is too much desert between the west coast and Colorado to try to drive it in a non-condensing steamer - it holds 80 gallons of water which should take it close to 75 miles, it is not ideal to gamble to use all of the water range. After running 75 miles, if the next water isn't available for another 15 miles, you're pretty much stranded along the road, so to make the trip it will have to go in the trailer.

If the Stanley can't go, I think I would drive the 1914 Ford. There are lots of great quiet roads to drive and the Ford would not have the same water limitation. Going north across the corner of Oregon and across southern Idaho, Wyoming and Nebraska, then on to OCF (like Steve mentioned), then down to southern Indiana for the campout.

Even if I trailer the Stanley, I would want to include OCF, but I'm considering the possibility of ditching the truck and trailer at a friend's place in Michigan and from there the Stanley could make the drive with plenty of available water stops between Detroit and the Louisville area where the campout is.

I hope to be retired by then and time won't be the crunch it is now.

[TXGOAT2]

Could you carry water in 5 gallon plastic containers?

[Dan Haynes]

Yes, carrying extra water jugs is possible, but it soon becomes impractical. Five gallons of water might not even get you to the next intersection. Even a huge car like the Mountain Wagon will run out of room for water jugs and the added weight soon becomes prohibitive. Not just carrying it all, but starting it moving from a stop or worse, trying to stop it in traffic. Even with the two 40 gallon tanks on board, I can feel when the tanks are full just by how it lumbers around and how hard it is to stop with two-wheel brakes.

Stanleys were intended to water up from handy water troughs or from creeks that were everywhere. When they were new, Mountain Wagons had only a 25 gallon water tank and 15 gallon fuel tank. They were designed to carry passengers along the Big Thompson River to the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado. Water was freely and abundantly available and never an issue. The Mountain Wagon was modified for distance touring when it was restored in 1979 and extra water capacity added under the two rear seats, as well as increased fuel capacity (from 15 to to 45 gallons) under the driver's seat.

The 40 gallon copper water tanks are visible under the two back seats.

[Steve Jelf]

I always assumed it was the long starting time that doomed steam cars, but I can see how their voracious use of water also limited them. My 1915 Ford carries one gallon of distilled water, which lasts hundreds of miles.

[TXGOAT2]

Is there any kind of condenser on the vehicle?

[Dan Haynes]

No provision for a condenser, that came later, starting in 1915.

Steve -
There are many many reasons steam cars fell from favor. It was the habit of most Stanley drivers who used their cars daily to leave the pilot burning overnight for a quick getaway in the morning, so the delay wasn't as big an issue as it's made to be.

One of the most insurmountable setbacks is the tendency to freeze. The little pilot can do only so much to keep the car cozy in a snug garage, but leaving the car on the street in sub-freezing temperatures is certain death. Pumps, pipes, valves, even the engine itself would freeze and shatter.

Gas cars were just so much easier. Less fun, to be sure, but easier.

[babychadwick]

We do something similar 10 days 1700's living. Unfortunatly a speedster isnt really for camping out of.

[perry kete]

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[TWrenn]

AA11IiF8.jpg

OMG how true!!

Of course, about the same could be said regarding $$ and BOATS... "Bring Out Another Thousand"!! Dollars that is of course!!

Model T's arent' that far behind either, come to think of it!

[Art M]

Dan,
What fuel and how much do you carry on your steam car
I estimate the burner output is at least 260,000 btu per hour
Assuming 30 mph speed

Art Mirtes

[Dan Haynes]

Art -

I made a shorter vaporizer for the burner so I could burn gasoline. A lot of eastern guys burn kerosene because they can get it easily at gas station pumps back there while a lot of guys out west burn a 50/50 mix of gasoline and diesel. Kerosene is too hard to get out here and, while Jet A works, but it isn't worth the hassle of getting it. And adding half diesel to the fuel makes the car and everyone in it stink and it gives me a headache.

Stanleys burned only gasoline fuel until during 1913 and, if it was good enough for them, gasoline is good enough for me. It lights clean, burns clean and cuts off clean and it doesn't stink like diesel. And I can pull into any gas station and fill up with a reliable fuel that will behave as expected. The fuel tank under the front seat holds 45 gallons.

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[Art M]

Dan,
Thanks for the information
Art

[babychadwick]

Bump and an update. I've seen the flyer and while it is getting close now we are planning on coming. If at all possible I intend to drive our new car. However there is considerable work to be done and she hasn't been on the road since who knows when. I guess a thousand mile shake down trip we would find all the bugs. On the "list" would be. . .
Intake/carb, fuel tank, top, rewiring, generator, some wood rot bits, lighting, fluids, tires, ect. Oh also getting together a camp.

The fall back plan is to take the speedster with the camp in the trailer.

The long term goal is to have the speedster and camp on the trailer behind the Buick. A good old 20's trailering to the races.

[TXGOAT2]

I remember seeing sealing wax at the grocery store as late as the early 1970s. GulfWax brand. WalMart probably carried it back when they were a general store. They've moved way uptown in recent years.