Caravanning and Camping-Out - Experiences and Adventures in a Living-Van and in the Open Air With Hints and Facts for Would-Be Caravanners.

by John Harris Stone

Originally published in early 1900's. Experiences and adventures in a living van and in the open air with many hints and facts for would-be caravanners. Illustrated with 100 photos and caravan plans and designs. A number of chapters are devoted to gypsies and gypsy life. Many of the earliest transport books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing many of these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

478 pages, Paperback

First published November 22, 2010

Reviews

[Ellen Behrens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unusual historical documentation of early travel by trailer

First, and most important, this book has scattered, racist language in it. It was originally published in 1914 when certain words and references were casually and thoughtlessly used and printed. Sadly, it's further evidence of how authentic this book is to the period during which it was written and published.

One can debate when vacationers started "RVing" but there's no question that people have been traveling the countryside, sleeping in trailers for hundreds of years. Stone's book is one of the earliest I've found that documents in tremendous (and sometimes tedious) detail how people in the United Kingdom "caravanned" (he includes a full chapter on where the term "caravan" came from; it's still used in Britain instead of "RVing").

Chapters cover everything from the importance of a solid "under-carriage" to choosing the best horse to pull it to how to outfit it and choose the best "pitches" (camping areas). He even includes a final chapter of recipes with menu items ranging from familiar meals like Toasted Cheese and Apple Fritters to things I've never heard of, such as Plum Duff and Treacle Pudding.

The book is expansive and absorbing, although there's no excusing the regrettable racism that haunts it.

[David Antis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent old book from 1914. Very useful information on caravans, canvas tents and outdoor cooking and recipes and the footnotes contain a great list of other old books on similar subjects that are also mostly available online and well out of copyright. A couple of chapters related to Gypsies near the end dragged on a bit, but again included lots of references to other books to check out.

The book can be found here in several formats:

https://archive.org/details/caravanni...