The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1936-11-28

the first ap- Edwin C. Hill
pearance Of the houses or
wheels in the national show
There, in so varieties, ranging
from tiny collapsible bungalows
to luxurious land-going yachts
were the homes which Americans
are hitching to their cars.
"Just q fad" a young man in
the crowd was saying, wait and
see-in another year, they'll be
on the way out"
AS he passed on, my FRIEND
looked after him and smiled.
"That yOungster brings back
memories" he remarked. 81
heard another, maybe it was his
father, say the very same thing
IS years ago. 1t was at an auto
mobile show, too, the first ever
held, down in old Madison
Square Garden. 1t wasn't one,
but it was 10 thousand who
looked at those hOrseless bug
gies and condemned them to the
limbo of the impractical"
"Then your opinion is that we
have a new infant industry
here" I said.
LUSTY GROWTH
Hardly q infant" he an
Swered, otis a lusty baby by
now, an industry with the
ground floor rapidly filling up.
You have 300 manufacturers
already in the field. They've
scarcely been able to keep up
with sales for the past year.
Price ranges are from $500 to
$4,000, and as you may note
from the signs around here
some of the large automobile
companies have stepped in.
eyes, the trailer is in the mass
production field, one company
alone having a production
schedule of 10000 units for the
next year."
We inspected a de luxe model
It has a living room, handsomely
upholstered, a kitchenette such a!
you find in a modern apartment
running water, electric lights,
shower and a radio.
All in all, it was a replica of
small cabin cruiser or a section
of the club car Of a railroad
train.
The trailer is no part Of the
automobile-that is, it has NJ
complicated machinery, no motive
power and it does not go on it!
own. 1t is coupled to the motor
car just as the railroad car il
coupled to the locomotive.
Wherever the automobile leads
the trailer will folloW-up the
mountainside and down into the
valley.
A thought occurred to me
Why shouldn't the engine be put
into the trailer. giving us one
new automobile and not two
separate units?
you're not saying anything
new" explained my companion,
"and you're rushing things.
Such an automobile was made
a few years ago, but it didn't
get to the saleSrOOms. Why?
We were not ready for it, and
we are not ready yet.
mot only are we creatures Of
habit, but, in our progress, we
set up systems and conditions
which just won't be changed
overnight. You made such a
statement the other day when
you were talking about the
tariff. You said free trade
might be theoretically sound,
but, when a nation has been
built on protection, a right-abOut
face would mean industrial sui
eide.
"The automobile of today is
designed for our roads, our traf-
fic conditions, and our urban
storage facilities.
GYPSY TRAILS
"The trailer at present Is an
adjunct for lOng-distance tours
and for our migratory pOpula-
ton. Eventually the trailer may
revOlutiOnize body designs.
eff and when we come to the
day Of super-;lighways, bringing
San Francisco within three or
four days of New York, we'll
want automobiles in which we
may sleep, eat, and play bridge.
And we'll have them"
In the meantime and for the
present, some 100000 persons are
living on wheels in the United
States. They follow the swallows
North in the summer and South in
the winter.
Each ribbon of concrete is be
coming a gypsy trail. Because Of
this, New York real estate expert
rises to ask:
"What will happen to the tax
structure if a substantial part
of the population takes up this
mobile existence?
America" he says, "needs
millions of lOw-cOst homes. 1t
is a question of mass produc-
ton. Will the building industry
solve it, or has the automobile
already done so and thus won
headstart in the race for a mar
ket worth billions of dOllarS?"