A Visual History of Caravans


Book Description

This book is a visual and informative look at the heritage of the touring caravan covering over a 100 years of this now very popular form of leisure. The book witnesses the UK being the inventor, developer and major producer of touring caravans. Images; (many from the Authors own personal archive) shows how caravan interior/exterior design has evolved and has been influenced by domestic trends through the decades. With nostalgic images the book brings to life this often forgotten yet important aspect of the modern touring caravan. Covering imported caravans as well as UK manufactured models shows just how continental tastes differ from UK buyers. The touring caravan is a modern and sophisticated leisure vehicle that has evolved since the first commercial built Eccles brand caravan back in 1919. A then rich mans hobby, it became more affordable by the 1930’s and this was made possible with more modern production techniques. The design of the caravan emerged from a basic box like profile influenced by the 1800’s horse drawn gypsy caravan that became a fashionable form of holiday with the gentry. Dr Gordon Stables a retired Naval Officer influenced this idea with his specially built horse drawn caravan “The Wanderer” – now on show at the Broadway Caravan & Motorhome Club Site. Stables wrote of his adventures and caravanning in a sense had begun. The book contains many unpublished and rare images which also features cars from the period too. Andrew writes for Practical Motorhome, Practical Caravan and Park Home and Holiday Caravan Magazine among others and attends all major related shows.




The Story of Sprite Caravans


Book Description

This book tells of the story of Sprite caravans, from early primitive designs to the sophisticated Sprite of today. It describes how one man - Sam Alper OBE - was driven to provide the caravanning public with cheap affordable holidays, by bringing the VW/Ford mass-production ethos to the caravan industry.




A Visual History of Motorhomes


Book Description

Following on from Andrew’s A Visual History of Caravans, this new title takes a look at the motorhome’s heritage, spanning over 100 years. The motorhome is a popular leisure vehicle with an ever-growing demand in the UK as well as abroad. From the early designs often built by one-man bands, this book shows how the motorhome was to evolve in the 1920s but was to be outsold by the popularity of the touring caravan. Images from all decades are mainly from the author’s own vast archives, while some have been loaned and supplied from motorhome industry personnel. These pictures demonstrate how the motorhome developed with the advent of smaller chassis cabs from the 1950s major manufacturers such as Bedford, Austin, Morris and Ford. Covering UK-brand motorhomes as well imported models, the book shows how different UK tastes were to the imported makes. Although not an A-Z of motorhomes book, the author has chosen images that represent as many manufacturers as possible. Andrew includes some rare images of coachbuilt motorhomes and shows how the motorhome boom began in the mid-1960s. With the further development of chassis cab designs in the 70s with brands such as Commer, Toyota and Leyland more manufacturers of motorhomes would emerge as the boom carried on. Caravan’s International motorised division was re-named Autohomes, and became the biggest UK manufacturer of coachbuilt motorhomes, going on to also be built in Germany. Well-known maker Dormobile concentrated on campervans, though several coachbuilt motorhomes such as the classic-looking Debonair were produced. From those early days, A Visual History of Motorhomes will make interesting reading to motorhome users, showing how the leisure vehicle took shape.




Sisters on the Fly


Book Description

The Sisters on the Fly know they're having more fun than anyone! Now you're invited to join them on their cross-country road trips as author Irene Rawlings takes you inside the Sisters' decorated vintage trailers. Each trailer reflects its owner's personality, and the Sisters share their individual stories behind their loving restorations--and a few of the wilder outdoor adventures they've experienced along the way. The Sisters also share tips for buying and restoring vintage trailers because they know that once you see all the fun they're having fly-fishing, riding horses, camping, eating, laughing, and loving, you just might want to join their cowgirl caravan when it heads out for the next adventure. Sisters on the Fly will inspire readers with charming and witty anecdotes from the Sisters as they experience the open road and some of the most beautiful places in the country. It is organized around fishing, food, friendship, love, and loss. And, of course, around beautiful vintage trailers that have been lovingly transformed from "trashed to treasured." The book features dozens of engaging stories about the incredible women who buy and restore these trailers, as well as sidebars loaded with both practical and whimsical information for anyone who is ready to find her own trailer and join the caravan.




Caravans of Gold, Fragments in Time


Book Description

Issued in conjunction with the exhibition Caravans of Gold, Fragments in Time, held January 26, 2019-July 21, 2019, Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois.




Puer Tea


Book Description

Puer tea has been grown for centuries in the “Six Great Tea Mountains” of Yunnan Province, and in imperial China it was a prized commodity, traded to Tibet by horse or mule caravan via the so-called Tea Horse Road and presented as tribute to the emperor in Beijing. In the 1990s, as the tea’s noble lineage and unique process of aging and fermentation were rediscovered, it achieved cult status both in China and internationally. The tea became a favorite among urban connoisseurs who analyzed it in language comparable to that used in wine appreciation and paid skyrocketing prices. In 2007, however, local events and the international economic crisis caused the Puer market to collapse. Puer Tea traces the rise, climax, and crash of this phenomenon. With ethnographic attention to the spaces in which Puer tea is harvested, processed, traded, and consumed, anthropologist Jinghong Zhang constructs a vivid account of the transformation of a cottage handicraft into a major industry—with predictable risks and unexpected consequences. Watch the associated videos at https://archive.org/details/PUERTEADVD1.




Tibetan Caravans


Book Description

Born into an eminent merchant family in Ladakh in 1918, Khwaja Abdul Wahid Radhu, often described as 'the last caravaneer of Tibet and Central Asia', led an unusual life of adventure, inspiration and enlightenment. His family, and later he, had the ancestral honour of leading the biannual caravan which carried the Ladakhi kings' tribute and homage to the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government. Tibetan Caravans, his memoir, is an unparalleled narrative about trans-Himalayan trade--the riches, the politics and protocol, the challenging yet magnificent natural landscape, altitude sickness, snow storms, bandits and raiders, monks and soldiers. The book also contains rare and fascinating details about the close connections between Ladakh, Tibet and Kashmir, the centuries-old interplay between Buddhism and Islam in the region, the Chinese occupation of Tibet, and life in Lhasa before and after its takeover by China. In this rich and insightful memoir, Abdul Wahid Radhu reminisces about a bygone era when borders were fluid, and mutual respect formed the basis for trade relations across cultures and people. As his son, Siddiq Wahid, says in his introduction, Tibetan Caravans is a testimony to the organic relationships between 'societies who have learned how to hear each other out, argue, even do battle and yet remain hospitable to each other.'







The Touring Caravan


Book Description

From the original horse-drawn caravan to the sophisticated and well-appointed luxury leisure vehicle we know today, this book follows the dynamic evolution of the touring caravan over the last century. Using a selection of images from his archive, expert Andrew Jenkinson reveals how technical advances as well as interior design revolutionised the touring caravan in the United Kingdom, and how caravanning became a culture and a lifestyle choice. Covering well-known brands such as Eccles, Sprite, Swift and Bailey, this lively and informative book will appeal to caravan enthusiasts and social historians alike, and rekindle happy memories for anyone who has holidayed in a touring caravan.