The Huron Expositor, 1956-07-27, Page 17,b
4t�Ry Ruth Martian ThorPson, in
The Municipal World)
433 the summer of 1854, or the cold
grey days that were called sum-
soer that year, my" husband and I
B . .a •wharf in one df the Rawer, -
Lakes and headed hopefully
*ward Georgian Bay We were:
sailing a small sloop. When. after
three days of rain we tied up near
the foot of Fenelon Falls, at least
Syne of us had, had enough of the
great outdoors- More ,than any-
thing else we wanted to be warm
and dry; having no friends or ev-
en nodding acquaintance$ on whom
we could call in the town, we
sought shelterin the local movie,
'fte film was "The Long, Long
Frailer," and I shall never forget
IL '
Not that ' it was what a critic
would label unforgettable It was
implies; a home that can be mov-
ed. And At must be emphasized,
it IS a home.
Trailer is a By -Gone
Certainly no such name could be
applied to those early conveyances
that appeared on the roads attach-
ed to the cars of twet►tY years ;�
ago. Oftnn poorly constructed, al- t :i
ways cramped, chilly and lacking
eleittentary comforts, they gave
makeshift protection to sports-
men, salesmen, retired couples
travelling on a slim income; itin-
erant workers or itinerants who
didn't want to work—the shiftless
gypsies evident in every society.
They lacked water, they lacked
sanitary facilities, and they lacked
whatunhappily their glamorous
descendants of 1956 'also. need
most today—a clean, well drained,
well regulated and serviced place
just one of those B -Grade Holy.- to park. Owners used to put them
synod efforts with the "1 Love 1. farmer's fields, empty lots, be-
Lnev' 'stars Lucille Balt and Desi side gas stations and even beau
Arnaz, getting into difficulties, me-
chanical and matrimonial, in their
Biome on wheels. But what a
home! Even though I lived when
ashore in a house exactly suited to
my taste, I was enchanted by the
modern, compact, efficient and
above all, attractive apartnlent
that could go anywhere- The trail-
er stole the .show. From whisper-
ed remarks in the theatre and
comment heard outside, and from
conversations about mobile living
since that time, 1 have been led
to a conclusion that need not be
modified in • any way: women like
trailers. Anyone knows that when
the housewives of a , nation adopt
something, whether can opener or
clothes drier, it becomes part of in the 20's and 30's. Exactly twen-
fihat nation's way of life. Obvious- ty years ago he made the start-
ly mobile living is not for every- ling -announcement that "within 20
one. Nevertheless, like Iove and years more than half the popula-
taxes, the trailer is here to stay. tion of the United States will be
The term trailer, though, as ap- living in trailers". The next year
plied to living quarters hauled Fortune magazine conducted a
along behind the family car, is survey and concluded that Only
rapidly going out of date. If the about half the people would want
Canadian Mobile Home Association to spend even a "short vacation in
has its way this use of the word a trailer. Then a University of
may soon be obsolete. Mobile- Pennsylvania sociology professor
home may be an awkward and un- made -an intensive study of trailer
gainly word, but it is preferable life, living in one for two years
for two reasons. First, today's with ' his family and travelling
House on wheels with its comfort- from coast to coast and Maine to
able bedrooms, pastel -tinted bath- New Mexico. What did he find?
room, twin sinks in the kitchen He estimated- that about 15 per
and an efficient heating unit, bears cent was the proportion of people
little resemblance to its poor Vela- who "within a future in which no
tion, the pre-war trailer. And sec- radical revolution of society is an -
end, many units being built today ticipated, might find advantage in
can literally not be '"trailed" by 'homes on wheels." Up to now the
the .average automobile. They are
too heavy. They must either be
..Hauled by powerful truck or sent
on flat cars to the mine, paper
onill, R.C.A.F. station or highway
project where the new owner will
reside. In other words, the new
mob"ilebome is just what the word
houses. Yet in spite o
,culties and discomforts more and
more people took to the roads with.
their houses behind the . Not on-
ly literally, but as a natural se-
quence in social history, the trail-
er followed the automobile. It was
wither evidence of a twentieth-
century phenomenon—the new mo-
bility of man.
Anyone over thirty will remem-
ber that before the Second World
War one could rarely pick up a
newspaper or periodical without
seeing a prediction by Roger Bab-
son. He was a famed, and often
accurate, prognosticator whose
forecasts alternately fascinated
d frightened North Americans
TYPICAL OF THE BROAD ACCEPTANCE of General Mobile
Holmes across Canada is the order which Square Deal Trailer
Sales, of Repin , Saskatchewan, placed this year for mobile
homes with a'Value of more than three. -quarter million dollars..
Representing a solid mile of mobile homes, the order was placed
by Square Deal, who operate five sales outlets in Saskatchewan
and sells over one and a half million dollars worth of new mobile
homes per year, which makes them one of the largest dealers
in North America. Shown in photo taken at. the General Coach
Works plant at Hensall, Ont., are (left to right), I. Anderson,
Treasurer Boynton Acceptance. Co. Ltd,,, Toronto; Robert Car-
michel, Treasurer, Square Deal, Regina; Dennis Porter, Presi-
dent, Square Deal; Greg Lund, Sales Manager, General Coach
Works, and William C. Smith, General Manager of General Coach
Works.
ieborne owners•air '1?eopte
r than Average xi�coine ui
Tr lye United States and Canada -
hey are also people' of higher.
than average education who are
rg'ady and willing to assume their.
eeepeindbilities as citizens and to
share the obligations all home own-
ers . have toward their community.
pa they would like something in
return. They would like to be able
to place their homes on well drain-
ed land with good access roads,
electricity and water. They, would
tike sewers or, failing that, a sew-
age disposal system in the mobile -
borne park that would do ar"l'ay
with the individual septic tank and
dangerous makeshift methods of
sanitation. And they would like to
vote.
ericans and fifty thousand Cana-
dians whose "castles" are made
of chrome and who can move at
the drop of a hint. With half a
dozen manufacturers expected to
turn out nearly 3,000 new units in
Canada this year and with the in-
dustry showing every sign of lus-
ty growth, the next decade will
see a prodigious increase in the
number of mobile homes. What
kind of people will live in them?'
A large percentage are middle-
aged or elderly couples with a
steady income. They have chosen
the mobile home because it re-
quires less care and effort to main-
tain and it can follow the ,sun
with the "seasons. Carrying their
home with them, they go in search
of health, beauty, comfortable cli-
mate or whatever they desire—
and if they don't like the neigh -
total of trailer .dwellers has not boys they can move!
come anywhere near those esti- • Many trailer people are in the
mates made in the first flush, of services. Since the war years
excitement and enthusiasm. Nev-
ertheless the number of free -wheel-
ing families on the continent is
growing every week. There are
probably close to three million Am -
Congratulations
GENERAL COACH WORKS
OF ' CANADA LIMITED
On the Completion of Your
Expansion Program.
PILKINGTON
GLASS LTD.
280 Burwell St.
LONDON : ONTARIO
Army and Air Force personnel of-
ficers have been familiar with the
problem of inadequate or unsuit-
able housing forthe families of
their men. At troop centres across
Canada, service families are now
`buying their own mobile homes
and deriving a double benefit; in-
stead of paying rent (often exorbi-
tant because of shortages) they
have an investment; and when a
posting to another station comes
through for the serviceman the
whole family can move with no
worries about finding a new place
cu
es
co
an
ly
in
m
ho
c
sh
ev
Th
m
e
to
lu
in
a
w
sc
st
C
to
lated; it would be impossible to
timate its value in increased
mfort andehappiness. The Fin-
cial Post said in an article near -
two years ago: "As Canadian
dustry expands into more and
ore pioneer communities, mobile
mes are helping to avert over-
owding,rrent gouging and make-
ift home. construction — three
ils of many a boom. And after
e project is finished, or when a
ine has closed down, the trail-
rs don't leave behind them a ghost
wn of depressed real estate va-
es. Also a minimum investment
municipal facilities is needed to
ccommodate the houses on
heels." If this streamlined de-
endent of the prairie schooner is
moothing the way for the giant
rides industry is taking all across
anada today and if it is helping
speed the astonishing progress
of the nation, why is there so much
prejudice against it? For there is
prejudice against trailers and the
people who live in them.
toe , H, Its WIPP"'
ship is made alp of maauac era,
suppliers, .40000...0#04 operators
and mobile home own�ets It suns
to improve 'living conditions., by eii-
couraging the budding of good
parks and the proper, lneintenanee
of them; •to acquaint the ,p4 blic
with the advantagesy. f living. IAA
movable dwell ng; and •to seek fair
and fir} legislation from -Mtge-
Meal and provincial governing
bodies. A small but forward step
in the desired direction was tak-
en in the spring of 195d by the
Ontario legislature *heti
amended The Municipal Act: The
Actnow permits the licensing of
trailers and, allows a municipality
to "require a license fee of not
None of these things ought to be
difficult to get. Yet under existing
conditions they are not only -diffi-
cult but often impossible. The pre-
sent legislation" in Ontario, speci-
fically Section 388 (1) S.S. 91A of.:
The Municipal Act, permits by-
laws to be passed prohibiting the
use of trailers within the munici-
pality for more than 60 days in -
any ten 'consecutive months. This
has been an effective deterrent to
the private investor who would
like to build a convenient, well
landscaped, well serviced park
such as our • American neighbors
support by the thousand. With to-
day's labor costs it would probab-
ly require an outlay of from $150,-
000 to $175,000 to build a 40 to 50
space park. 'If he is willing to
risk such a surd the prospective
park operator naturally wants
reasonable protection for his in-
vestment. One threat to his peace
of mind is the 60 -day clause men-
tioned above; another is under-
cutting by the broken-down, badly
equipped park, a situation that
will exist as long as there is no
rigid standard to which all must
conform.
Cross-section of People
In a mobilehome park near To-
ronto are telephone company and
department store employees, fea-
ture writers, aircraft engineers,
salesmen. There is represented
among Canadian "trai'lerites"
practically every occupation from
artist to preacher. But by far the
largest group are construction
workers.
Virtually every big pioneer
building project in Canada in the
last few years has hada trailer
community attached; in many
cases trailer -housed road builders
and hydro workers were first on
the scene. From the Alaska High-
way down through Kitamat, along
the Trans -Mountain pipeline to Ed-
monton, over to the uranium mines
around Blind River and 'Bancroft,
across to the giant Seaway settle-
ment on the St. Lawrence — in
every one of them trailers have
provided homes, offices, bunkhous-
es, laboratories, libraries and ev-
en banks. The days when survey-
ors, engineers and their crews
roughed it in primitive camps or
t lived miles away from their work-
ing area are no more. The men
who work in the hinterland no
longer have to leave home and
family for months or even years
at a time. As soon as the power
lines go in, wives and children go
in, too, and take up a normal fam-
ily life. The savings in time made
possible by this new approach to
,,,,, frontier life could perhaps be cal -
The biggest pocket of resistant
to a way of life that thousands of
amities' have chosen and new
housands will continue to choose
s in the Province of Ontario.
There are about 200 private mo-
ilehome parks in Canada and
more than half of them are in the
aii'ie provinces, where trailer
ommunities have been welcomed
s essential elements in the coun-
ry's growth and progress. (Ed-
monton, for example, bas a large
ark .for . trailers right in the cen-
re of the city.) Ontario has only
bout 30 private parks, although
according to Gordon McCaffrey,
who edits the magazine `iCanadian
Mobile Home" and probably knows
as much about the whole matter
as anyone in the country, "there
should. be at least 200 to accom-
modate adequately the mobile -
homes which are being used in
the province."The reason for the
reluctance of municipalities either
to build their own parks or to e
courage the creation "of-..priv :te
ones appears to spring from 1)
unhappy past experiences; (2) re-
fusal to consider changed circum-
stances—to look at today's facts;
(3) a lack, which is both the cause
and the result of the first two, of
strong provincial Legislation.
During and after the war trailer
camps sprang up quickly, particu-
larly in urban areas where work
was plentiful and 'houses scarce.
Almost at once they became mat-
ters'of concern, even alarm. Health
officers complained of low, or no,
water supplies within the camp
limits; of indiscriminate dumping
of refuse and garbage; of over-
crowding; of poor sanitary ar-
rangements, Police saw a chal-
lenge to law and order in delin-
quent , children and brawls be-
tween indignant neighbors. Edu-
cation authorities complained of
an influx of children, often in mid-
term, overtaxing school facilities.
Town and city- councils saw a
whole group of citizens enjoying
heice and fire roads, sending protection,
children
to school and—this was the most
unkindest cut of all—contributing
not a cent in local taxes.
f
b
pr
c
a
t
p
t
a
:ae
t. d fp
ers, based eithe
area rp, s€piarc
alit aee•rd g ,
formula for equal
it is ipteresting„
Province' of New B,runswirc
centty' set a firth ,asses meilt• a,
$0S 00 Per unit plus Oat ,
$-
Modell By Law
The c,M.R.A.,'has prepared a
model by-law which more than a
dozen Ontario con niunitl'0s are
now using. Any council may ob-
tain a copy, from the Association's
managing, director, Mr, Howard
Sale, whoseaddress is Room 415,
tStt
housing , designe!
envy need .Natise
aped p0 9rs p
• bins •which ve a
remain of , importante 1
munrty e. f s th
li:c-spurted;wen an woine t
Mal their awpers share. the rig
as well' as the responsibilities of
citizensin a'*dem, ocratic , cot
Yr.
What can be done to solve the
problem?
The solution lies in a logical,
consistent public policy for the
regulation of trailer parks and in
the recognition of mobile homes as
assessable pieces of property. If
there were strong legislation re-
garding water, electricity, garbage
and sewage disposal -- in other
words, if the law set standards for
all parks, municipalities could
then see to it that regulations
were kept. No properly licensed
site where ordinance§ are careful-
ly and consistently enforced need
degenerate into a shantytown or
slum area. And if mobile homes
were assessed each owner would
be paying •his share of „municipal
taxes. Towns which have had -the
"unwelcome" sign out for years •
could take them down and receive
the mobile family as the asset it
would-be.
Spokesman For Nomads
Spokesman for Canada's new'
nomads is the Canadian Mobile
CONGRATULATIONS
to
GENERAL COACH WORKS
OF CANADA LIMITED
On your new factory addition and progress
1vA _
in the Mobile Home Industry.
STRAWSINE
Manufacturing Company
CORUNNA
• MICHIGAN
Anne
Congratulates
GENERAL COACH WORKS
on the large addition to their Hensall
plant and proudly announces that
General Coach Works are extensive
users of Weldwood Products.
WELDWOOD PLYWOOD UMITED 7
A Division of the World's Largest Plywood Organization
Branches in Quebec • Montreal . • Ottawa • Toronto
London • Winnipeg
Mills at Woodstock, Ont., and Vancouver, B.C.
OP
Cora: "I hear you have accept-
ed doe. Did he happen to mention
that'heehad proposed to me first?"
Laura: "Not specifically. He
did say he had done a lot of fool-
ish things before he met me"
"I baked a sponge cake for you,
darling," said the young bride,
puckering up for a kiss. "But it
didn't turn out exactly right. I
guess I must have used the wrong
kind of sponges"
When Eddie, the slow moving
and inefficient clerk in a small
town store, was not in evidence
one morning, a customer asked,
"Where is 'Eddie? He ain't sick,
is he?"
"Dope, be ain't," replied the pro-
prietor. "He just ain't workin'
here no more"
"That so?" responded the vil-
lager, "Got anybody in mind for
the Vacancy?"
"Nope. Eddie didn't leave . no
vacancy."
The children were in the midst
of a free-for-all when father unex-
pectedly entered. the room. "Tom-
my, who started this?" he asked
the. nearest youngster. -• "it all
"Well," replied Tommy,
started when' Albert Wine back."'
Congratulations
t0
GENERAL COACH WORMS
of CANADA LIMITED
Neosall, Ontario
• Opening of the fine new addition to the General Coach Works Plant at
Hensall marks another great step forward in the progress of this thriving
Canadian Industry.
• We are proud, as suppliers of many of the integral parts and important
equipment which go into the building of General Coach Works Famous
Units, to join with the rest of their business associates, customers and,
friends in offering them sincere congratulations on this step forward and
our very best wishes for their continued prosperity.
SUPPLIERS PO INDUSTRY
• Bar and Sheet Steel
• Brass and Iron Valves
• Bolts, Nuts, Washers, Screws of All Types
• Coated Abrasives '
• 'Electric Tools .....-
• Hand Toots
• Manila and Wire Rope
• Materials handling Equipment
• Nails
• Rubber Hose and Belting
• Steel Pipe and Fittings
• "V" Belts and Sheaves
When Service
Counts . . •
Count on Us.
til
Established
r886
J. T. WING &COMPANY
s%82 York Street
WINDSOR.
LONDON
Also
CHATHAM
Telephone '4-2161
SARNIA
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