family stories

[low_delta]

My dad told a story last night that I hadn't heard before.

When he was a kid, I think about twelve, his father made a camper for their pickup truck that they took around the country. I think it was a thirty-something truck. He put oak posts in the corners and masonite sides. He had fold-out beds on the sides for the kids, and a mattress on the floor. He took out the back window of the cab for a pass-through. There was a split door at the back of the truck. My dad and his sister would sit on boxes and look out, with the top half of the door open. He said they saw the whole country in reverse.

This "camper" was built in 1954. This was before campers, so people hadn't seen anything like it. People would line up to see inside it. If grandpa had been an entrepreneur, he could have gotten rich off the idea.

Once, when they were driving down a steep hill, my dad's glasses fell off as he was looking out. They landed on the tailgate. My dad tried to grab them, but they were bouncing around. His sister yelled to their dad to pull over. He was really mad at having to stop on such a steep hill.

Comments

[emschin.livejournal.com]

What a story! I'm imagining that the truck was manual transmission.
Stopping those things on a hill is murder. Thanks for the story.

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

I'd really love to see pictures, too.

[blonnie.livejournal.com]

i wouldn't be surprised to find out that some lucky entrepreneur who was amongst those peering into the camper was the one to 'invent' and 'get rich' off of the idea!

[low-delta.livejournal.com]

Ha! I hadn't thought of that!