I found some old ads on trailers, mobile homes. For awhile, trailers were the way of the future. Starting in the 1930's they gave new home owners something attainable. Men returning from serving overseas in World War II had to have instant housing for their new families. Trailers fit the bill for them to get started. Remember Lucille Ball and Desi Arnez in The Long Long Trailer!?! Lucy and Desi were getting married and then traveling across country to his new job on the West Coast. Lucy decided they should buy a trailer and drive across country, honeymooning and sightseeing. Then they would already have their home when they got there. Just pull into a nice trailer park! It was such a funny movie and I recommend it.
My parents got married in 1956. They had 2 years of college under their belt. Mom went to work as a secretary while Dad finished college to get his Engineering degree. When he graduated he took a job with TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority) and they knew he would be travelling around Tennessee. And here I came. They decided that it would be best for me and any other children (and they had 2 more daughters) to buy a trailer so I would always have the same home and environment no matter where TVA moved them. So they collected all their used furniture and put it as a down payment on a brand new pink and white 3 bedroom/2 bathroom trailer. You could only finance a trailer for 5 yrs back then too. Sure enough it was our home through Greenville KY, Chattanooga TN, Paris TN, Iuka MS and Elizabethton TN. It was in Elizabethton, after my youngest sister was born, that they sold the trailer and bought their first home.
Trailers back then had jalousy windows (roll out windows).
One Sunday morning, Mom dressed me for church and stood me on the little stoop (behind me in this photo) and stepped back to take my picture. But I took a step forward and fell off the stoop onto those concrete blocks. Mom said that was the most sickening feeling she ever had. Far away from home and family, she sent Daddy with me to church. She said she knew the little old ladies in the nursery would know if something was wrong with me and could tell Daddy what to do. But I was fine, unless that's why I see imaginary butterflies. LOL!
Here I am dressed up for church. I'm standing in the little living room of the trailer. It came furnished.
Notice the curtains that came with it. This is me with my maternal Grandmother, Geneva "Ginnie" Reese.
The kitchen was pink and white with a pink sink and white countertops that had gold and pink starbursts on it that matched the wallboard. It came with the barkcloth curtains.
This picture shows a little more of the kitchen. You can see some of a small sliding door shelf to the left. The cabinets had large round knobs.
This was one of the two small bedrooms with a bathroom between. This one was the nursery room and the other was just a bunk room with 2 bunkbeds that Elaine and I shared later. The larger bedroom on the end was the Master bedroom.
Elaine was born and then, when I was 4 yrs old, Melinda was born. Here we are seeing and holding Melinda for the first time in the living room of the trailer. It wasn't too much longer, after that, that they sold the trailer and we moved into an old farm house they bought. They totally remodeled that old farm house before we moved to Spartanburg, SC where we've lived ever since.
Anyway, because of my own history, I loved these old trailer ads.
Some toys modeled after trailers.
Trailer park
Digital scrapbook pages that I made of our pink and white trailer in the 1960's.
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