Friday, February 10, 2017

Trailer Envy 4: Backdoor


Spartan Imperial Manor

Trailers with toilets were called "self-contained." Ours was not. We used gas station bathrooms, trailer park shower rooms and the occasional bush. At night Mom placed an open half-gallon cardboard milk carton in the middle of the floor for emergency use. Years later she received a portable potty for Christmas. Scissor legs and a disposable bag hanging from a plastic seat. Luxury.

As an Air Force family we shopped at the commissary. We would buy a month's worth of milk and Wonder Bread. The milk came in those cardboard cartons that were re-purposed. They bore the warning that selling or giving away commissary purchases to groups or individuals not entitled to commissary privileges was a violation of military regulations. The only time I had bread that hadn't been in the freezer was on a bologna sandwich made in the car on the trip home from the commissary.

The Spartan  Aircraft Company of Tulsa, Oklahoma was known for its luxurious Spartan (there's an oxymoron) Executive aircraft. Howard Hughes flew one. Oil Baron J. Paul Getty owned the company and after World War II converted it to trailer manufacturing using the same rigid frame/monocoque shell technology. The all-aluminum trailers were large, expensive and out of our league. They also had a really cool logo.


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