Text by Patrick Bell.
The lure of the outdoors is the motivator for camping, and we have a selection of images from the past that show you don’t need expensive gear to have a good time. Take a look and see if you agree.
Our lead image today seems to be a Ford-only and a female-only campground. I see five Fords and four young ladies, who were all around the swing set. At the far left, we have a 1950 Custom Deluxe Tudor Sedan with a Sportcraft camper in tow, and in the distant background you can see the side profile of a blue and white 1955 Fairlane. Back in the foreground were a V8-powered brown 1953 Customline Fordor Sedan, and another 1950 Custom Deluxe Tudor Sedan with an aftermarket orange lower two-tone. And behind those two was a green 1952–1954 Fordor Sedan.
Here’s another Ford, this one a V8-powered 1951 Country Squire from New Jersey. This was the first year of the Country Squire name, which was used for over forty years. They were available in both V8 and six cylinder, both of flathead design. The Fordomatic transmission was also new this year, but was available only with the V8.
This camp scene was obviously in the fall season, so the campers were likely hunters.
Camping on the riverside was what these folks were doing with a 1956 Chevrolet Two-Ten Townsman (6-passenger) or Beauville (9-passenger) wagon from California. It was a basic car with a six-cylinder and standard hub caps. The black license plate suffix of “MAW” would put this car at least 10 years old, and if the sticker is white as it looks that would date it as 1969. The old wagon looked in good shape for its age.
There was a tugboat and a barge in the river and activity on the far shore as well.
The notes on the back of this snapshot state the location was Rocky Point, Mexico, and the date was 1959. Rocky Point, also known as Puerto Penasco, is in the state of Sonora on the Gulf of California, about an hour southwest of the Arizona border. The campsite did not look very comfortable, with a tarp hung between the two vehicles for shade. It looked like a couple of people were snoozing on the bench.
The truck looks like an Advance Design Chevrolet 3800 1-ton Panel (or its GMC equivalent) with a side-mounted spare, aftermarket side windows, turn signal/tail lamps, auxiliary fuel tank, and a back up lamp. There was a bed inside and a tank that could have been related to the outside filler pipe. The car was a 1955 Ford Customline Fordor Sedan.
A lady was preparing a meal at a campsite complete with a Coleman stove. In the background was a 1955 Ford sedan with the trunk open.
Fishing was in the activity plans for this camping trip with a 1957 Chevrolet 210 2-door sedan that was loaded with a little of everything. A boat was on top with a large tackle box and possibly a small outboard motor in the trunk along with some extra fuel cans. The boys looked like they were heading out to dig some worms.
Here, a 1965–1967 Jeep Wagoneer with a same vintage Minnesota license plate was camping amongst the birch trees. The lady of the tent was preparing a meal over a pit stove with her rifle nearby while cloaked in safety red. The Jeep had a luggage rack, power tailgate window, trailer hitch, and air deflectors for the back window that doubled as coat hangers.
This campsite looked quite elaborate, with a 1967 Chevrolet Sportvan 108 that had a pop-up roof and a tent with an awning between them. The license plate may be a 1969 Michigan issue, and the lush growth points to a spring time image. The car on the left looks like a 1967 or 1968 Buick LeSabre.
We are now perhaps at an event of some sort, with a variety of cars and a few tents in the parking area. Up front were two Chevrolet Camaros; on the left a 1968 convertible, and to the right a 1967 RS Sport Coupe with a vinyl roof, remote-control mirror, front accent band stripe, and Rally wheels (which probably meant disc brakes as well). Plus, an Ontario license plate from either 1969 or 1971. Behind it was a Mini on the left and a 1967 Plymouth Valiant 100 or 200 4-door sedan on the right. Further back in the center were a 1964 or 1965 Plymouth Barracuda and a Volvo 122S.
The whole gang was enjoying a warm summer day at a campsite near a lake — possibly in Ontario as that was where the cars were from. On the left was a 1966 Oldsmobile F-85 with a license plate that was first used in 1973, and to the right was a 1972 Dodge Polara 4-door hardtop.
The image notes here indicate this was taken in 1975 at Angels Camp, California, which is about an hour east of Stockton. There were a variety of vehicles and a couple of small tents. On the right was a 1969 or 1970 Chevrolet K-series long bed Fleetside with a camper and a hammock strung behind it. Towards the left in the background were a Willys Jeep, perhaps a CJ-3B, with a Toyota FJ40 next, and then a Ford F-series (?) with a camper, and on the left edge perhaps a ’70s Dodge Van. Apparently they were in or close to four-wheel-drive country.
Here was a relaxed looking campground with an assortment of tents and one pop-up tent trailer to go with the camper on the back of a 1971 or 1972 Chevrolet Custom Deluxe/10 long bed Fleetside. It had a canoe on top that was registered in North Dakota and a propane tank mounted on the rear. In the background left was a 1977–1978 Plymouth Fury 2 door hardtop. It was a warm summer day and the lady was taking a picture of the person that was taking a picture of her.
Our final shot fits the current season in the Northern Hemisphere. These hearty souls may have been hunters, who were out in a 1972–1976 Dodge Adventurer D200 with a camper shell and wide wheels and tires. Eight-lug wheels indicate it was a 200 (3/4 ton) series, but I don’t think it was a W (four wheel drive) due to the front hub size. My guess is the tent was their sleeping quarters.
Thanks for joining us and have a great day!
As a kid I hated tent camping. I did it in Boy Scouts, and we sometimes did it as a family but usually we used our Travel trailer. Now I find it much more enjoyable but when the weather is bad it’s nicer to sleep in my van, which is surprisingly comfortable. While commercial camp grounds near me don;t see many tents anymore the state parks have tons of families in modern versions of these pictures.
I really like that bumper mounted boat loader on the Chevy 210. Looks like you clip the transom in and pull it up and lock it to the pole at the right height then lift and pivot the bow on. Pretty clever.
The Dodge in the last pic I agree is most likley hunting but I think it is a w200 power wagon. For a period in the 70’s dodge used a full time 4WD system and the axles had much smaller hubs as they were locked in all the time. Looked like a FWD car almost with a big nut holding on a stubby hub.
“I really like that bumper mounted boat loader on the Chevy 210. Looks like you clip the transom in and pull it up and lock it to the pole at the right height then lift and pivot the bow on. Pretty clever.”
My friend’s family had one of these on a 64 Tempest. It was advertised as a “one-man boat loader.” His mother called it the “two boy boat loader.” It worked quite well.
Parc du Mt Trenblant QC , a mass for campers ,
They must pray that the lake will fill up.
Behind the red Camaro & green tent —
An early British mini with sliding passenger windows.
With 2 ’67 Camaros in the pic, (there’s also a tan/gold one) the Mini is aging well by the late ’60’s.
The sliding windows place it as a ’59 – ’64.
Might be an Austin 850 or a Morris.
These pictures remind me of childhood camping trips, with exactly this type of equipment and sleeping accommodations. Simpler times indeed. A picnic basket, a canoe on the roof, a tent and a couple of fishing poles in the trunk of Dad’s old ’58 Bel Air and we were set.
The hunting pictures are interesting as well. In those days most people dressed in highly visible clothing to avoid being shot at by folks who venture out once a year for the annual hunting trip. Somehow they managed to bag a deer or an elk without looking and equipping themselves like special forces soldiers.
My buddy’s Dad narrowly escaped being killed by a trigger happy “hunter” despite wearing an orange vest and a bright red toque. His rig was very much like the Chevy in the second to last picture, and he camped and hunted out of it until he was over 80. Cancer finally took him and the truck…
Those square canvas tents were very common. I remember they weighed a ton when rain-soaked, took up a huge amount of space in the trunk, and took forever to dry out. The number one rule when camping in the rain was “Don’t touch the inside of the tent wall!”. As soon as you touched it, the water would start oozing through.
The centre pole also wore a hole in the canvas floor, or did the tent floor come with a convenient hole already punched through it? Anyway, low tech indeed. A half a century later my bike-camping trips with a 2 kilo, 100% waterproof tent that sits easily on top of a rear bike rack seem like a different world. Although, canvas or not, all tents seem to have that comforting nostalgic smell. 🙂
Those canvas tents were heavy even dry. We did have the optional side room.
My first thought too was “wow look at the old ‘Cottage Tent’ ” .
We camped all over New England in the late 50’s through mid 60’s, learning the hard way about touching the canvas walls was a rude awakening, I’d rolled my sleeping bag against it and got soaked .
-Nate
Favorite type of vacation is tent camping. The freedom of going anywhere and staying there is unsurpassed. I’ve backpacked far from civilization for weeks with just what was in my backpack. During summer I use a hammock a tarp and mosquito netting. I’ve snow camped at 12,000 altitude with skis, far from any dwellings. I’ve camp laying on the ground on a tarp. The car, just has to drop me off.
I love living outdoors. What’s especially delicious is that first juicy cafe cheeseburger after a week backpacking in the wilderness.
I had a green 1971 C10 Fleetside with the same not tall enough to stand up camper on it.
Can safely say, none of these pics make me want to go camping.Spend some time outdoors? Yes. Camp? Nah.
Think I did do the sleep in the back yard, thing once/twice.
(circa 1969-70)
As you can see, camping had changed dramatically from the 50s. Primarily tent camping was the rule and it wasn’t until the 60s, the “canned ham” made its appearance. We did a lot of camping, but never in a tent. We had pull behind campers with a plethora of vehicles to pull them, each more inept than the last. By then, tent camping was relegated to some forlorn area far away from the camper trailers. Nylon changed everything in tent camping. Gone was that funky smell of wet canvas, and much lighter and backpacking was born. I never did like tent camping either, critters and varmints or a bear, let’s just say, a camper is more my style. Thanks for the memories. The “Ontario” one with the people sitting around,,today, they’d all be looking at their phones.