Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Wagons I have known, part 1

Progress has pretty much ground to a halt due to the pesky business of actually having to work for a living,  tending 2500 square feet of vegetable garden/deer fodder, raising kids, chickens, and the duties that come with five acres of rapidly growing woodland. I have, however, managed to acquire a few items for the wagon. These include a Primus stove, neat old folding table, and potbelly stove, along with some cool brass hardware which I purchased during a recent trip to England.  I grew up there, and visited the site of a vardo that we used to play in as kids. It was one of those old green box-types and the memory of it has always stuck with me. I mentioned this to my mom and she recalled a photograph of that wagon in the family shoe-box. Here it is:


This picture was taken in the late 1940s. The site is located near the village of Stoford, Somerset. That's my aunt. When we inherited the vardo as a playground it had begun to seriously weather and deteriorate. It was probably used by vagrants for many years, but still had beds, a table and an enamel stove, yellow I think. In 1972 I took some photos as part of a art school photo essay. All that was left at that time where the wheels and chassis.