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March 21, 2011 There and Back

On the move | The lowly trailer earns its place in Maine's history

By John Mcdonald

Frank “from away” writes: “John, I’m new to Maine and I’m slowly getting used to your different accent and unique words and things like that. Your book, ‘The Maine Dictionary’ has been a big help. We moved here from a southern state where lots of people live in mobile homes or ‘trailers.’ When grouped together — as they often are — the resulting community is called a ‘trailer park.’ You’ve probably read stories about southern trailers, the things that get banged around a bit every time there’s a hurricane or a tornado. Some say it’s Mother Nature’s way of letting people know just what she thinks of such things. Anyway, since moving to Maine I’ve noticed that you have your share of trailers here, too, but you never hear about them getting blown around during bad weather. Why is that, John?”

Thanks for the e-mail, Frank. And I’m glad “The Maine Dictionary” has been a help to you and your family. I don’t know where in the South you’re from, but someone once asked me, “What do Florida hurricanes and Maine divorces have in common?” The answer: In both cases, some poor fella’s going to lose his trailer.

All joking aside, ships have been a big part of Maine’s history and although they’re not “trailers,” they are certainly examples of “mobile homes.” Over the years, hurricanes and other bad storms have taken many fine Maine ships to the bottom of the sea or slammed them to pieces on ledges. I guess that’s the closest we come to feeling Mother Nature’s wrath against “mobile homes.” Our trailers, on the other hand, don’t get treated too badly at all by Mother Nature.

My grandfather lived on board ships for most of his professional life as he traveled to ports around the world. He used to say those ships moved constantly, whether they were under full sail or in port tied to a dock. When speaking of houses on land, my grandfather used to say all houses built in Maine liked to move around, some more than others, depending on who built them and where they’re built.

He once said, “You can put a house anywhere you want and over the years the rocks and ledges under that house will move a little, making the house move a bit, and they’ll keep moving around until the rocks, the ledges and the house all get comfortable.” Grandpa said a house won’t stop moving until it gets to where it wants to be and there’s nothing you can do about it.

But I digress. The idea of living in a real mobile home or trailer has never enjoyed wide acceptance among those of us who prefer to live in what might be called “immobile homes.” Maybe the feeling goes back to the world’s first mobile home dwellers — roaming bands of gypsies who traveled across Europe in horse-drawn homes as far back as the 1400s. In those days, most people stayed put in the village they were born in and anyone who wandered from town to town was looked upon with suspicion. Some were thought to be roving bands of thieves. People figured if they weren’t thieves, why are they always on the run?

As Americans — who are always on the run — we don’t think that way. Americans have been on the move in wagons and trailers since our ancestors first got to these shores. But before we go any further, Frank, I have to straighten something out.

Makers of “trailers” never liked the name, so they began insisting that their creations be called “mobile homes.” No matter what they were called, everyone knew they were still trailers. Then in 1980, Congress officially changed the name from “mobile home” to “manufactured home,” but, like I said, they’ll always be trailers to the rest of us.

Mobile home historians tell us America’s first examples of “domiciles that move” were built in the 1870s and used as beachfront homes on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Knowing what would happen to a house left on the banks all winter, the owners of these early mobile homes hitched them up to a team of horses and moved them inland for the season.

As early as 1926, someone got the idea to hitch a trailer coach behind an automobile. These first trailer coaches were used by families on camping trips, seen as a home away from home.

A strong demand for mobile homes began at the end of World War II, when returning veterans needed housing that could be built quickly and cheaply. There’s nothing quicker and cheaper than a trailer. Mobile homes were not only cheap, in every sense of the word, but they could be hitched behind the family car and towed to where the jobs were — like someplace outside of Maine.

That’s all for now. Gotta move on!

 

John McDonald, an author, humorist and storyteller who performs throughout New England, can be reached at mainestoryteller@yahoo.com. Read more of John’s columns here.

 

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