I live in one of the oldest Prairie cities in Canada, in its oldest neighbourhood. So I'm surrounded with tough 1st and 2nd generation pre-boomers seniors. I often get asked if I can fix a gate or a tap or move some heavy stuff out of the way. Well one of the old gals started giving me some old camping stuff a couple years ago. An old, large, dual-voltage (12 VDC or 120 VAC) cooler from Coleman, that keeps food frozen for 4 to 5 days, before plugging it in! A custom portable kitchen utensils box that her deceased hubby made back in the 1960's, with all the camping style pots, pans and dishes and tableware, with room for some drygoods. And today, she finished off the whole thing with a near-mint Coleman 2 burner naphta stove, and an original Coleman fuel gallon of fuel, full! So I found the Coleman sites (US and Canada) and found the owner's manual, recipes, even replacement parts for this sweet stove! Now, I just have to talk the wife into going to HandyAndy's lodge and spend a weekend listening to loons and watching eagles and fishing. Anyway, they've got a long history in both Canada and the USA, with a lot of ties to our ups and downs and war efforts. http://www.coleman.com/coleman/ColemanCom/tales_travel.asp http://www.coleman.com/coleman/colemancom/whoweare2.asp EDIT: More history, some different from US content: http://www.colemancanada.ca/About_Us/YesterYears/Default.en.aspx Canadian camping sites: http://www.colemancanada.ca/canada_outdoors/canadian_outdoors.en.aspx Main page: http://coleman.com/ Main Canadian page: http://www.colemancanada.ca/Default.en.aspx This is my stove: http://www.coleman.com/coleman/colemancom/detail.asp?product_id=3000000492&categoryid=2020&brand= Camping-grade recipes: http://www.coleman.com/coleman/ColemanCom/recipe.asp Even camping trip and tailgating checklists: http://www.coleman.com/coleman/ColemanCom/checklists.asp Some nice computer videos and wallpaper and an old radio ad file: http://www.coleman.com/coleman/media/ I'm really tickled with this stove. I thought they had been out of production years ago. Pricey little puppies up here at $120. ($80 in the US).
The neat old camping gear goes along nicely with our neat old camping trailer. We've been collecting stuff for a long time. I did inherit from my father a very old Coleman stove, one that I remember having oatmeal and eggs and trout cooked on as a kid on our fishing trips. Friends donated a very old lamp that they found in their late fathers house when cleaning it out for the estate sale - and it is 1950's or earlier, same as the stove. There are some of the folks in the Tin Can Tourists group we camp with from time to time who have stuff from the 20's and 30's of various makes but Coleman seems to have been the leader from the beginning. You are lucky these older folks are passing on this stuff to you Norman. Your neighbors are lucky they have you around to help them out when needed, and it makes them feel good to see stuff they treasured and saved for and used, go to a good home. They know you will appreciate their value in terms of all the experience those items bring with them. And the neatest are the home made pieces. Custom built to meet their needs and a whole lot of creativity and you can just imagine the excitement that went in to these pieces when they were done and shown off and used for the first time. That Coleman cooler sounds, we, ummm, cool. I've got a newer styled one and it doesn't seem to work nearly as welll as the older ones I remember. I'd love to find one like what you ended up with. Good for you. Now you need to get the old rods and reels and fishing lures (you may need to break the little barb off the back of the hooks to make them legal), and take some pictures with the wagon in the back ground. You and the wifey-poo out camping in the fifties with a blurred wagon (hard to tell that it is 20 years newer) in the back ground.
The mobile kitchen kit is really well made and laid out. Its about 18" High, 18" wide and 30" long, out of 1/2" plywood. Good hardware and handles. Not an anchor, but strong. He must've pondered it for awhile before he built it. Little drawers for utensils and sliding removable trays. Nice workmanship. You can tell that he really invested himself into a useful, sturdy and light enough to move around. I'll post some pics tomorrow.
Your camping box sounds a lot like the kitchen boxes my dad made back in 1960 or so.....stored stuff inside laying down, then you would stand them upright on your camp table to use as 'kitchen' cupboards. Watch out with those coleman stoves. Almost burned my hand off once with one. Got one burner going, but couldn't get the other one going. I decided that the tank had too muchk pressure in it, so i opened the pressure relief valve. Gas started spraying out all over, which included my hand. Flame from the other burner set the gas on my hand on fire. Wife panicked and threw the steaks (already in a pan on the grill) on the dirt, then started throwing ice cubes at me......I was shaking my hand like mad to put out the flame, which eventually worked. Just got a few hairs singed. Don't remember if we saved the steaks though......... Think it might have been operator error........
I'm the oldest of the kids and I was in the scouts, so dad charged me with camp setup, when we went. All I asked is that my 3 sisters and mom weren't close by when I lit the stove. For some reason, the female of the species loves fireplaces and candles but goes nuts when you try to light a fire. I learned that early. My mother was lighting a candle, dropped some wax, knocked the candle over and lit up the tablecloth one christmas dinner. No birthday cakes got lit in our house, except for the summer baby - me! Good thing it rained on my birthdays back then, because my siblings would've ganged up on me. When dad and I owned the scrapyard, I was the torch-cutter. I got so used to sparks and flames, that I just kept working. My legs would never make it to a leg cream audition!
The old Coleman stuff is very collectable and in some cases valuable. However, that stuff will work forever and most parts are still available so enjoy. Norm, if you ever decide to go camping for sure get those coil over shocks for the rear of your wagon. They won't haul much and remain level. Don't ask me how I know.
I think I saw a Red Flyer wagon in the basement. I keep meaning to ask her what her hubby drove. We take her shopping sometimes, but she usually takes the bus and her little cart. Her son is 52 and owns the two properties nextdoor. He's a good friend of mine too. The garage wouldn't hold a big car. Maybe an older pickup or sedan. She stores her garden gnomes and planters in there.
Here's a spot with camping gear for motorcyclists, even an Expresso maker and a couple recipes!: http://home.insightbb.com/~cdpumphr/camping_gear.htm
