Guest Ozark Al Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 Hi - Looking for any information and possible value of an old car trailer that my Dad had back in the forties and fifties (those are the years I remember - he probably had it prior to that). We used it in the DC area doing "buzzard jobs" - he was tree surgeon!!! We pulled it with a 1951 Chevy. As noted on the plate it was manufactured by the Standard Trailer Company in Cambridge Springs, PA. It has been in a shed for about 40 years - one tire is still holding air!!!! I did find this ad a number of years ago. Great price for a Trailer - by today's standards - but a lot of money in the 20's and 30's Can remember in the forties when my weekly allowance was 10 cents a week - most I ever made on our five acre farm was 25 cents. And I was glad to get it!!! Those days were not so good but I certainly would not trade them for how the "kids" today are "raised". Thanks for any information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edinmass Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 Looks like circa 1925 to me. Rare and unusual, buy probably not very valuable. Can you post a photo of the hitch, and post the tire size please. My best, Ed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFranklin Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 It looks well preserved. I am sure someone would be happy to pull that behind their antique car. It should easily be worth $400 - $600 dollars just as yard art or garden trailer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ozark Al Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 Thanks for the quick replies - Trailer at my sisters house in Virginia and I am in Missouri; I will try to get pict. of hitch and tire size in a few days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mercer09 Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 I would price it at 350. mostly wood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Dobbin Posted January 3, 2017 Share Posted January 3, 2017 Well engineered trailer. Notice the sides come off and it's a open flatbed. Lots of speciality brackets to make it usable for many different jobs. The steel frame and tongue all seem to be in good usable shape. It would look great behind my un-restored 1935 Ford Pickup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ozark Al Posted January 3, 2017 Share Posted January 3, 2017 What an awesome truck; you are so right it would look great behind it. We will be selling it in case you are interested. Noticed you are from my Dad's home place in Kingsport TN. Thanks for the note and picture. It was great seeing both trucks. The beige truck brings back memories of fun times when we used to go to the sale barn in Manassas, Va in a truck very similar to that one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Continental Posted January 4, 2017 Share Posted January 4, 2017 I'm no 1920s trailer expert, but I would think it'd be worth more than that especially if all the wood can be salvaged. Does it have a wood or metal frame? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trulyvintage Posted January 4, 2017 Share Posted January 4, 2017 1 hour ago, The Continental said: I'm no 1920s trailer expert, but I would think it'd be worth more than that especially if all the wood can be salvaged. Does it have a wood or metal frame? Agreed, Don't do anything to it. Don't move it. Put it up for sale " as is " .... Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BearsFan315 Posted January 4, 2017 Share Posted January 4, 2017 Agree with Jim & The Continental very nice trailer and would sale it as is... where in Virginia is it ?? wonder how far it is from me ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Schramm Posted January 4, 2017 Share Posted January 4, 2017 The trailer would look cool behind my "15 truck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ozark Al Posted January 5, 2017 Share Posted January 5, 2017 As a newbie this site has me a little confused as to how to reply to individual post - so will do the best I can --- The trailer is located near Purcellville VA: To answer Trulyvintage I am pretty sure it has a metal frame. As Paul mentioned the sides and back come off whereby the trailer can be used as a "flatbed" The hitch for the '51 chevy is I believe lying in the bed of the trailer. Thanks to everybody for their comments - this is a real neat site. My dad would have given his eye teeth for a truck like yours Paul but our old '51 and before that our '37 Plymouth did the job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ozark Al Posted January 6, 2017 Share Posted January 6, 2017 Ed, Just received a picture from my sister of the hitch and the inscription on the tire. Inscription: WARDS Riverside 30x3 1/2 Supersize (she stated it was 3 1/2 probably 3.5). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty_OToole Posted January 6, 2017 Share Posted January 6, 2017 Looks like you got your money's worth and could still sell it for more than grandpa paid. There are collectors of old trailers as an offshoot of the old car hobby but they are mainly interested in camping trailers, canned hams etc. Your trailer must have some value but not as much as an old camper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edinmass Posted January 6, 2017 Share Posted January 6, 2017 Great! Thanks for the update. I would value the trailer at 1250 for an asking price. It's rare, but the vintage is not one that creates huge returns. It sure would be neat to have, but the three trailers Imhave now don't get used enough. Any reasonable offer and I would sell it. Thanks so much for sharing it here. Good luck, Ed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lump Posted January 6, 2017 Share Posted January 6, 2017 I swear I had a trailer just like this. My dad gave it to me. But he and I both ASSUMED it was made from an old front axle of an antique car, with a homemade wooden bed. But it looked EXACTLY like this one. Nice. Very nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ozark Al Posted January 6, 2017 Share Posted January 6, 2017 Lump, I bet the Manufacture Label must have come off. I would guess trailers like this were probably pretty common in their day. But as mentioned above by other members pretty fragile because of the amount of wood. Having lived in the Ozarks for about 30 years I have seen my share of "home made" trailers. Some with pretty ingenious "add on" for hauling "stock and stuff". Do you still have it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lump Posted January 6, 2017 Share Posted January 6, 2017 1 hour ago, Ozark Al said: Lump, I bet the Manufacture Label must have come off. I would guess trailers like this were probably pretty common in their day. But as mentioned above by other members pretty fragile because of the amount of wood. Having lived in the Ozarks for about 30 years I have seen my share of "home made" trailers. Some with pretty ingenious "add on" for hauling "stock and stuff". Do you still have it? No, I gave it to my brother in law years ago, and I'm pretty sure it went to a junk yard some time after that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JACK M Posted January 6, 2017 Share Posted January 6, 2017 I find it odd that the tongue is an old water pipe of some kind. I can see the threads. Could be that it got replaced at some time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lump Posted January 11, 2017 Share Posted January 11, 2017 For the record, my trailer too had a piece of old plumbing pipe as the tongue. I must admit I had totally forgotten this fact, until Jack M's post reminded me of that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike6024 Posted January 11, 2017 Share Posted January 11, 2017 On 1/2/2017 at 1:53 PM, Ozark Al said: Looks like the hitch was a vertical pin type like used on the back of a tractor, not a ball hitch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
36 D2 Coupe Posted January 11, 2017 Share Posted January 11, 2017 (edited) The ad says "Shock Absorbing Spring Drawbar Automotive Construction Throughout" Looking at the picture of the tongue, it's not a piece of pipe, it's the sleeve holding the shock absorbing spring. The threads are to hold the spring retainer cap which is missing. It very obviously has a ball hitch if you look closely at the second photo. The pin you see on the end in the ad attaches to the trailer in front of the box.(see the first picture). The square nuts you see in the picture of the tongue are period correct although I don't know if they were added when the threaded spring retainer cap failed or whether they were part of the original design. I can't tell from the ad Al found - it's too blurred. I remember my grandfather having a farm trailer something like this in the early 50s but I was too young to remember clearly if it was a home-built one or something like this. In any case, this one is a real gem and if I had anything like one of the old trucks pictured above, I'd want it REALLY BADLY!!! Just as it is!! Thanks Ozark Al for posting this. It really brings back memories Edited January 13, 2017 by 36 D2 Coupe correction (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lump Posted January 12, 2017 Share Posted January 12, 2017 Mine had a ball-type hitch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TG57Roadmaster Posted January 13, 2017 Share Posted January 13, 2017 Interesting local story about the Standard Trailer Company and the "mobile homes" they built... http://www.meadvilletribune.com/opinion/heard-and-seen-from-novelties-to-early-mobile-homes-a/article_fa3dc534-60df-11e6-912e-431d6ff9054b.html That's a very cool trailer you have there. TG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike6024 Posted January 13, 2017 Share Posted January 13, 2017 Nice "5th-wheel" mobile home. From that Meadville tribune Article - One of the novelty products produced by the Standard Trailer Co. was the "Dad's Puzzler." It was a classic sliding wooden block puzzle. "Dad's Puzzler" first appeared in 1909 and might have been the first sliding block puzzle with oblong pieces as well as squares. It was widely used as an advertising premium during the 1920s. Solving the puzzle usually took at least an hour, the object being to move the large square at the top to the bottom without lifting the nine wooden blocks up. Seems like a strange thing for a trailer company to make Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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