We’re heading into prime family vacation season, and rather than going to Disney, Universal Studios, or the beach, 42 million people living in America will go camping to escape the hustle and bustle of everyday life.
Camping means different things to different people, from outright luxury to deliberate austerity. In the early 1900s, Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Harvey Firestone, and John Burroughs went camping together each year. Ford dubbed their group “The Vagabonds,” but there was nothing very disreputable about their activities. The quartet practiced bird calls and identifying flowers, relaxed in the shade, read, and discussed current affairs and classical music.
They hardly roughed it. Pop-up tents and sleeping bags were not for them. The Vagabonds made sure to have a generator with them to keep their campsites well-lit. That wasn’t the half of it. They set out on their camping trips in a 50-vehicle entourage, taking with them cooks, jacketed waiters, and personal servants, plus a kitchen car with a gas stove and refrigerator stocked with fresh eggs and rib-eye steaks.
In 1920, camping with such comforts which included refrigeration, plumbing, and even air conditioning, was out of reach for most people.
But today, campers don’t have to be a titan of industry like Ford or Firestone to treat their children to roasted marshmallows over a fire, or to sleep in a cabin to avoid mosquitoes and rain.
But even in these days of plenty, when luxury once available only to tycoons is widely available, there are still those who think camping should still be about sleeping under canvas or under the stars, and certainly in a sleeping bag rather than a bed. You can still be uncomfortable if you really want to.
