CAMPING HOLIDAYS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22941, 20 January 1938, Page 13

CAMPING HOLIDAYS

RECORD SALES OF TENTS HEAVY DEMAND CONTINUES The record sales of tents and general camping equipment reported by retailors and manufacturers in the city confirms the inference from the figures recorded at motor camps throughout the country that an unprecedented number of people spent their Christmas holidays under canvas. One Auckland wholesale firm stated that it had been inundated with orders from all parts of tho Dominion. A somewhat unusual feature this season is "that, although the Christmas holidays arc finished, there is still a heavy demand for tents. Large numbers who have planned to take their vacation during January and February are apparently confident tbat this summer is not going to break Jts sunny promise. The new types of tents have simplified camp life for the uninitiated. No longer is ifc essential to carry a cumbersome bundle of timber. The lighter material —more efficient in spite of its lesser "weight—and the improved design of the modern duck fabric tent, render unnecessary the old heavy scaffolding of poles with its complex system of tieropes and pegs. It easy to pitch and easv to pack. , , , The domestic inconveniences incidental to tho old style of camp life have also been reduced to a minimum by all manner of ingenious devicqs. Father struggling to light a fire of wet wood, mother cooking in the rain, thp family tossing on sleepless couches of tussock and fern, these and a number of other holiday scenes are only amusing memories of a primitive past. Public taste in tent styles has not changed. The old type with its gabled roof and rectangular sides, eight py eight or ten by eight, is still the popular choice. Contrary to expectations, the boom in trailers has not diminished the popularity of the tent. If anything it has bad the opposite effect. By solving difficulties in the transport of supplies and equipment, the trailer seems to have increased' the camping vogue. Even parties with large trailers prefer to sleep in tents.