‘Vagabonds’ Edison, Ford camped in Virginia

In the summer of 1918, four celebrities, a slew of staff, and a caravan of cars stopped in Roanoke for a few hours on a two-week long camping trip through Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and West Virginia.  Thomas Edison, Henry Ford and John Burroughs – essayist and naturalist – first began their summer motor excursions in 1914 through Florida’s Everglades, expanding each year to combine rest and relaxation with comradery, inspiration, and exploration.  In 1915, tire and rubber magnate Harvey Firestone joined the threesome to create the Four Vagabonds, as they called themselves, traveling the country on grand road trips each summer thereafter until 1924.

These trips served a dual purpose: to disconnect from their bustling city life and advertise their inventions throughout the countryside. This second aim was more a byproduct of their celebrity status, with each man occupying a spot throughout America’s households.  Each year their fame grew, so much so that in 1924, Harvey Firestone commented that the Vagabonds’ “simple gipsy [sic]-like fortnights” became more of a “traveling circus.”

Itinerary

The group started in Pennsylvania on their 1918 trip, traveling with six cars – two Packards, two Model Ts, and two Ford trucks. Accompanying the arrangement were seven men – joy-riders, as Burroughs described them, who most likely acted as cooks, servants and chauffeurs for the trip. The Vagabonds’ route consisted of meandering through West Virginia, Tennessee and North Carolina, traveling last through Virginia before ending at Hagerstown, Maryland. On this 12-day trip, the Vagabonds slept in fields, explored creekbeds and rural farmland. Burroughs detailed the itinerary, and a crew member documented the journey through both photograph and film.

Because the roads were often rough, the group took frequent stops between camping locations. Some were stops to converse with the locals, while others were stops of necessity. On such a long and strenuous trip, the group recounted surprisingly few automobile problems. The first of these happened early in the trip just outside of Pittsburgh, forcing the group to stop in Connellsville, Pennsylvania, to have a radiator fan repaired. The garage lamented the fan’s demise, stating a new one would need to be ordered from Pittsburgh. Not to be waylaid, Henry Ford rolled up his sleeves, rebuilding a fan in two hours with remnants of the original and copper wiring. Not long after their departure, Jeff Guin, author of The Story of Henry Ford and Thomas Edison’s Ten-Year Road Trip, recounts that shortly after the miraculous fix in Connellsville, the drive shaft on the group’s commissary truck broke, causing it to fall well behind the caravan, effectively leaving the Vagabonds without lunch. This was soon remedied after a brief detour to the Summit Hotel near the Pennsylvania-West Virginia border, while the group waited for their food truck to be fixed and on its way to rejoin the group.

The Roanoke Times documented another problem, perhaps their only reason for stopping in Roanoke. The front page of the August 31, 1918, Times declared that the foursome “had dinner at Hotel Roanoke and would have slipped out just as quietly had they not run short of gasoline.” One of the cars stalled at the Red Cross Canteen at Jefferson Street and Shenandoah Avenue, which was conveniently located near the Hotel. Either before or after lunch, Firestone visited Roanoke’s Blue Ridge Tire & Rubber Company after learning they sold his company’s tires. Once gas had been fetched, the Vagabonds continued on to Lexington where they stayed at the Castle Inn before making their way up the Shenandoah Valley into Hagerstown, Maryland. Between Lexington and Hagerstown, the Vagabonds paid 19 tolls!

On the road

Ultimately, these trips paved the way for the recreational use of car camping, along with the idea of exploring the pre-industrial natural world outside one’s typical area of travel. Each geniuses in their own right, the men would see their trips as a way to not only disconnect from the hustle and bustle of their industrial lives, but to expand their mental capabilities. At each camping location, which the men identified and named, Burroughs set his tent apart from the rest of the group, aiming to document the flora and fauna of the area, sometimes just enjoying the natural sights and sounds surrounding him. At creekbeds and mills, Edison and Ford looked for ways to harness renewable energy and identify new ways to conduct electricity. Edison collected sap-filled plants on the side of the road, hoping to discover an alternative to rubber for Firestone’s tires. Firestone speculated on ways to make their camp, along with any businesses or industries they came upon, run more efficiently.

And while the Vagabonds partook in exploratory endeavors as they drove and conducted intellectual conversations around their campfires, they also tested their physical strength. Ford, having a natural competitive streak, challenged the group to inane contests. These included challenges in tree-climbing, stair-jumping, wood chopping, sharp-shooting, high-kicking, and in 1918 specifically, separate contests on the cradling and sheaving of oats.

In his 1921 book Under the Maples, Burroughs commented on the Vagabonds’ intent in their yearly camping excursions: “discomfort . . . is what the camper-out is unconsciously seeking. We grow wary of our luxuries and conveniences . . . We cheerfully endure wet, cold, smoke, mosquitoes, black flies, and sleepless nights, just to touch naked reality once more.” But despite Burroughs’ description, the group was far from uncomfortable.

Each man had a tent equipped with a cot and mattress. They had gourmet dinners, table settings, including a lazy susan. They were served by staff. Edison built the group mobile electric generators to illuminate the camp after the sun went down. In 1919, Ford designed a truck to carry a gas stove and a refrigerator. While the Vagabonds certainly lacked modern amenities, they didn’t necessarily rough it.

The Historical Society of Western Virginia only has these two photographs pertaining to the Vagabonds’ 1918 trip, both taken in Rocky Mount.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More information, photographs, and even the film reels documenting all of their camping trips between 1914 and 1924 can be found through the Henry Ford’s website, https://www.thehenryford.org