Blog Posting # 768, Copyright 24 November 2023. EducateMHC
Parallel Perspectives. HUD-Code manufactured housing is federally-regulated, performance based, affordable & attainable factory-built housing! And, land lease communities (a.k.a. manufactured home communities & ‘mobile home parks’) comprise the investment real estate component of manufactured housing! EducateMHC is the online advocate, historian, trend tracker, and text resource for these two related business models! Reach EduateMHC by phoning (317) 881-3815; email: gfa7156@aol.com, or visit www.educatemhc.com; also to order Community Management in the Manufactured Housing Industry. This is the only professional property management text in print today! SWAN SONG is a history of land lease communities & official record of annual MH production totals since 1955; and, my autobiography, From SmittyAlpha6 to MHMaven – describes personal combat adventures in Vietnam, and 45 year business career in MH and community ownership/management; also author and consultant.
George Allen, CPM®Emeritus, MHM®Master, is only emeritus member of the Manufactured Housing Institute (‘MHI’), an RV/MH Hall of Fame enshrinee, retired lieutenant colonel of U.S. Marines, & author/editor of 20 books re MH, communities, business management & prayer.
OK, I Took A Week Off…
Didn’t mean to do so; but as they say ‘S___ happened.’ And now I’m back in the saddle, so to speak, sharing information, opportunities, and challenges with readers of this weekly blog posting.
This past week I got to read up on some early (U.S.) history of the manufactured housing industry. Here’re a couple of many gems I gleaned from Dr. Carlton Edwards (1911-2010) 366 pages, ‘Homes for Travel & Living’ (1977):
“The earliest records available on trailers (homes) were in 1915 when a peddler in the vicinity of New York City devised a 5th wheel hitch for attaching his wagon to his Model ‘T’ Ford Roadster.” P.7
“As early as the 1930s, some people used trailers for living for various periods of time. While some were used strictly for vacation travel of relatively short duration, others were used for extended vacations including winter living in the warmer climates and summer living in the cooler. Their trailer functioned as a primary dwelling the year around (sic).” P.10.
(1950s). “Since the owners lived in them the year around (sic), it was natural to call them homes rather than trailers. Therefore, the term Mobile Home came into popular use by a large number of people closely associated with trailers.” P.17
(1970s). “In recent years sites have been provided where mobile home owners purchase land rather than leasing it on a monthly or periodic basis. Some parks are cooperatives where the home owner has a share of the total development. In other cases the owner may have an individual lot for his home. However, the most common sites for mobile homes are in parks owned by corporations where the home owner leases the site and service, usually by the month.” P.22
And there’s so much more I’d like to share with you. But, if you’re a subscriber to MHInsider magazine, you’ll start to see excerpts from Dr. Edwards’ tome in my Allen Legacy column.
As you may or may not know, I’m taking time to become familiar with the writings of Carl Edwards. Besides this book, he also penned a History of the RV/MH Heritage Foundation Hall of Fame, from its’ founding in 1972 through 1993. I hope and plan to research and pen Part II of this history, extending from 1993 through 2024. Taken together, Dr. Edwards work and mine (Parts I & II) will finally provide the RV/MH Heritage Foundation a comprehensive history of this valuable repository of our industry and realty asset class histories.
One of the things I’m planning to include in the aforementioned ‘history’, are lists of every RV/MH Hall of Fame induction class, from 1972 right on through year 2024. As you can imagine, these lists of more than 400 individuals read like a veritable ‘Who’s Who of the Manufactured Housing & RV Industries’. What an adventure this promises to be….
If you have ideas or resources that play to either the overall history of the MH industry, or land lease communities in particular, please share them with me via gfa7156@aol.com
And, by the way, Carl Edwards book is part of the George Allen Collection (of land lease community-related books and other writings) housed in the RV/MH Heritage Foundation’s library at the Hall of Fame in Elkhart, IN. Carl Edwards is a member of the 1982 class of RV/MH Hall of Fame enshrinees.
LOVE LOCKS
Ever heard of or seen ‘love locks’? Well frankly, I hadn’t until Carolyn and I recently spent a long weekend visiting my brother Mark and his wife Gretchen, at their home in Cape May, New Jersey. Right in front of our beachfront hotel there was a 15’ section of chain link fencing festooned with hundreds of small padlocks. Had no idea what was going on until we returned home, read a news story about ‘love locks’ and researched the subject online.
What are love locks? Well, they’re small engraved padlocks commemorating a couple’s love for one another, their upcoming marriage or anniversary. Once they obtain an engraved padlock (available online), with their preferred personal message on it, they affix it to a bridge, fence, or gate, then throw the key away – signifying the permanence of their relationship. Supposedly, the ‘love lock’ practice originated during WWI in Serbia.
Next exposure to ‘love locks’ occurred in a news story about how the Grand Canyon (AZ) park rangers recently outlawed ‘love locks’ at that location. Why? The sheer number of ‘love locks’ affixed to area fencing is daunting, even inconvenient. And worse yet, it seems condors are attracted to shiny metal objects – like ‘love lock’ keys, and these are dangerous to their health.
And just recently, while reading Ellery Adams’ mystery novel, The Secret, Book & Scone Society, I came across this paragraph describing a twist about placing ‘love locks’ in and around the fictional resort town of Miracle Springs: “…a long-standing tradition that encouraged lovers to hang a small padlock from the fence and toss its key onto the tracks. If the wheels of a passing train flattened the key, the person who hung the padlock would win the heart of the person they most desired, as long as they remembered to scratch his or her initials into the key.” P.19
Recently read how the city of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, is considering outlawing the hanging of ‘love locks’ around that town. Seems they consider them to be more of a litter or vandalism problem than a tourist attraction – or even fundraising focus.
So now you know as much about ‘love locks’ as me. Have to admit; I’ve been giving some thought to having a ‘love lock’ engraved with our initials ‘GA & CA’, along with the notation: ‘Together for 60+ years & forever’!
George Allen