House Trucks: A Wild, Yet Endearing Relic of the Hippie Era (26 photos)

House trucks, invented by the "flower children" at the dawn of the hippie era, were, for obvious reasons, not common in our country. But in English-speaking countries, these amazing mobile homes were in great demand among informal youth or simply those who enjoyed traveling.





In the US and UK, the house truck craze was fleeting. They suddenly appeared on the roads in the mid-1960s and disappeared a decade later. In Australia and New Zealand, these mobile homes took hold so well that they can still be seen occasionally today.



Most experts believe that hippies did not invent house trucks. Long before this youth movement, the Roma used this type of housing, but horse-drawn.





The achievement of the informals, most likely, is only that they adapted the ancient dwellings of the nomadic Roma of Europe to the realities of the 20th century, placing the buildings on truck chassis.



House trucks spawned an entire subculture of housetruckers, people who were primarily downshifters. The typical owner of such a home was a relatively successful person disillusioned with civilized life who consciously chose homelessness over all the perks of their position.





House truck owners weren't exactly slumdogs—a truck equipped for a full life has always been a very expensive luxury. Housetruck culture proved that in the modern world, one could be a road lover and a vagabond without breaking with civilization.



Early housetrucks, created by early hippies, musicians, traveling drug dealers, and various eccentrics, were particularly picturesque. They were built almost intuitively, often without a specific design and, of course, without the slightest regard for fire safety.

But it is precisely these houses—clumsy, picturesque, and sometimes post-apocalyptic—that are most interesting as marvels of engineering and art objects simultaneously. Some of them are simply imbued with a rebellious spirit—they were built with complete disregard for aesthetics and common sense.



It must be acknowledged that in our country, where everything was subject to standards and government regulations, and even changes to a vehicle's body color required approval from the authorities, the existence of house trucks was fundamentally impossible. This is precisely why the mastodon-like trucks of the Western past—free and therefore desirable—are of particular interest to our fellow citizens.





What's inside such a house? Anything! It could be an idyllic family nest for a couple with a child, furnished with love and taste, or a hybrid garage/artist's studio, with room for a motorcycle, an easel, and even a drum kit.



Wood was the most popular construction material, so many of these mobile homes burned like candles right on the roads or in the middle of campsites.



To make matters worse, to save on equipment and fuel, house trucks were equipped with wood-burning stoves of various designs, often homemade.







It goes without saying that a house truck could reveal more about its owner and his hobbies than the owner himself. It's quite possible that, over time, a special category of art historians will emerge who will dedicate themselves entirely to the study of these colorful homes.





One can only hope that by the time truck houses are recognized as cultural heritage, they won't have completely vanished into oblivion and become a thing of the past, relegated to old photographs.





A wide variety of vehicles were used as chassis for the house. Those who could afford it purchased decommissioned or even new military trucks—powerful and capable off-road.



And those who were strapped for cash or didn't feel the need to plunge into the abyss of toxic consumerism used improvised vehicles, often quite unexpected ones.





But be that as it may, the house truck lot was never a vanity fair. The very concept of such houses distinguished them from travel trailers or truck cabins, whose owners were not at all averse to flaunting luxury.





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This short documentary, dedicated to the few remaining house truck enthusiasts, will help you learn a lot about this fascinating vehicle.