At this point in time in my life, I rented a small studio apartment with a vacant lot next to it. It made it easy for me to have a place to park my housecar and a place to start building a small housetruck. I found a used 1952 Ford 3/4 ton flatbed for sale. I had started selling my wire jewelry at the Eugene Saturday Market. That gave me enough money to buy the truck and still be able to pay my rent!
In addition to selling my jewelry at the Saturday Market and a couple of head shops, a young couple became interested in purchasing my housecar. The sale really helped me purchase building materials for my first housetruck project. Once I had the main structure completed, I moved out of my apartment and started living in it. The money that I used to pay out in rent could now be used to complete the interior. I was also still single and excited to enjoy the new freedom I had.
Selling My First Housetruck
Once my housetruck was ready for the road, I decided to drive down to Arcadia, California to see my parents. I had left a small number of possessions with them that I wanted to get. During the trip from Eugene to Arcadia, I decided I would try to sell my housetruck to someone. I drove it to the Griffeth Park “LOVE IN” in Los Angeles. There I found a young couple looking for a small housetruck to live in. We made a deal and they went away happy. I now had a nice nest egg to start building another housetruck.
I was given a ride back to my parents’ house having sold the housetruck. My father knew I wanted to build another and reminded me there was a used flatbed on the property that might work well for what I wanted to build. I purchased the old truck from my father. It was a 1947 Ford 1 1/2 ton flatbed and would soon become my 2nd housetruck.
Learn more about Roger’s housetrucks here.