Metzendorf tidbits

From Metzendorf.blogspot.com

What does Metzendorf mean?

Metzendorf is a surname that is from the German language. It can be split into two basic words – Metzen and Dorf. Metzen is the metonymic (a name derived from) occupational name for a cutler (someone who makes knives). It is derived from Middle Low German messet, metset ‘knife’, ‘dagger’ or Middle High German metz(e) ‘knife’. Dorf is a nickname or topographic name for someone who lived in a village. The meaning of Metzendorf is essentially “the village knife-maker.”

What is a Metzendorf?
The Metzendorf Trailer Manufacturing Company manufactured travel trailers under the same name from the late 1950s to early 1960s. The trailers themselves did not have model names, but were referred to by length. The trailers ran from 12 to 15 feet and were not much taller than 6 feet high so they could be stored in a garage. [haha, I researched this too but when I came home from Seneca Falls with out trailer it sure did not fit our 8 ft garage door...] The trailers sometimes had drop floors so an adult could stand up straight. The trailers were manufactured in West Farmington, Ohio, approximately 10 miles northwest of Warren, Ohio.

The owner of the company was named Martin Metzendorf. Martin Metzendorf and his wife had the traliers built with Amish laborers. Mrs. Metzendorf picked out the interior patterns and colors. They delivered most of the trailers themselves until a delivery accident deprived Mrs. Metzendorf the use of her arm. They sold the business in the early 60's and the trailer was produced for a few more years under the Metzendorf name.

Tomato Blight spotted in Northern PA...

Excerpt from the site Gardening Tips: Tomato Blight: Causes and Treatment

The first step is to remove all of the damaged leaves. Also, remove all leaves on the ground around your plants as the blight can remain in the soil. Wash your hands in between plants so as to keep from spreading blight to healthy plants or leaves. Dispose of infected leaves away from your garden in either a cull pile or thrown in the trash. You will need to plant your tomatoes in a different location for the next few years, as blight will continue to be present in the soil.

If you want to try to control late blight with fungicides, you need to begin spraying fungicide before you see symptoms – and you need to continue spraying regularly. Use a product that contains chlorothalonil. Even here, these products are only effective if used before the disease appears and should be reapplied every 7-10 days, or 5-7 days in wet weather. Chlorothalonil is a protectant fungicide, with no systemic movement in the plant, so thorough coverage is necessary. For organic farmers and gardeners, the options are very limited, since only copper fungicides can be used, and copper is not very effective on late blight. It is easily washed off by rainfall.

Continually check your plants and remove any leaves showing signs of the fungus. Though this process is tedious, it is the only way of minimizing the damage to your plants and encouraging as much tomato-production as possible.

Tin Can Rally pictures

Third Annual TCT Northeastern Regional Gathering

May 20th -23rd, 2010
in Sampson State Park, Finger Lake Region, New York

The Third Annual Gathering is being presented in the spring rather then the fall as the first two Gatherings. This Gathering has proven to be the place to be for vintage owners. For more information about this rally and about the Tin Can Tourists please visit the website www.TinCanTourists.com

Above the smallest camper we've ever seen... called a teardrop (for obvious reasons) and made by Serro Scotty (hence the scotty dog on the bed!). It has a kitchen in the back and a (sort of) two person bed inside. Very, very cute, and very, very much a one person camper!

The little Winnebago that won third place, and I'm sure the bright yellow studebaker out front had nothing to do with that :-) Rolf and I were debating between this one and the Shasta that ended up winning first, so I guess we have good taste! Our camper could be as shiny as this one... Dad? you planning to come visit this fall?!

As you can see from previous pics, our trailer is one awning and light string short... hopefully by our next camping trip (Letchworth? the Adirondacks? the Pennsylvanian Grand Canyon?) we'll have that fixed. Literally, as Rolf drove into a tree branch when reparking to get ready for the rally and dented the roof line and awning strip... oh well, it's probably not going to be the last dent & bruise :-)

For more, check out my Picasa web album Tin Can Rally 2010

old handles versus new handles...

After seeing pics of the new handles I really like (as did she) but did not choose, my sister wanted to see what the other handles look like. For reference, above is a pic of a horizontal chrome handle original to the trailer - all the other cabinet doors and small drawers had wooden knobs.

Here you see the vintage chrome drawer pull knobs (they came out of our 1960's kitchen) and the chrome cabinet handle I found at Significant Elements. It has the same "bent curve" up front as the original drawer handles, and I really like the asymmetry of the vertical use (bigger on top, smaller on bottom). I did not drill the second hole yet, though... and the retro knobs are still on my desk as well... (I did not get the return mailer yet, honest!)

For all the pics about the trailer restoration adventure you can visit my (new) Picasa web album Metzendorf Mania!

other metz enthusiasts!

By way of the Tin Can Rally I found out about two other metzendorf enthusiasts, one restoring a 1962 trailer and the other restoring a 1962 cab over.

The girl restoring the 1962 trailer has an extensive metzendorf blog with many for sale listings. If you have any interest in purchasing and / or renovating a metz this is the blog to keep your eye on: www.Metzendorf.blogspot.com


Greg from Seneca, NY was lucky enough to find a very rare 1962 cab over, which means a build out over the hitch part, useful for either storage and / or sleeping quarters. The Teardrops and Tiny Travel Trailer forum has a nice listing of what's going on with that trailer, plus Greg has assembled a great collection of before and after pictures at Windows Live. I'm sure envious of his absolutely great paint and buff job! I was just informed his trailer is completed and one of the places it will be used this year is at the Sterling Renaissance Fair Pirate's Day! How fitting :-)

the 3rd annual Tin Can Rally

Here's our little camper (14? feet long?) parked conveniently close to some trees. This way, you can't see the bad roofing tar job the previous owner did on the window sills and roof line! Unfortunately, the trees did not block the shade from the back roof during naptime so the top bunk bed was too hot, but Simon did not seem to have issues sleeping in the bottom bunk during daytime as long as we blocked it off visually. I'm thinking of installing a small curtain rail at the bottom of the bunk bed frame for next time's trip... I've got a feeling these "small improvements" will never stop - I was already contemplating a different curtain fabric as well :-)

A peek into the bed/kitchen and kitchen area where you can really see how the color jumps out! Even though it might not be strictly period correct, it did get quite a couple of positive remarks and had tons of pictures taken of the inside. People seemed surprised by the contrasting doors/cabinet colors, and we did seem to be the only camper painted like that!

I did dress up the kitchen a little bit, some vintage melmac tea cups on the counter, a nice color coordinated enamel water cooker on the range, but not nearly enough for what turned out to be the going dress standard! We'll have to do some yard sales this summer to be ready for next year's rally!

I thought this an interesting picture... father and son playing with a modern cell phone in a 1958 metzendorf camper! It sure looks like a "beam me up, Scotty" devise from Star Trek when seen from way back when...

The Rhubarb Compendium

A very nice site with tons of information on the what, how and when of rhubarb cooking, including a lot of rhubarb wine recipes. I plan to make rhubarb wine at some point, but after reading the recipes realized I need to read a little more about actual wine making first...

www.rhubarbinfo.com

a nice label I made (drawing compliments of google image) for the pints of rhubarb we'll have for sale at our veggie stand this year: