mike temp

Mid October Update

The biggest problem I have right now is not having a barn or other building to build the Medicine Show Vardo in.  This changes things a little and slows me down this winter.

First of all, I can build it in my backyard - outside.  However, our widest gate is 8'2" wide in the back, do, if I purchase the 6'4" x 10 trailer and do 12" ledges on either side I can't get it back out!  So, unless i can find a barn soon i will have to purchase the 5' x 10' trailer.

We had dinner with friends last night and I received some awesome advice about the build.  I am really ready to go if a space can be found in the next week.

Rethinking the trailer

Well now, back to square one.  I called last week about a 7x10 trailer and no answer  I tried back several times and on Monday learned the trailer was sold on Sunday.  My second choice costs considerably more as it is new and it is 6'4" x 10 instead of 7 x 10.

Ledge Wagon

Why is that a big deal?  Because I want a full length bed at the end.  I am 6'2", mattresses are at least 6'3" and without doing a ledge wagon the width after walls will be 5'11" or maybe 6' at the most.

Now for the other shoe to drop.  The maximum width for a trailer in Ohio is 102".  A 12" ledge on either side would take the width to right at 100".  Adding even some sort of trim can take it over the 102" max.

An Actual Medicine Show Wagon!

So, I do a ledge wagon with only 8" ledges which takes me to 92 inches or give up on a full length bed at the end.

Fingers crossed

This is a quick update on an early, damp Saturday morning.  5:36 and the sun has not started to climb into the eastern sky.  Morning hides over that horizon, as if playin' peek-a-boo and I am it.  The promise of this first day of fall is one that is crisp and beautiful.

Doc Hollen's Traveling Medicine Show today and tomorrow at the Settler's Celebration in Cedarville, Ohio, sponsored by Greene County Parks and Trails!

I'll be selling Snake Oil, Tincture of Papyrus and my favorite, Doc Hollen's Pure Raduim Water.  I will also have several jars of Dehydrated Spring Water (just add water - spring optional)

SO, why are my fingers crossed?  I found a 7' x 10' trailer for sale.  I need to call and make sure it is in good shape, but it would solve the problem of the small bed in the front.  Mattresses are 6'3" and after walls are up there would only be 6' in the front.  With the 84" width to start and losing 6" for the walls on either side I will still have 78" for the bed.

Not such a big deal for me, as I will use the Medicine Show wagon at festivals and wouldn't camp in it... but selling it someday would make it less marketable without some sort of bed.

So, fingers crossed that the trailer is available and in good condition.

9/20 Update

6'4" x 10 trailer

Not that anyone is keeping track, but I think I have found the utility trailer (example on left). It is 6'4" x 10' and has a ramp on the back.  NOTE: Remember the width of the trailer for later in this post.

Jacks mounted on the ramp make it a 6'x4' platform/porch.  A dutch/split door will be at that end and will be offset to one side and 30" wide.

Example of a ledge wagon - note ledge extending out above wheels

  
The only issue I have is whether to make straight sides or do a "ledge" wagon with 12" ledges over each side.  The ledges will make it 8'4" wide, still not a big deal, but a little more difficult to build.

Why even think about the ledges?  Well, not that I would sleep in it, but I wanted to build a bunk in the front in the event I wanted to rest while at a festival.  Also, if the opportunity came up to sell it for a profit I could then make another.  A bed of some type would make it more marketable.

Here is the problem; the inside width is 6'4" before walls go up.  I will lose 2 inches on each side, making the interior 6' across.  A bunk bed mattress is 6'3" long.  The cross bracing for the bed platform also adds stability to the structure and provides storage underneath.

An alternative would be to do a fold up bed on one side.  Hinged legs when it is folded down for support and it folds up to the wall when not in use.  I could even use a full size mattress on it (54" wide vs 39" for a twin.)  Sort of like a sideways Murphy bed.  Another much easier alternative?  A fold up cot!  $99 at WalMart.

The ledges would allow me to build cabinets and shelving without taking up floor space.  They do have to be braced, however.

First steps first.  Purchase the trailer.

The Medicine Show Vardo

It started with Doc McConnell and his Medicine Show... well that and his wagon.  That is Doc in the photo in front of his Medicine Show Wagon.

Several years ago I sat down next to Doc in downtown Jonesborough during the National Storytelling Festival and talked for a while.  As he puffed on his pipe I told him I was a district manager for a pharmaceutical company.  He laughed and suggested I ought to be doing a Medicine Show.  He actually was hoping to put a "Medicine Show School" together.

We laughed and talked for some time about Medicine Shows and he gave me some ideas.  I didn't have a wagon, but he mentioned the "low pitch" Medicine Show - done with just a suitcase on legs.  Thus my "Doctor Ironbeard's Traveling Medicine Show"  The name came from an old children's song:

My name is Doctor Ironbeard! Twiddly-widdly-wtt, boom boom!
I'll cure your ilness, then you'll cheer! Twiddly-widdly-wit, boom boom!
For I can make the deaf to see! Twiddly-widdlyy-wit, boom boom boom boom!
The blind will walk, because of me! Twiddly-widdly-wit, boom boom!

Legs attached to an old suitcase, a few antique bottles, a spiel and I was on my way.  Later I changed the name to Doc Hollen... easier to remember and better marketing for me.  Doc Hollen sells Snake Oil, tincture of Papyrus, Worm Extractor, Radium Water and the "Original Extract" - made with the purest ingredients like spring water, corn, sugar and yeast...

Over the next several years I would see Doc McConnell and update him on my Medicine Show.  Each time we talked about his Medicine Show School and he would suggest ideas for mine.  He was such a generous man.

BUT I DIDN'T HAVE A WAGON!

So over this winter I will be building a Medicine Show Vardo (a vardo is a gypsy wagon).  There are several styles I have researched:

  Nope, don't have horses.

  Too plain and it has a canvas top.

   WAY to BIG!

Then I found photos and plans for something similar (but not the same) as this...

 

Color scheme will be red with black trim as well as gold and silver highlights, scrolling and doo-dads.  One side will be the backdrop for the Medicine Show and have a frame that signs can slide into.  The signs can then change... Doc Hollen's Traveling Medicine Show, Mark Twain... or (coming next year) Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West!

A small fence will hide the modern tires and the tongue in the front.  It will be portable and less expensive than buying an antique carriage frame, building a Medicine Show Wagon on it and then buying a utility trailer to haul it.  This will be built on the trailer!  A 5'x8' utility trailer, to be exact.

The good thing is that at a festival I can pull it in place, set the jacks, arrange the fence/apron, slide the  appropriate sign in and I am done.  Speakers will be in the wagon for my PA system and the whole wagon becomes a show piece and backdrop.  I can imagine in the evenings a bunch of friends and storytellers gathering after hours to sit around and laugh, share stories and enjoy the evening together.

So, keep your eyes on this page.  It will be a slow process but my goal is to have it done by February.