The only thing better than hitting the open road is bringing your home along for the ride.
Joe Shipley and Nicole Ogden of South Philadelphia combine the two when they hitch an adorable little trailer onto the back of Ogden's 1984 Chevy Monte Carlo. It saves on hotels when they go to vintage-car shows (which he presents) and doubles as a dressing room when selling her vintage clothes.
They first spotted it while driving around a camping area last year and were floored. A canopy shaded folding chairs and a cooler. AstroTurf was laid under pots of plastic flowers.
"It was so cute," Ogden says. When a woman emerged, they put the car in reverse and spent the next hour talking to her and her husband and "drooling over" the trailer, Shipley recalls.
"It's like a canned ham on its side," he observes, stepping inside to plenty of head room in the 6-by-10-foot space.
"It's an attention-getter. People want to buy when it's out," Shipley says. He's co-owner of a Philadelphia Eddie's Tattoo parlor, and deejays one night a week at an oldies station (WVLT, 92.1 FM), where he goes by the name "Professor Ouch," or just "Professor."
He also collects and sells sideshow memorabilia.
"Something like this could have been made from a kit," Shipley says of the trailer, which cost him $1,500, plus a few hundred more to start refurbishing.
It has no toilet. But it does have a sink that can be attached to a hose and drained to the ground or into a hookup.
Shipley's aim: Strip out the kitschy colonial stuff and create a look more in line with the trailer's 1956 origins. He redid the wiring, put in new outlets, put new laminate on the countertop, and is having a friend match the tabletop to the counter.
The galley table, when covered with cushions, becomes a bed for two. A built-in bench can accommodate another person.
A snazzy paint job plus curtains and covers Ogden made from fabric laden with space-age motifs evoke the 1950s. In time, the couple hopes to polish the dull aluminum exterior and put on new bottom trim and side pipes - really do it up right.
"As I get older," Shipley says, "my love of history grows."

Lists Furry Couch (aka Professor Ouch) as one of the contributing artists.

In this issue: ELECTRIC FRANKENSTEIN, THE 440's, STREETWALKIN' CHEETAHS, THE CHICKENHAWKS, horror/bizarre painter Wes Benscoter in full color (he also did the disturbing cover art), sexologist/writer/performer/fetish model/webmeister Dr. Ducky DooLittle, oddball collector Furry Couch, southern-fried punks HELLSTOMPER, Troma Films ("Toxic Avenger," "Surf Nazis Must Die," etc.) mastermind Lloyd Kaufman, female pro wrestler Missy Hyatt, and lots more shit, plus zine-within-a-zine Exploitation Retrospect, columns, plenty of record and porn reviews, etc. The 7" has tracks by HASIL ADKINS, ANDRE WILLIAMS, DAVIE ALLEN, and JOHNNY LEGEND.

"The reason you see so much automobile industry research is that there are these car nuts out there who have been documenting every inane fact about every car ever built. Frankly, it's irrational"-paraphrase of a statement by a distinguished Professor Ouch.

"Furry Couch from Philadelphia says, "My shifter is bigger than yours," in our macho automotive section."

Science Patrol was a great band. We released Bandit Ducks/Pop A B C D on 7-inch vinyl and mailed records all over the world. There was a Bandit Ducks Fan Club of 5th graders and a guy named Furry Couch who sent us strange letters. We played at clubs and parties in San Francisco, Berkeley, and Palo Alto. But the volatile mix of random elements and personalities--the very elements that made Science Patrol great--inevitably led to its own self-destruction.

We took a tour of the American Dime Museum with curator Dick Horne. The museum deals in sideshow and carnival oddities. Some highlights - the Peruvian Amazon mummy, a two headed calf (on loan from Philadelphia collector Prof. Ouch), and a collection of paintings made out of human hair during the Victorian era.