The art of nomadic life has gone from Europe to America, and today is a trend in the world. The first owners of compact wheeled walls adore luxuries, decorations and strong colors. Life on wheels for freedom and adventurous character has always found a way to people with a restless spirit. Although often attributed as part of American culture and lifestyle, the first houses on wheels date back to the European continent.
The first owners of the moving houses were entertainers or circuses, who spend their entire life on the road. Instead of installing tents when stationed in one place, they had their own wagons that initially dragged their horses. And inside the carriages there was the daily dynamics of life, cooking, eating, sleeping ...
In the middle of the 19th century these wagons became a residential area for the Roma. The specific caravans were called "wardo", and this word originated from a "vurdon" from the Iranian language meaning a terrain vehicle. The carriages that were made and inhabited by the Roma were smaller than those used by the circus groups, hence there was no need for greater traction, or more horses.
The Roma were very proud of the appearance of their homes. Often they were richly decorated with various motifs, ornaments, carvings, painted with strong colors. Some were even gilded. Over time, the carriages evolved and became so abominable that they lost their practical and original purpose, and from sleeping places, became true exhibits. In some of them, they rarely slept. The Roma preferred to sleep in tents under the carriages.
"The wheelchairs for them did not have any sentimental value, judging by the fact that they were changing and selling as needed," says historian Janet Keith-Black.
And when the owner died, the custom was to burn his property, including the ward, because the Romans believed that he could bear the spirit of the deceased and could not sell him. And the jewelry and the money were inherited by the family.
The development of the caravans took place in separate categories, of which six were basic, so they were no longer getting names after the owners, but according to the traditional style, the city in which they were constructed, by the name of the constructor, and the like. Today, several original vardo houses have been preserved. They are housed in some museums or are in the hands of some private collectors.
Roma originate in the lands of northwestern India, a country that their ancestors had left 1,500 years ago and settled around the world, but mostly in Europe and northwest Asia. The last 100 years have also been settled by the Americans.
