Travelall tailgate support cable retractors

[PB Schechter <pb@domain.elided>]

I have made a recent discovery that may be of interest to owners of older (pre-
1969) Travelalls, and perhaps newer ones, too.  The retractors that pull the
cables that support the tailgate into the tailgate when you close it, are
available, *new*, for $15.05 each!  They are simply spring-loaded sash "cord"
units (except, of course, they don't use a cord, or a chain--they use a strip
of steel, that wraps around a spring-loaded wheel).  The company that makes them
is the same as the company that made the ones in my '65 Travelall: Pullman
Manufacturing Corp., in Rochester, NY.  (I don't have the ordering particulars
with me, but would be glad to provide them to anyone interested.)

An observation: this is not, in my opinion, evidence of brilliant IH engineering:
the tailgate environment involves dust and dirt, and the steel that pulls the
cables into the tailgate is somewhat "delicate."  Nevertheless, my '65 Travelall
is *just now* outliving the useful life of these parts.  (And, the person I bought
the T'all from did a bit of a butcher job in replacing the window motor--he could
have accelerated the demise of the cable retractors.)

Finally, a question:  Does anyone know the history of Travelalls?  I have seen
reference to a '50s Travelall: what did it look like?  When did IH start making
Travelalls?  Did they make them for as long as they made 1/2 and 3/4 T pickups?

Thanks in advance for replies.  I hope that the cable retractor information is
helpful to those few of you who drive Travelalls.  (Do the 1969-75 Travelalls use
a similar support cable retractor mechanism?  The only "late model" T'all I have
seen up close had the two back doors, not the tailgate.)

PB Schechter