Home, for many Alabama residents, is on four wheels.

     Mobile homes are everywhere in Alabama.
     But did you know they originated in the state? And, in fact, the word "Mobile" is really a reference to The City of Mobile, on the Alabama Coast?

     That's what an article in Snopes claims, though it is the first time I've heard it. They credit James and Laura Sweet of Prichard, Alabama.
     I got thinking of them because CBS Sunday Morning yesterday features a show on  homes and home designs, including one part about mobile homes.

     I'm glad to report that the CBS story never refers to them as "manufactured homes", the name the manufacturers and their lobbyists have been trying to convince us to use for decades.

     While some of the mobile homes in the CBS Sunday Morning report are gorgeous, the truth is that the majority of mobile homes depreciate the second you sign the papers to buy 'em. They are not an investment...though sometimes the land they sit on grows much more valuable and  if you own it, you can profit.