50 YEARS YOUNG RV/MH Heritage Foundation Hall of Fame Celebrates Benchmark Anniversary
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The year 1972 is historic for several reasons. Interna-
tionally, it was a black year, due to terrorism entering sport, with the massacre of 11 Israeli athletes in Europe during the Summer Olympics. Nationally, 1972 marked the beginning of the Watergate Scandal, the greatest U.S. political expose’ in modern times.
by George Allen, CPM Emeritus, MHM-Master
In manufactured housing circles however, 1972 was a Banner Year, boasting the second highest production level year in the industry’s history, with 575,940 new homes shipped! And 1973 would exceed this euphoric level by only 4,000 when 579,940 new homes were shipped! Unfortunately, two years later – in 1975, these acme shipment levels, for financial and regulatory reasons, plummeted to 212,690 new homes shipped. Since then, the roller coaster of annual shipment totals continues. Riding the shipment euphoria of 1972, a group of trade MH magazine publishers, attending an MHI meeting, announced the first Hall of Fame class comprised of 10 pioneers, which included Wally Byam, Elmer Frey,
92 | MAY / JUNE 2022 EDITION
