May-June 2016 Volume: 5, Number: 3, Issue: 25
AIRSTREAM The magazine for all vintage camper trailer collectors, restorers, admirers and dreamers.
RESCUE
R E S TO R E
R A L LY
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What our customers have to say about us
We picked up a 62 Shasta trailer and the side looked like a kid took a stick to the side of it. It was bad. We brought the skin to Hemet Valley RV and they Made a new piece. The Bottom skin is new and the top skin was old, but they look identical. It had 6 inch lines and it turned out perfect. Thanks Guys. Great job. -Barry
ďƒŠ
Located in Hemet, California, we offer a wide variety of RV siding and camper siding for a variety of vintage camper trailers. Our panels and products are ideal when it comes to completing seamless repairs to siding, roofing and edging on your vehicle. Hemet Valley RV guarantees to deliver the results that you expect right to your door.
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Five Star Plus!!! Steve and his company demonstrate what customer service should look like. Thanks so much! -Glenn I recently purchased all of the siding,trim and entry door for an 1970 11’ foot trailer that I rebuilt using only the metal frame of the original trailer. I contacted Steve at Hemet Valley RV and sent him a side view of the trailer with the dimensions on it. Steve figured out what material I needed and the amount and sent it. Everything that I needed I received in a timely fashion and it was packaged in very strong boxes...Thanks so much for the great job Steve, I have no doubt that your business will have continued success, Great Job. -Wayne M.
Extensive knowledge and quality materials. Very fair pricing and quick turn around time. Steve and Tammy are always helpful. -Larry
These photos are from the Airstream Archives and are just part of the book AIRSTREAM by Patrick Foster Published by Motorbooks. Get a sneak peak of the book on page 6 with the article The Birth of the Classic Airstream an excerpt from the AIRSTREAM book that will be available the summer of 2016 at www.vintagecampertrailers.com
Above: Stopping to pick flowers in San Francisco in 1964, with the Golden Gate Bridge as a backdrop. The car is a 1964 Cadillac, and the trailer is an Airstream Land Yacht. On the Cover: We don’t know where this photo was taken- probably Florida- but any woman who looks that good in a swimsuit deserves to have her picture in the Airstream book.
Polishing...the Interior???
By Bryan Beaudette
wanted and was just the right size for us. We also knew that we were going to have to put in all new plumbing, including gray and black water tanks and that meant gutting the trailer, pulling up the sub-floor and basically starting over. So we gutted the trailer to get a better feel for what we had in store for us. At this point as they say, we were “All in”.
The journey with our vintage Airstream started with our love of camping. First it was tent camping and then we progressed to tent trailer camping when the children came along. We came to appreciate the convenience of hard shell trailers but the modern white boxes just did not appeal to my wife and I. We would occasionally see an Airstream, but knew little about them. After much research we decided we wanted a vintage Airstream and went on the hunt. After years of looking we finally found just what we wanted; a “57 Flying Cloud with a 13 panel front dome and a 9 panel whale tail. It had the look we
Our trailer had the usual 1950’s Zolatone multilayer paint, but over that was a coat of yellow and then white paint. There were large brush strokes and numerous drips of dried paint on the walls. It was a mess. We had seen photos of trailers where the domes had the paint removed and then the bare aluminum was polished. This seemed better than paint so my wife and I donned protective gear, and with aircraft paint stripper, plastic spatulas, and green scouring pads from the local dollar store we began to remove the paint. Aircraft paint stripper is serious stuff, so we had all of the windows and vents open, wore charcoal filter respirators, and had a big fan blowing in fresh air through the open door. We learned to limit the amount of stripper in our hand-held paint cups to about 10 to 15 minutes of use. Any longer than that and the stripper loses too much of its solvent to be effective. We also learned that paint stripper does not work very well when it gets cold, so on some evenings we had to stop early (thank goodness for cold nights). Continued on page 21
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Inside This Issue
Unknown Wally pg. 10
1935 Torpedo pg. 12
Alumination pg. 23 Publisher Paul Lacitinola
Articles Polishing...the Interior??? The Birth of the Classic Airstream The Unknown Wally What are those Big Red Numbers? 1935 Torpedo Barn Find How Wally Byam Popularized Caravanning A1956 Bubble - A Link to the Past 1964 Airstream Bambi II - The Airstream Dream Alumination - An Upcoming Documentary All Airstreams Look the Same Trailer Life Magazine Turns 75 - A Look Back
3 6 10 11 12 14 15 22 23 24 28
Pictorials 1957 Airstream Custom Barnfind 1967 Airstream Globetrotter - Project Midge 1978 Airstream Tradewind From our Facebook Friends
20 32 35 38
Technical and How-To How to Measure for a Replacement Mattress
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Editors Caroline Lacitinola Nancy Veal Contributers To This Issue Mona Heath Tim Heintz Rich Luhr Steve Hingtgen Patrick Foster Brad Taylor Erik Bricker and MANY others!
USA Rally Calendar 39 Photo above right: 1976 Airstream Safari by Susan Campbell
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See page 40 for info about our book.
American Trailerite By Paul Lacitinola Publisher VCT Magazine
Volume: 5 - Number: 3 - Issue: 25 PO Box 354, Elverta CA 95626 (916) 572-8554 www.vintagecampertrailers.com vintagecampertrailers@gmail.com Publisher: Paul Lacitinola American Trailerite The VCT Magazine is published bi-monthly January, March, May, July, September & November. “To strive endlessly to stir the venturesome spirit that moves you to follow a rainbow to its end… and thus make your travel dreams come true.” - Wally Byam Vintage Camper Trailers is a non-denominational supporter of the vintage camper trailer hobby. We welcome all collectors, restorers, admirers and dreamers. Subscribe Today - See page 40 for details.
Vintage Camper Trailers Magazine reserves the exclusive right to reject or accept advertising or editorial material submitted for publication. The editorial content contained in this magazine does not necessarily represent the views of the publisher. Vintage Camper Trailers Magazine (USPS Publication Number 15940) is published bimonthly (in January, March, May, July, September, November) by Vintage Camper Trailers, 8416 Elwyn Avenue, Elverta, CA 95626-9552. Periodical postage paid at Elverta, CA and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Vintage Camper Trailers, PO Box 354, Elverta, CA 95626-0354.
WE BUY Vintage Camper Trailers, Bicycles, Cars, and Pick-Ups. (916) 992-1427
I’m no Airstream expert. The closest that I come to a silver bullet in my collection is the 1960 Streamline that we are currently restoring. One thing I do know is that Airstream owners are very knowledgeable about the history of the brand and even the provenance of their own trailer. They are a justifiably a proud tribe that tows and shows these coveted shiny American icons in packs exclusive to their “own kind” as well as at vintage trailer rallies mixed among the painted canned hams. The Airstreams iconic shape resonates with the general public as well. Whenever the topic of the vintage camper trailer hobby comes up with “non-trailerites”, their response is “you mean like the big shiny ones?” Even if they can’t recall the Airstream name, it is obvious that they are picturing the silhouette of a Twinkie shaped aluminum trailer riddled with rivets. An acquisition that they may dream of for a lifetime. Fortunately this hobby has given me friends and supporters that are experts on Airstreams. (See the “Contributors To This Issue” on the previous page.) Each of these individuals is immersed in their knowledge of the brand and generously shared some of that information with the Vintage Camper Trailers Magazine. I thank them for all of their help and continued support of our efforts. Whether you own one, or just admire Airstreams, their history as one of America’s great success stories is undeniable. I hope that this issue is a wealth of accurate information that honors the past, shares current tales of rescues and restorations and gives you a peek into the future of books and movies coming out this year that continue to explore our fascination with Airstreams. In each issue of this magazine we focus on a particular aspect of the hobby. We rely on our readers to share their pictures and stories. Here is what we are planning for upcoming issues: • Barn Finds/Original Owners • Home Builts/Gypsy Wagons • Motorhomes/RV’s • VW’s and Vans (Vamping)
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THE BIRTH OF THE CLASSIC AIRSTREAM An Excerpt from the book Airstream: America’s World Traveler By Patrick Foster
With the purchase of the Bowlus-Teller design and equipment, the look and feel of what was to become the iconic “silver slipstream” Airstream trailer began to take shape. Wally hired some of the Bowlus-Teller employees, primarily those experienced in the special construction techniques for building the advanced trailers, and set to work redesigning the Road Chief to incorporate his own ideas. His first goal was to address design problems. For one thing, the Road Chief’s entry door was situated at the very front of the trailer, making ingress and egress difficult. A person had to step over the trailer hitch, which could be challenging, even dangerous, in the dark. In addition, the front-end door didn’t allow for what Wally felt was the best floor plan inside. As his first step in refining Bowlus’s design, Wally moved the entry door to the side of the vehicle, the same placement he’d always used on his own designs. This change required a minor redesign of the frame underneath. Always innovative, Wally also installed lightweight
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Seapak insulation into the dead space between the interior and exterior walls, creating a better insulated, much quieter interior, one that stayed warmer in cool weather and cooler in hot weather, all without a significant increase in trailer weight. This addition was a material improvement over the Road Chief trailer and made the new Airstream more comfortable in all kinds of weather. This was an innovation that made the trailer more likely to be used regularly by its owner than another brand of trailer. As a trailer enthusiast himself, that was one of the most important things to Wally—he designed his trailers for people to use as they traveled the country, not admiring their trailer safely parked in the driveway. In those years, a new Ford two-door sedan could be purchased for as little as $520. The redesigned, reengineered Road Chief trailer, priced at a lofty $1,200, was introduced to the market in 1936 as the Airstream Clipper, borrowing the name of the world-famous Pan Am Clipper luxury flying boats. These large luxury airplanes were designed to travel anywhere and land even where
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The photo above, found in the Airstream corporate archives, depicts an early Airstream trailer, probably circa 1933. Although the man is not identified, it appears to be Wally Byam. The early Airstream trailers used this ‘teardrop’ design for aerodynamic efficiency. The sleeping compartment was towards the rear of the trailer. There appears to be someone sitting inside the trailer. there were no runways. The mighty Pan Am Clippers were one of the wonders of their day, and associating Airstream with them was a clever marketing move. The Bowlus-Teller Road Chief had been a high-end product, and Wally decided to keep it that way by building as much luxury into the Airstream Clipper as possible. The new Clipper featured a steel-framed dinette
On the road in Africa, exactly where is unknown. Notice the two men in the left front of this photo carry rifles for protection from lions and tigers. Photos are from the Airstream Archives.
that converted into a bed and fancy electric lights placed throughout the cabin. The Clipper also boasted elegant, cedar-lined closets, an enclosed galley, and full ventilation along with one of Wally’s better ideas—dry-ice air conditioning. The Clipper even carried its own water supply, unusual for the time. Like the Road Chief, the Airstream Clipper was constructed of aluminum alloy sheets riveted to a tubular framework. Although using rivets was more costly and difficult than nails and screws, the latter tended to loosen up and cause rattles and wind noise. To create a larger, more inviting interior, the Clipper had asymmetrical ends with a smoothly rounded front and an aerodynamically sloped rear. The Clipper was large and roomy, with a pleasant interior boasting a row of windows on the side that provided natural light inside while also giving it the look of a modern airliner sans wings. All in all, Wally’s Clipper was a significant improvement over the Road Chief. Its price was certainly an eye opener, but Wally was aiming his latest Air-
stream at the premium end of the market. Unlike Bowlus, however, Wally had a full line of lower-priced trailers with which to maintain the basic production volume he needed to cover his overhead, so he was able to sell the Clipper at a nice profit and didn’t have to try selling them in unrealistically high numbers. His Clipper was a logical addition to the Airstream line, giving people a more expensive model to aspire to and to trade up for. Wally’s new Airstream Clipper created a sensation wherever it went and, despite its premium price tag, he soon found himself with a tidy backlog of orders on hand. As his own advertisements boasted, the new Airstream Clipper was “sleek, dashing-svelte-daringly new, modern in the extreme. It is the ultimate picturization of the streamlined age, so perfect that at speeds above fifty miles an hour the car that tows it uses no more gasoline than it does without the trailer.” Even Wally must have been surprised, however, when the president of Mexico, Señor Lazaro Cardenas, ordered a specially built 22-foot Clipper in 1936. Deciding
to personally handle the delivery of the special trailer, Wally and Marion towed it from the factory in Los Angeles to El Paso, Texas, where Mexican government representatives met the couple and took possession of the new trailer. Apparently President Cardenas was very pleased with his purchase; when Wally and Marion visited Mexico City some time later, he made sure that they were entertained royally. A large part of the new Airstream’s undying appeal was the sheer, ultramodern appearance of the thing. Here was the very latest in exterior design, airplane construction, and aircraft aesthetics wrapped around the most luxurious of interiors, all ready to travel the open road at a moment’s notice. So sleek, so modern was the Airstream Clipper that it still looks great today. In fact, the family resemblance to today’s modern Airstream is so strong that a 1937 Airstream could easily be mistaken for a 2016 Airstream. That’s a level of continuity in design rarely seen in a product created for the road. But it’s at the heart of Airstream’s enduring beauty and attraction.
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The market for travel trailers was still young, and, over the years, dozens of new competitors had appeared, but many of them were shady outfits that built substandard units. Working in cramped quarters with day laborers slapping together plywood and Masonite to produce cheap, easy-tosell travel trailers without regard to quality or durability, the products of these fly-by-night outfits hurt the image of the entire trailer industry. In 1932, when Wally ramped up to full production of his solid, well-built Airstreams, there were just 48 trailer manufacturers in existence in the United States. By 1937, there were more than 400 builders. In comparison, industry-leader Covered Wagon alone produced some 6,000 trailers in 1936, making it a multi-million dollar business. By then there was also an association of trailer owners called the Tin Can Tourists, which numbered more than a quarter of a million members. Meanwhile, the life of the average trailer owner (or “trailerite,” as they are often called) was rapidly improving. As Wally once noted, in the early days of trailering, “if you could sleep comfortably in a trailer, that was a lot. Then, if you could find a place to cook inside out of the rain and wind, that was a big improvement.” By 1937, Wally (and others in the industry) had elevated trailering to a level of luxury once
Another great spot to see while in Paris is the Arc de Triomphe, as this western-garbed couple could attest. Begun in 1806 under orders of the Emperor Napoleon, this monument was created to honor his Grand Army’s victories.
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thought impossible. Fancy interiors had replaced the rustic simplicity of the earlier days when everything was hand– sawed and homemade–looking, and modern conveniences like sinks, stoves, electric lights, and radios were becoming common, at least in the more expensive lines. One unfortunate side effect of the move to greater room and comfort in travel trailers was a growing trend by some people who chose to live year-round in their trailers—not to use them for traveling. This upset Wally greatly, who noted that Something very sad happened. Trailers that were meant for the open road had foundations built under them, never again to travel. Others that did not have actual foundations under them stayed immobile for years on end. Wally disparaged these contraptions as “trailers in name and legal standpoint only.” Unscrupulous builders had discovered that travel trailers were not subject to local building codes, meaning they could be built rather cheaply—especially if they were not meant to withstand the stresses of moving on the open road—thus providing inexpensive housing for people looking to live as cheaply as possible. They could be grouped in clusters on minuscule lots that were rented on
This photo, from the Airstream corporate archives, shows a family enjoying their vacation in style. The car appears to be a circa 1948 Studebaker, and it’s towing a large Airstream trailer of the same vintage. Judging by the Spanish moss hanging in the trees we’ll say this is somewhere south of the Mason Dixon line
Wally Byam was a good showman and had a great sense of humor. Here he combined both by showing off two Airstream trailers at oncethe larger ‘Nursery” and smaller “Mother-in-Law” apartment. Notice the signs in the windows that point out some of the best features of the sturdy Airstreams.
The mid-1960’s saw a big drop-off in demand for compact cars as younger buyers began purchasing the new pony cars in large numbers. These were essentially prettied-up and much sportier compacts, so they were small cars and thus were more suitable for use with smaller trailers like the Bambi shown here under the palm trees.
a monthly basis. They usually were not subject to property taxes, either—in most cases, owners of parked trailers were only required to pay vehicle taxes. Wally noted that many of them were too big and flimsy to tow very far, calling them “sub-marginal housing built without the restrictions of the building code. They were a disgrace to the industry.” Airstream’s creed, he declared, was “to never let a foundation be built under one, and never let the wheels stop turning for more than a few months at a time.” For the most part, his followers have lived by his advice—on average, Airstream trailers are on the road more weeks out of the year than any other trailer brand. That’s because Airstream owners are travelers and adventurers. They yearn for the open road. Yet, for all its luxury, the Airstream Clipper still lacked a modern toilet, as did other trailers of the day, because nothing workable had been designed. People in the industry had tried to adapt some of the features of boats into their trailers, but, as Wally noted, not one feature had been found to be transferable. The Clipper did offer sanitary facilities, of a sort. One option was an old-fashion commode with a baked enamel finish for easier cleaning. Another choice was an airplane-type “toilet” placed inside a small box described as looking “like a cedar chest.” Chemical toilets were offered by after-market sellers, but Wally didn’t recommend them, saying, “the only difference between a chemical toilet and one without chemicals is that you just exchange one odor for another.” Always a bit of a rustic, he generally recommended the commode-type solution with a bail for easy emptying. He would empty it after every use, often into a small pit he dug nearby. Some trailer models offered a seat toilet that was situated inside the trailer but, lacking plumbing, simply emptied into a hole dug underneath the trailer—not a very elegant resolution. Meanwhile, the 1936 model year had been a tremendous one for trailer manufacturers, and industry watchers predicted that 1937 would be another year of solid growth for the trailer business. In this they were wrong. That year ended up being a major turning point for the industry, and not a good one. By midyear, it was obvious that industry sales were heading downward at a rapid pace, with no end in sight. Why demand suddenly began to shrink is unknown, but the US economy was still fragile. A sharp, painful economic recession hit the country in 1938, putting further downward pressure on trailer sales, forcing dozens of trailer manufacturers out of business and badly injuring the ones that survived. Sensing trouble, Wally moved his manufacturing operations to a smaller, less-expensive plant at 2023 West Pico in Los Angeles and soon instituted other operating economies to preserve cash. Trailer sales continued their downward slide, though. By the end of 1938, Airstream was nearly broke. To keep the corporate name alive, Wally continued to register it with the State of California, praying as he did that some sort of turnaround would occur. Things continued to get worse in the industry, however, and more trailer makers went bust. Of the 400 makers operating in 1936, only a handful still survived by 1940.
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THE UNKNOWN WALLY Many stories have gone around about Wally Byam the founder of Airstream some true and some false. Herein is what I have come to understand from countless hours of reading, research, and personal conversations with his family. Photo of Wally from Rich Luhr Publisher & Editor of Airstream Life magazine
By Brad Taylor
• Befitting the creator of an American icon, Wallace Byam was born on the 4th of July in 1896. • Wally was born in Baker City, Oregon a small rural town on the eastern edge of the state. • He was named after a dead uncle on his mother’s side. His mother was a bookkeeper and his father a veterinarian. • His parents’ marriage was short lived and his mother married David Davis, Wally was so attached to his stepfather that he went by the name Wally Davis until his first marriage 1924. • His parents moved to Portland Oregon, where Wally was raised. During his youth Wally spent time back in eastern Oregon with his aunt and uncle and visiting his grandparents. Sadly his mother and stepfather passed away before Wally was out of high school. • A meager inheritance and working several part time jobs allowed him to attend college. • Wally graduated from Stanford University with honors in 1921 with degrees in both journalism and Architectural engineering. • He loved the outdoors and spent a lot of time hiking and enjoying nature. • He worked for the LA Times newspaper and eventually opened his own advertising company. Through his company he sold plans for a do it yourself trailer. •
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Some who had purchased the plans complained that they were too poor to construct a trailer by. • Wally attempted and to build a trailer from the plans and realized the criticism were valid. He designed his own plans and built a trailer. That first trailer was the Torpedo Car Cruiser. • He sold plans as well as completed trailers with great success. He founded the Airstream Company in 1934 one of the earliest trailer manufacturers in California with Californian license # 7. • His first “Airstream” trailers were canned hams made out of Masonite. Masonite was a popular construction material in pre-war trailers as it was easy to work with and relatively water resistant. • This early canned ham was called an Airlite and was just 12 feet long, it is found on the early Airstream logo. • Wally added to his fleet with other models like the Silver Cloud, Silver Cloud Junior, Torpedo, Torpedo Junior and the Mobile Home. However he is most noted for the Clipper his first aluminum trailer. • Introduced in 1935 the Clipper came in lengths from 19 to 27 feet. • Like so many other manufacturers Airstream shut its doors due to World War II. • Wally and his employees went to work for the Vultee Aircraft factory.
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• As the war ended he had made plans to open a rabbit farm. He also toyed with the idea of selling camping and outdoor gear. • However a meeting with Curtis Wright (an individual who profited from a name similar to the famous Curtis-Wright Company) led Wally to join Curtis Wright Aviation in 1946. • Wally shared his trailer designs with Wright and had an agreement that he would oversee the building of his various trailer models, receiving both a salary and a commission on every aluminum trailer sold. • At the end of the year Wright owed Wally a sizable amount of money and failed to pay him. The disagreement led to Wally leaving Curtis Wright with both materials and some of the labor force. • The Airstream Company was restarted in 1947 in Los Angeles. Because he had given his plans to Wright, Wally had to rename the Airstream Clipper to the Airstream Liner. • The company grew steadily and developed an avid following that culminated in the founding of a second factory in Jackson Center Ohio and forming of The Wally Byam Caravan Club. • Although Wally died in 1962 after a three year battle with a brain tumor, the Club is still active today and Airstreams are still coming out of the factory in Jackson Center.
WHAT’S UP WITH THOSE
BIG RED NUMBERS?
?
With a few exceptions, new or new to them, Airstream owners can request the “ghost” number on their trailer I know this seems hard to imagine given the smartphone-tablet-wifi-constantly-connected world we live in so bear with me. Imagine leading a caravan of 1963 Airstreams throughout Central America not now, but in 1951-1952. That’s what Wally Byam, founder of Airstream, Inc., his future bride Estelle “Stella” Hall and his 12-year old second cousin Dale “Pee Wee” Schwamborn set out to do on December 1, 1951. Without having the benefit of cell phones or GPS to connect with caravan members, Wally assigned big red numbers which were placed on the front and rear end-cap of the Airstreams – making it easier to keep track of a large group of travelers facing rugged terrain and many weather-related problems. Wally and Stella Byam often traveled at the front of these caravans, easily identifiable by the big red #1 on their Airstream. For 60+ years, the Wally Byam Caravan Club International (WBCCI), also known as the Airstream Club International, has continued to assign numbers to each of their 6,000+ members around the world. These numbers remain with the owners as long as they maintain their membership in the Club – some of whom choose to display them on their trailers. Each of the red stars on either side of these numbers reflects five years of membership in the Club. With a few exceptions, new or new to them, Airstream owners can request the “ghost” number on their trailer or a number of their choice – depending on availability. Understanding those exceptions, and the rich heritage behind them, brings a sense of nostalgia to many members of the Airstream Club International. As a member of the WBCCI, the Airstream Club International as well as the Vintage Airstream Club (VAC), I’m honored to display my big red numbers, happily waving at any and all Airstreams and vintage trailers on the road. Safe and happy travels – Mona Heath
#3339
Photo Above: 1967 Airstream Ambassador Kasey Boudreau Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. #16152
WHO has the
Numbers Under
1000?
1 & 2:
Issued to Wally Byam and Dale Schwamborn, respectively, and retired from reissue.
3 - 100:
Reserved for Airstream company officers, employees who led caravans and mechanics.
101 – 199: Issued to the International 3rd Vice
President and retired from future reissue following the end of his/her term as International President.
200 - 299:
Reserved for newly elected Region Presidents.
300 - 600:
Reserved for newly elected International Recording Secretary and International Treasurer.
700 – 799: Reserved for members who have
served three+ years as Standing Committee Chair
800 – 899: Available for use of the National
Caravan Leaders who have led a minimum of five national caravans or as recommended by National Caravan Standing Committee Chairman
900 – 999: Held for future Board of Trustees decision
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1935 Torpedo By Tim Heintz CEO Heintz Designs Vintage Trailer Restorations Panama City, Florida www.HeintzDesigns.com Tin Can Tourists Southeastern Representative At Heintz Designs we get many emails and phone calls inquiring about our professional vintage trailer appraisals. Many inquirers believe their trailer is a rare, ‘one of a kind’ trailer. Usually it ends up being a year or brand that is more common than they thought. I make it a rule to never get excited about a potential appraisal until I see the actual trailer because many times it ends up being a “typical” vintage trailer. The most recent call came from a man asking to get an appraisal on his ‘rare’ trailer. He wanted to have the appraisal done on site so we could assess the trailer in person (costing more than having it done based on photos). He told us the location of the trailer and we set a date to drive up and see this ‘rare’ trailer that had been stored inside its entire life (except when it was used) and he insisted it had not been outside for at least the last 6 years. A few weeks later it was time to hit the road with my crew to assess the trailer on site. We drove several hours into Alabama to the center of an old historical district and pulled up to a large 3 story house built in the 1930’s which had a three-carriage parking garage out back. The client met us outside and took us over to the garage and slowly opened the doors to reveal his trailer.
ular Mechanics” magazine promoting the Airstream 1935 Torpedo. He wrote the company for literature and subsequently purchased a set of plans for five dollars. Imagine the Great Depression in the 1930’s, in which a medical student wanted to travel and needed rest and relaxation from his profession, yet could not afford to meet his goals. It was decided that a travel trailer (a “gypsy” life to critics of the times) was the economical way to go. He and his wife, Thelma Mathews Herndon Holman, built the shell of the trailer in three weeks between medical school and internship. To complete the trailer required 2-1/2 years of work. Extensive Travel began in the middle of 1937. The trailer is 17’ overall with a 14’ body. It sleeps four adults with one double bed in the rear and two single bunks that
may be mounted along the sides. It has hot and cold running water, a sink, a two-burner gas stove, a shower, a toilet, a space heater, a vent fan, an icebox (home built - not available commercially in the 1930’s) and an air conditioner that was added in the 1960’s. It weighs 3,150 pounds, unloaded. It is of wooden monoque construction of 1930’s airplane design
I could not believe my eyes! There, packed tightly inside this crowded garage, was THE 1935 Airstream Torpedo that was owned and built by Dr. Holman. This trailer holds the title (since 1984) as the oldest existing Airstream in the world!!! Wally Byam founded the Airstream Trailer Company in the 1930’s. Starting in May of 1935, Byam sold plans for individuals to build their own trailers. Once you purchased the plans you had to build the shell, install (or hire an electrician to install) the wiring and electrical fixtures necessary for safe and legal operation, install (or hire a plumber and gasman to install) the plumbing and plumbing fixtures or gas lines and fixtures necessary, choose springs, axles, hubs, brakes, wheels and tires, etc., to even begin to roll down the road. Other requirements included mattresses for the beds, a seamstress for curtains, and much, much more. Unlike today, when you may drive into a dealership, buy an RV product, hook it to your vehicle, and drive it off the lot fully functional, owning a trailer or RV product in the 1930’s presented many post-purchase challenges. Dr. Holman read an ad by Wally Byam in the May 1935 “Pop-
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(there is no frame - the body is the frame). The tongue is bolted to wooden stringers under the front floorboards. The semi-elliptical springs that support the wheels and axle are bolted to steel plates in the wheel wells and under the floorboards in the central area of the trailer. The trailer has three
belly tanks: 1) 20-gallon fresh water 2) 7-gallon sewage, and 3) 20-gallon gray water (sink and shower water). The original skin of the trailer was Masonite, but due to road damage from flying rocks from early gravel roads, the trailer was skinned with aluminum in the 1960’s for protection. Remember that this trailer was constructed in the 1930’s Great Depression, and new parts were not affordable. Junkyards were scoured for matching used parts. The original filler cap for the fresh water tank was the gas tank cap of an Essex automobile. The original running lights on the forward brow of the trailer are 1935 Harley-Davidson front fender running lights (note: white, not amber color). The original tail lamps were 1929 Ford Model A tail lamps. Red lenses are
Wally Byam also started the Wally Byam Caravan Club International (WBCCI). Dr. Holman was affiliated with this club as early as 1947. Wally Byam at one time also had a 1935 Airstream Torpedo, but sold it shortly after the company started building all aluminum trailers. Dr. Holman and his wife, Thelma, attended the 1947 Rally of the WBCCI in Tampa, Florida. When Wally saw Dr. Holman’s 1935 Torpedo, he offered Dr. Holman the amount of $50,000.00 for his 1935 Torpedo. Wally soon found, to his dismay, that “he did not have enough money.” This was the first of several encounters throughout the years with Wally Byam. Remnants of the 1947 WBCCI decal may still be seen on the door window! When asked if he had ever traveled with Wally Byam on one of his Airstream caravans, Dr. Holman replied, “Hell no, he drove too slow.” In 1935, no trailers or RVs had running water, except for that which was poured out of a bucket. The Airstream 1935 Torpedo had a water tank that could be partially filled with water and then pressurized by air from the local gas station or a hand pump mounted in the trailer. Unfortunately, air pressure may have leaked to zero by the next morning, and thousands of strokes would have been required via a hand pump in the trailer to re-pressurize the system. Dr. Holman decided that “water on demand” – especially if he was in the wilderness and poured a bucket of water into the trailer tank from a springhead – was desirable. He devised a system with a 12-volt marine bilge pump and a pressure-operated cutoff switch.
running lamps and amber lenses are turning signals and stop lights. One pair of lenses has been replaced with dual red rather than the original red-amber combination to meet modern standards. The pump to pressurize the water system was a 1924 Cadillac gasoline tank pressure pump mounted under the galley. (Electrical fuel pumps were unknown in 1924. Manual pressurization of the fuel tank was necessary from The trailer is 17’ overall the dashboard following a fillwith a 14’ body. It sleeps up at the local gas station.)
four adults with one
The trailer has been in double bed in the rear the Holman family for 80 and two single bunks years and has traveled over 400,000 miles. Dr. Holman “disappeared” with his family for at least one month every summer. The trailer has visited each of the 48 states of the continental USA, seven provinces of Canada, and Mexico. It has been in California five times and to the East Coast extremes of Cape Breton and Prince Edward Island in New Brunswick, Canada, and crossed the Bay of Fundy on the famous “Bluenose Ferry” from Bar Harbor, Maine, to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. (The “famous” Bluenose, isn’t a ferry, it is an undefeated, wooden sailing ship.) Dr. Holman and his wife were in Mexico City, Mexico in 1939 when he purchased a newspaper and read that Hitler had invaded Poland. The trailer has been used on hundreds of weekend hunting and fishing trips. The exact undocumented mileage is unknown, as Thelma Holman logged only major trips.
After our assessment of the trailer and all the photos had been taken we packed up our gear and headed back to our shop to get started on the official appraisal. A few days later the appraisals were finished and shipped out and we assumed our work was done. Several weeks later we received a call back from the owner who asked if our company would handle the sale of the 1935 Airstream. We were extremely honored to be given the chance to list such a great trailer through our consignment/auction program at our business. A date was scheduled and we grew anxious as time grew close. Eventually the date was upon us and we once again Continued to page 36
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How Airstream’s Wally Byam Popularized Caravanning By Rich Luhr Publisher & Editor of Airstream Life magazine
The history of Airstream can be traced back to several seminal events, like founder Wally Byam’s first sets of travel trailer plans sold through magazine ads starting in 1931. Another was the introduction of the first aluminum-bodied Airstream trailers in 1936, based on a prior design by Hawley Bowlus. But while many companies built streamlined aluminum travel trailers in the decades to follow (and all of them owed a debt to Hawley Bowlus for the original idea) only Airstream has survived to the present day. In a large part this is because Wally Byam went the extra mile—literally—by demonstrating his product in massive publicity-rich caravans all over the world. This cemented “Airstream” as being synonymous with “adventure.” Wally sought out the most difficult roads and the most inspiring locations, and documented it all with the help of worldclass photographers and major magazines like National G e o graphic.
It all started with Wally’s tour of post-war Europe in 1948. Already well-aware of the value of publicity after 12 years of on-and-off production, Wally partnered with his friend, investor, and fellow trailer enthusiast Cornelius Vanderbilt, Jr., scion of the Vanderbilt family. Short of traveling with a famous movie star, this was probably the best choice Wally could make for his epic trip. The trailer was a customized Airstream Liner, 22 feet long, towed by a hard cab 1947 CJ-2A civilian jeep that pumped out a mere 60 horsepower. With its low gearing it was functional but agonizingly slow pulling the 22-foot Airstream. Still, there wasn’t much point in going fast. Post-war Europe was still in reconstruction, economically depressed and with many major cities still partially ruined. Among the worst were the bombed-out sections of Germany, which was still a war zone under the control of U.S. military forces. Roaming that country under a U.S. Army travel permit, they drove around bomb craters, chafed while people with immovable faces stared at them, and bought rationed Continued on page 16
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A Link to the Past in our 1956 Bubble
By Aedan Haworth
It’s a familiar refrain that goes something like this: “We really weren’t looking for another trailer; it just found us.” Kind of like those fabulous shoes when you have neither the money nor the occasion, or meeting the perfect mate when you’ve just sworn off dating... February 2011: A phone call out of the blue from an artist acquaintance who knew we liked old wagons. He happened to have a 57 Chevy he was looking to sell. Interest was piqued, but only mildly. “And by the way, I also have a 56 Airstream that might go well with it.” Now he had our full attention. After determining the model to be the 16’ Bubble, with original layout intact, we were on our way. It was a 5 mile trip. Turns out, this was the elusive “Bambi” (to the uninitiated, all silver trailers are Airstreams and all Airstreams are Bambi’s) we’d been hearing rumors about for years; it had been well hidden in a yard less than 10 minutes away. We passed on the car and offered to buy the trailer, but first, the two previous owners had to agree that we were worthy of it. Mind you, we’re talking two separate families, going back about 30 years. A tense few days of waiting followed, while the artist convinced them that we were the right people to restore it to its former glory. Once home, we took stock of what was now ours. It had looked pretty decent during our initial visit, but upon closer inspection, the inside was well worn and really dirty- the kind of dirt that has had a 55 year head start at staking a permanent claim on the territory by working its way into every crevice and seam. I tried scrubbing the dingy Zolatone paint and every other washable surface- several times, with no noticeable improvement. I attempted to strip the cabinets in place...which was not a good idea. Michael lowered the boom as we sat inside our grimy little prize: to do it right, we would have to remove everything, fix the floor, windows, sand and refinish the cabinets.....re-do the wiring, plumbing, zolatone....my eyes glazed over at this point, but we started planning for the job ahead. Maybe it’s just a fundamental difference between the sexes, or possibly it’s what makes us work so well together as a
team- but as Michael methodically approached the order of work ahead, with power tools in hand, I started looking for fabric. What may have seemed frivolous or premature to him, was to my mind, necessary in order to decide on Marmoleum, Formica and paint colors.
I was hoping we might find something left behind by the men who built our Bubble. I had spent a great deal of time as a young child, staring at a variety of abstract trees in the bark cloth pattern that covered our couch and living room windows. After a while, they began to remind me of my relatives and I recall assigning each tree to an aunt or uncle. With that in mind, I went on eBay in search of something reminiscent. I found the very same fabric the first time I looked! Little more than a pile of scraps from a dismantled slip cover, it provided the scheme for everything that would follow.
As we removed the inner aluminum skins to rewire, I was hoping we might find something left behind by the men who built our Bubble. A message, an old pencil- any souvenir to link the past to the present. Replacing the screen in the door within a door feature, common Continued to page 34
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gasoline with Army coupons. The three month trip was an eye-opener then, and still contains lessons for today’s vintage trailer enthusiasts, who in many cases face the same challenges as in 1948: limited storage space, carrying capacity, and electrical power. Airstreams of the day were, like all travel trailers back then, extremely light. The
The Original The Original
22-foot Liner had interior furniture but not much in the way of appliances. There was no 12volt power system (no battery), only a bucket with a lid for a toilet, no holding tanks, nor hot water. Lighting was theoretically possible from gas lamps or 120 volt AC power, but of course European electricity wasn’t compatible so Wally and Neil made do with the gas lamps. Fresh water was either supplied by garden hose or in 5-gallon Jerry cans. With two tall men spending three months in a 22-foot trailer, space was at a premium. Wally’s general-purpose answer was to ensure that everything they carried could serve three different purposes, and otherwise do without frills.
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His definition of “frills” included sheets and bedding (sleeping bags would do), flushing toilets, and electricity. Today the very thought of not being able to power a satchel full of rechargeable devices and connect to the Internet at least hourly terrifies many campers, but in 1948 life was in many ways simpler. Wally checked in with the office via telegram or postal mail, so his connectivity tools amounted to paper and pencil, and for the most part when he left the USA nobody expected to hear much until his return. This wasn’t Wally’s first major expedition, not was it his last. He would continue to visit Europe, Asia, and Central America numerous times over the years, each time expanding public awareness of Airstream through massive public relations efforts. He and Cornelius Vanderbilt Jr. continued to travel together occasionally, including such publicity stunts as camping outside the Ambassador Hotel in Chicago during the Republican and Democratic National Conventions in the 1950s.
In 1951 Wally led a large caravan to Central America which nearly killed him. Sixty-three trailers (not just Airstreams) ventured south of the border. Breakdowns, horrible roads, and extremely difficult conditions caused many of the caravanners to bail out.
Retro Murals
by “Heffron’s A Moment In Time Retro Design”
Eventually, 22 trailers made it to the end point at Managua, Nicaragua, and 14 made the return trip to the United States three months from the day they originally embarked in El Paso. Other trailers were sold, returned by railcar, or were stripped for parts and abandoned.
Wally himself lost 27 pounds and picked up a lot of gray hairs. Despite the ordeal, nostalgia about the “exciting” trip set in and nine months later—quite a bit wiser about caravanning— Wally took off again on a West Coast Mexico Caravan. And he did it several more times, finally achieving what is probably still the largest trailer caravan ever, 500 trailers in a procession five miles long through Mexico, in 1955.
If you are looking for a great way to brighten up a home and creating something unique out of previously dull walls, than we suggest our Retro Murals. At A Moment in Time Retro Design we offer a variety of different artwork for you to choose from including automotive, vintage campers, and even celebrities such as Elvis Presley. But perhaps the best mural for you to choose is the one you create yourself. That’s because we can take your photos and/or artwork and transform them into a Mural that you can put on any wall. Our Murals come in three unique choices. The first choice is Vinyl Murals. These murals are the most affordable and common. They are great for your home, business, and can even be used outdoors. The next is the SmartStick Mural. These are great because no paste is required. You simply apply the mural and then easily peel off and stick it somewhere else. Renter, Promotions, Dorms or Children’s rooms are perfect for these murals. Finally you have the Canvas Murals which are of a textured artist-quality finish. These murals really help bring out the color of your design and should only be used indoors. To check out our huge selection of murals or to have one custom made, than head to our website today at www.Heffrons.com or call
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Wally eventually led over a dozen other incredible caravans, mostly in the 1950s, crossing Europe, Asia, North America, Central America, and Africa. Later caravans became Airstream-only affairs, but owners of other brands of trailers began to explore as well, creating a rich heritage that continue to this day. Continued on page 19
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HOW TO MEASURE FOR A
REPLACEMENT MATTRESS FOR RV BEDDING Typically, travel trailer mattresses leave a lot to be desired. In the case of Vintage Travel Trailers, the mattress is often replaced due to being old and gross! If Lady Luck is on your side, you may be one of the fortunate few who can replace an RV mattress with a “standard” size home mattress. If that’s you, Congratulations! You should head out and buy a few lottery tickets! If you are faced with replacing a mattress, or if you have replaced the mattress, but are now struggling to find sheets, mattress covers and blankets that fit, or simply want to know how to measure, you’ve just struck gold! AB Lifestyles is a company in South Carolina that has custom sized mattresses AND can cut and sew any size bedding
needed (at very reasonable prices) for unique size mattresses found in Travel Trailers and RVs. In addition, they stock bedding products for many of the “common” RV mattress sizes for quick delivery. Alicia Dixon, Director of Sales and Marketing for AB Lifestyles shared a few tips on how to measure accurately for custom bedding products whether you are fitting a rectangular space, or something more challenging like a cut corner or a radius corner as found in many Airstreams. Dixon says, “The first step is to remove all the bedding from the mattress. If you have a mattress topper, like a memory foam pad that your sheets will cover, you can leave that on the bed and include that in the measurement of how thick the
Sheets•Mattresses•Blankets•And More!
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By many estimates, the caravanning adventures under Wally’s leadership peaked with the famous Cape Town to Cairo caravans, one in either direction, from 1959 to 1960. The ordeal of those trips across parts of Africa that lacked even roads is well documented in back issues of Airstream Life magazine (Summer 2006) as well as National Geographic magazine, a documentary movie, and at least two books. The story is as fascinating for the struggles of the participants as it is for the exotic places they visited. By the time Wally died in 1962 he had managed to complete that foundation he began in 1948 with Cornelius Vanderbilt. Airstreams had traveled the world, literally, and the world knew it. This became the most potent thing he could have done for his company. Even though the type of caravanning done in the 1950s can hardly be re-created today, the stories and photography that documented it became a legacy which continues to inspire Airstream sales in the 21st century.
airstreamlife.com
mattress. Again, if you have a pad on top, include that in the total thickness.” For ease, AB Lifestyles shares their diagram that labels each side of the bed, so that communication between customer and the production floor is consistent. “On the phone, our Product Specialists always ask that our customers give us measurements from the end of the bed, looking towards where they put the pillows. This is critical because in some cases, there is a left and right!” mattress is.” She continues, “It can be helpful to have 2 people measuring, and you will want a sturdy tape measure. You are obtaining 3 main measurements. First is the width of the bed. If the head of the bed is wider or narrower than the foot, these will be different. Second is the length of the bed.” Dixon recommends measuring the width and length at several points since it can sometimes be difficult to tell in close confines of a camper that a mattress is not a true rectangle! The final important measurement is the thickness of the
When there is a cut corner or radius curve, the diagram makes it easy to indicate: “The corner is between C and D,” for example. When measuring for a corner radius, there is just one extra step. If you have a carpenters square, place the carpenters square into your mattress corner. The point where your mattress touches the carpenter’s framing square should be the same on both sides and that measurement is your radius corner.
If a carpenter’s framing square is not available, place a sheet of paper or square cardboard on top of the mattress and mark the points where the mattress starts to arc away. Measure from the corner of the cardboard to the mark and that is your radius measurement. Again, that measurement should be the same from both marks. And that’s it! Using accurate measurements, you will be ready to order great bedding that really fits your travel trailer’s mattress. Ahhhh… Sweet Dreams!
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BARN FIND Dean and Regina Atkins’ 1957 Airstream Custom is one of the elusive barn finds coveted by trailer hobbyists. Searching on Craigslist for a trailer late on a Sunday evening, Regina came across the Airstream for sale. Texting the seller he told her he had someone coming at 10am and she could come look after that. Regina kindly replied that she would be happy to show up and see the trailer at 9am! For 40 years, this trailer sat unused and stored in a barn in Missouri, until 2013, when it was brought to California and Dean and Regina purchased it as the second owners. With only the curtains and vinyl flooring requiring replacement, the interior of the trailer is otherwise unrestored and in its original condition. Proof that barn living is good for trailers! This Airstream is a one-of-a-kind 1957 Custom Model, purchased by the original owners form the Airstream Factory in Norwalk, CA, and used to snowbird in Florida during the late 50’s and 60’s. With classic mid-century modern lines, custom-made furniture, atomic light fixtures and hardware, the trailer is a true time-capsule. At 59 years old, the trailer now enjoys regular camping trips around the West.
The Atkins’ Airstream with it’s original awning was a crowd favorite at Modernism Week in Palm Springs, CA this year. Regina shared that the original owner was meticulous with upkeep and maintenance. Every piece of paper work, receipt, note and maintenance record was kept with the trailer. As the Atkins were going through the Airstream, they couldn’t help but compare how the original owner and Dean both maintain their vehicles to the highest standard.
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Interior is gutted
Interior of dome is stripped
Interior is ALL stripped
Stripping the paint
We stripped the domes and liked it so much that we decided to strip the paint off of the entire interior.
As much attention to detail was paid to the exterior of this beauty
Continued from page 3 To be as efficient as possible it is very important to keep the plastic spatulas sharp; it saves a huge amount of time. This is easy to do with an angle grinder to touch up the edge and a utility knife to remove any burrs left behind by the angle grinder disk. We used the green scouring pads around the rivets, window frames, and shelves to clean up paint in the tiny crevices. For a while we tried a brand name scratch pad, but they scuffed the aluminum too much, so back to generic ones from the dollar store. We stripped the domes and liked it so much that we decided to strip the paint off of the entire interior. Like I said, we were all in. Six gallons of stripper later, numerous spatula sharpenings, several dozen scuff pads, and too many evenings to count, the paint was all off. There were residual streaks of paint stripper which were easily re-moved with mineral spirits and Viva paper towels (with a light touch they will not scratch the aluminum). Next step, polishing. My wife had been a huge help with the paint stripping; she worked on all of the low areas and I the high ones. But when it came to polishing, I was on my own. I began by using a Makita 7” angle polisher, 7.5” wool polishing pads and Nu-
vite NuShine II F7 polish. This worked polisher, 4” flat wool pads and the same well to get the oxidation off and clean up NuShine II C polish. This combination of the aluminum. There were a few areas materials left very tiny random scratchwhere I wished I had the very coarse F9 es that muted the shine just enough to polish, but with a little pameet our desires. It was tience all of the oxidation also very easy to do, which was removed. I found that was a nice change from all it was necessary to wear a of the effort necessary to face mask when the polget to this point. ishing pads were new, because they would tend to Micro-fiber towels were throw little pieces of wool used for coarse cleanup into the air that just hung of the residual polish and there. This subsided once then Cyclo Cotton Terry the pads had been used Pad Covers over yellow and cleaned a few times. foam pads were used for I also found that the polish the final polish removal. would not remove even This worked great for fiThe polishing process. a small spot of Zolatone, nal cleanup of the surface so whenever one was enand in the end gave us countered, it was necessary to pull out the exact look we wanted; the inside of the paint stripper to remove it. Fortu- the trailer was clean and shiny, but not nately this happened only occasionally. a mirror finish. Detail areas that could not be reached with the power polishers As the polishing progressed it became were addressed with Mothers Billet Metapparent that we did not want a mirror al polish and cotton terry cloth towels. finish like we had seen on some trailer domes. It would look like a house of This effort to strip and polish the inside mirrors at the carnival if we polished the of our trailer was a great deal of work whole trailer that way. We wanted some- but now that the interior is coming tothing closer to a brushed nickel finish. gether we feel that it has really paid off; Through some experimentation this was it transformed the look and feel inside achieved by first using the Makita 7 inch to exactly what we had hoped for. A few polisher and Nuvite NuShine II C (me- more months and we hope to get out on dium) polish. I finished up with a Cyclo the road and take our trailer camping.
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The Airstream Dream By Benjamin A. Stiles, Ed.D.
In my family, camping is just part of who we are. In the late 1970s when Dad realized one could buy used travel trailers (it had never occurred to him he could do this even though used cars had always been around), his dream of affording an Airstream came true. Over the course of 40 years, my family enjoyed three different Airstream travel trailers starting with a 1966 Tradewind (24’), then a 1972 Sovereign (31’), and just before and into retirement, Mom and Dad finally settled into a 1985 Excella (32’). The family spent most of its years traveling together in the ’72, and in all we visited 34 states before I graduated high school. My personal Airstream dream was always to own a small, vintage Airstream. When my wife Lynn gave me the greenlight to purchase a vintage Bambi, if I could find one for $1000 or less, she never thought it would actually happen. 1964 Airstream Bambi II. Several years ago while driving home from a day trip to the beach, I spotted a vintage Airstream Bambi in the front lot of an RV dealership. Instinctively, I turned the car around to take a look at it. It had no for sale signs. It was polished
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and reminded me how much I like vintage Airstreams. I jotted down the name and number of the RV dealership and later emailed the owner to ask about the Bambi. It was indeed not for sale, but he knew of one that was. It needed frame repair and restoration, but the owner was interested in moving it to a new owner who knew the trailers well. The Airstream in question turned out to be a 1964 Bambi II. The Bambi II replaced the 1961-1963 16’ Bambi as a one-year-only model. They are 17’ long, and fully self-contained. This particular example was dirty and indeed had frame rot where the tongue protruded from the body. The interior was musty from being closed up for 20 years. After being purchased by its second owners and taken on a cross-country trip to California and a few short trips that summer, this trailer sat in a South Jersey back yard for more than twenty years. It had not even been registered since 1984. I thought it strange from the original pictures the owner sent me that this particular trailer had only a “Bambi” script
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instead of a “Bambi II” script. I thought perhaps the “II” had broken off, or it was modified. Upon close inspection, I determined that the “Bambi” script was unbroken and this raised the question of why it was used instead of a Bambi II script. The trailer’s serial number might answer that question. The last four digits are 0002, significant in that this particular Bambi II was literally the second of its model type off the Jackson Centre, Ohio Airstream plant line in very late 1963 or very early 1964! It is as close to an actual 1963 Bambi as one can get without actually owning one. This piece of intriguing information in mind, I sealed the deal with the owner and, for exactly $1000, the trailer was ours. The original owner’s manual, bill of sale, and the title came in the mail shortly, but I would have to wait a few weeks to work out the logistics before retrieving the actual trailer. Getting it home proved an adventure in itself requiring the rental of a deck-over equipment trailer (Airstream wheel tracks are too wide for a common car trailer) and borrowing Dad’s one- ton Ford van with electric trailer brakes. While trying to pull
the Bambi out of the previous owner’s lawn, Dad’s van got stuck in the sandy New Jersey mud and a neighbor had to pull the whole rig out with a farm tractor. Harold (the neighbor) also helped us to load the Airstream onto the equipment trailer. We could not have done it without him! The classic Airstream now sits proudly in our driveway. After two years of work gutting the interior, getting the frame exposed and repaired, and installing a new subfloor, wiring, insulation, axle, tires, and exterior lights (and polishing around all of the new marker and tail light fixtures before installing them), the still incomplete Airstream took its first camping trip with us in August of 2014, the very year it turned 50 years old! Lynn designed the interior with a predominately orange and aqua color scheme inspired by the classic aqua boomerang Formica we chose for counter tops and the Airstream logo found on the Tervis Tumblers we will use as our drinking vessels within the Airstream. The interior layout was also rearranged to accommodate two more little campers, our daughters Emma and Cora. Where the rear clothing closet and part of the original kitchen were once installed now there are full-sized bunk beds. The refrigerator and original bathroom fixtures remain in their original positions while the streetside gaucho was removed from the plan to accept the rest of the split kitchen. Complete polishing of the trailer will continue over time as we use and enjoy it. The little Airstream has proven itself to be a cozy trailer for a family of four, and it is a little closer to completion each time we take it camping. Someday it will be “finished…” More information and photos of our Bambi II and other beloved vintage camping vehicles can be found at: http://bensbus.weebly.com/greenbrier-bens-bus.html Come join us at our annual Kampers near Knoebels campout in Bloomsburg, PA over Labor Day weekend! More information on the campout can be found at: http://kampersnearknoebels.weebly.com/ or search for and like us on Facebook. We’d love to meet you around the campfire.
“Adventure is the formula for everlasting youth.” “An Airstream is like a passport to new experiences and new discoveries,” he says, “which quite often leads to a state of personal expansion.”
T
alking to filmmaker Eric Bricker about Alumination, his upcoming feature documentary about all things Airstream, it’s clear he understands what it means to Live Riveted.
He’s been working on his film for over two and a half years, traveling around the country, seeing the Airstream world through the lens of his camera, taking in new places and forming new friendships. The idea first came from friend and producing partner Lisa Hughes, and Bricker was immediately drawn to the idea. Once they dove into the world of Airstream, there was no looking back. Bricker and Hughes’ best-known work to date is Visual Acoustics, a wellreceived and highly awarded 2008 documentary that celebrates the life and work of architectural photographer Julius Shulman. So what’s the connection between the two films? Bricker calls Airstream founder Wally Byam “the Frank Lloyd Wright of travel trailers,” explaining how both men wanted to design every aspect of the living experience. They were both characterized by their obsession with creating the best possible tools for living. Bricker quotes Wally Byam, saying things like “it’s better to wear out than rust out.” He adds that “Airstream is a way to embrace your instinct to travel, to explore, to roam.” Living this way himself over the course of shooting, he began to connect with Airstreamers, even forming friendships he says will last a lifetime. “Once I felt the same things they were feeling, I knew I could tell a story that’s accurate and authentic. With so many incredible stories happening in and around the world of Airstream, it’s been difficult to accept I can’t capture them all.” Alumination, a Lisa Hughes/Out Of The Box Production, is scheduled for completion in December 2016. For more information, visit their Facebook page. The official website, aluminationmovie.com, will be updated in late spring to launch a Kickstarter campaign with exciting rewards and opportunities available for supporters.
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All Airstreams Look the Same by Steve Hingtgen President of Vintage Trailer Supply, Inc. Photo provided by Trailer Life Magazine
All Airstreams look the same. They’re aircraft fuselages on wheels. Obviously aerodynamic, their smooth paintless exterior is ubiquitous. When polished, they’re riveted mirrors. Except for the war years, they’ve been rolling off their California or Ohio assembly lines every year since the 1930s. There are tens of thousands of old Airstreams on the road and their very success has made them common. Clearly, their unique style is refreshing and romantic to casual admirers. For a public exhausted by bad design and rapid depreciation, they are an icon of American industrialism at its peak. But to some vintage trailer students and critics, the undeniable prevalence of vintage Airstreams at rallies or in the media can lead to whispers of “boring.” I founded Vintage Trailer Supply 16 years ago because I had purchased an old trailer that incidentally was a 1967 Airstream Caravel. I didn’t know anything about old trailers or how they were constructed. I just wanted a notugly trailer that would get me and my dogs out of my tent and off the hard, lumpy ground. I didn’t know I was buying into a cult. My company is the afterthought. It was a solution to a problem that all those early vintage adopters experienced: no parts. In the years since buying my old trailer, our vintage trailer lifestyle has blossomed. Dozens—more than 100— brands of trailers are now legitimately collectible. In fact, I’d guess that most readers of Vintage Camper Trailers Magazine have no intention of ever owning an Airstream. There are just too many other cool trailers out there, and Airstreams are just too, ahem, common.
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The fastest way to quickly place a vintage Airstream in an era is to count the end cap segments. Of course Airstream owners wouldn’t agree at all. They’re gaga for their shiny trailers. They see the obvious differences between them as parents of identical twins do. Like the owners of other trailer brands, they have been known to argue among themselves ad nauseam about the pros and cons of one model year relative to another. Knowing a little about those subtle differences in the shape and structure of Airstreams through the years may give other vintage trailer owners some appreciation for the historic brand. The guide below is a broad introduction to the difference in the appearances of various Airstreams through the vintage era. I have not attempted to describe subtle or hidden differences. And I have not spent much effort cataloging the hundreds of variations on the insides of the trailers. Think of this guide as only an introduction for an Airstream-curious vintage trailer fan.
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Pre-War 1930-1939
Wally Byam opened his first Airstream factory in Culver City, California around 1930 and continued to run the company until retirement in 1960. His earliest production trailers were nothing like Airstreams of today. They were wood framed with artfully painted masonite skin. They had names like Torpedo and Silver Cloud. Thousands were built, but few survive. A heavily modified Torpedo made regular appearances at vintage Airstream rallies for years, but I’ve never seen another of these wood framed Airstreams outside of photographs. While the masonite Airstreams continue right up until the war, in 1936 we see the first aircraft style Airstreams appear. Heavily influenced by Hawley Bowlus who invented the first production riveted trailers a year or two earlier, Wally launched his Clipper in 1936. With their subtle curves, striking cateye front windows and low fender skirts, the Clipper is so distinctive—so over the top awesome—that you could pick it out of a field of 100 Airstreams without trouble. These late 1930s Airstreams are incredibly scarce. Let me know if you have one taking up too much room in your barn.
Windows all around the Airstreams in this period are a hodge podge of manufacturers and styles. Mostly operable, they allow better ventilation, but by modern standards are still small. By 1952 the old Liner pipe frames and acrylic are entirely gone from the Airstream line. Wally has arrived at the general structure that will carry his company through to today.
During this era, all Airstreams have 13 pie-slice strips of aluminum forming the front top domed end cap of the trailer. While the back ends of Ohio-built trailers have the same 13-segment end caps, California Airstreams feature a unique “whale tail” rear dome. Today, the sight of a whale tail makes some people smile and others grimace. Perhaps it is a question of California pride.
Post-War 1946-1950
World War II paused the travel trailer industry. Mass production of recreational vehicles began again in 1946, but no Airstreams were built that year. Most likely out of economic necessity, Wally had taken a job building trailers for Curtis Wright Industries in Los Angeles. After just one year, Wally left the company and revived his Airstream brand, but this time with ramped up production and marketing the goal. (Wally’s legacy at the Curtis Wright company lasted long after 1946. It’s a great story in the history of aircraft style trailers, but we’ll save it for another day.) The first post-war Airstream model is the 1947 22-foot Liner. It and all the 1940s Airstreams are uniquely distinguishable from other aircraft style trailers by a single oval window in the front and another in the rear. They have wide front doors and are lower (6’ 3”) and narrower (6’ 8”) than later Airstreams. Structurally, they’re similar to all other riveted Airstreams, but they are built on a center pipe frame chassis rather than a more modern box channel ladder frame. These late 1940s Airstreams are more prevalent than pre-war trailers and they occasionally show up at rallies and shows.
The Early 1950s
By 1950, the front and rear fixed oval windows of the post-war Airstreams is being phased out. Those acrylic windows might have looked cool, but they were a failure. They leaked, were easily scratched and cracked, and didn’t allow air into the trailer. Slightly wider (7 feet) and taller (6’ 5”) trailers with blunt ends allowed for standard openable trailer windows to be installed.
1956 Airstream Safari , Bruce Radford
1954 Wally Byam Holiday Shannon, Ellen and Emily Stewart Santa Ynez, CA
1952-1955 Wally Byam’s Holiday That’s not to say he doesn’t experiment. In 1952 Airstream opens its Jackson Center, Ohio factory to compliment its southern California plant. In addition to Airstreams, the new factory experiments with a riveted canned ham trailer called Wally Byam’s Holiday.
The Holiday is the result of Wally’s fascination with the European travel trailer industry and the need for very lightweight trailers (under 1500 pounds fully furnished) to be pulled by sedans. The Holiday doesn’t use the Airstream brand and for some reason it doesn’t fare well. Perhaps 100 or so were made and very few survive.
The wide rear center panel is a California”whale tail” A few other minor exterior changes are phased in through the mid-50s. Hehr brand “Standard” windows become prevalent. Jalousie windows are used
The Mid 1950s
The standard Airstreams from 1952 to 1957 are all fairly similar to one another. Models range in length from 15 to 30 feet, and the company moves toward standardization. They still have a long way to go to resemble the auto industry, but consistency of components increases within model years.
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sporadically. And starting in 1954 the blunt bread loaf shape of the trailer gives way to a more sloped tail end, adding--at least the appearance of-an aerodynamic enhancement. This sloped tail is a subtle delight when you start to compare the model years.
1958-1963
As labor prices rise and the industry grows, Airstream continues to innovate. The 1958 model year brings two very noticeable changes. The most obvious is the end caps. The early 1950s end caps required 13 strips of aluminum to be painstakingly riveted together to form the domes. In 1958, endcaps are now made of just 7 stretch formed pieces of aluminum. By stretching the aluminum and eliminating a few seams, the trailers are faster to assemble. Of course fewer seams means fewer leaks, but labor cost was the most important part of the equation. This is evidenced by elimination of the corresponding interior 13-panel aluminum endcaps in favor of formed fiberglass inside endcaps starting in 1957. These fiberglass domed wall pieces mark one of first uses of materials other than wood and metal for major interior components. The other big change on the outside is the rapid phase out of the old Hehr Standard window with its sheet metal frames and tell tale rounded corners. The new Hehr Clear-View window is true to its name, creating a clear field of view by eliminating the center channel obstructions. The Clear-View’s sleek extruded frame and crisp right-angle corners clearly distinguish these trailers from the earlier models. Although not as obvious as changes to the shell, a peek under the trailer in
1961 reveals the first use of a torsion axle at Airstream. Leaf spring axles are history.
1964-1965
By 1964, Wally Byam has passed away but the company is continuing to innovate. If Wally found that 7-segment endcaps were better than 13-segment endcaps, then 5-piece endcaps were even better! Starting in 1964, wider dome segments were stretched even more, eliminating even more seams. These stretch formed 5-piece endcaps became the standard that has persisted with Airstreams in one form or another until today. One noticeable difference between 1964 and 1965 is the front door. Airstreams have always had screen doors. Up until 1964, the main door was a rectangular donut with the screen stretched across the hole in the middle. A smaller exterior “door within a door” closed on top of the screen to cover up the hole in the middle of the donut. Starting in 1965, the door gets simplified with a conventional solid outer door and a conventional full size screen door behind it.
1968 28 Overlander Emily Casebeer Snowmass Village, CO To further its ambitious goal of streamlining the trailer with curved glass, Airstream removes all rain gutters and caps over the windows. The sidewall of the trailer has reached the apex of Airstream sleek, but the beautiful new windows leak.
1969-1979
1966 Safari Todd and Katie Robinson Columbus, OH
1966-1968
While the body doesn’t change significantly from 1964 to 1967, the windows do. These late 1960s Airstreams are made particularly sleek with the short-lived adoption of the Philips-Corning frameless awning windows. This was the first use of curved glass in trailer windows. The awning style windows feature glass curved to match the contour of the trailer wall. The glass
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is frameless, suspended only by a hinge at the top. It closes flush with the shiny exterior skin and tips open on its hinge, floating (dangerously) in the air. These windows are an object of beauty and a source of pride of any Airstream owner from this era.
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The 1969 model year brings the introduction of the “patented Air-Flow contoured shape.” This is Airstream’s most dramatic change to its iconic profile since the early 1950s. If the earlier profile resembled a Twinkie with walls that were straight or sloped out at the back, the new Air-Flow shape resembles a sausage with the ends tucked back under. Trailers become bigger and filled and welcome in natural light. They’re 7’ 6” wide with 6’ 7” ceilings. They seem to have more shoulder room inside. Window glass is still curved, but they have frames again and now have radiused corners on the glass. Front windows are wider with wing windows. There are even short extra windows stacked above and below the side windows, adding even more light to the trailers. What caused the big changes? New ownership. The behemoth Beatrice Foods conglomerate had purchased
1980 and Beyond
the company in 1967 and would own it throughout the 1970s. Despite the economy’s rollercoaster, the Beatrice Foods era is a good one for Airstream and it sets the design standard that continues long after it sold the company to Thor (Airstream’s current parent company) in 1980. From a collector’s perspective, the only major quality concern with the 1970s Airstreams are the interiors. Since its inception, Airstream had used real wood cabinets and bulkheads. Sadly, starting in 1971, Airstream adopted “exclusive, new Perma-Tech furniture construction.” Despite the fancy name, the new cabinets were just plastic laminated. They may have seemed very modern at the time, but that doesn’t mean they were better. The move to the utilization of more plastics that started in 1957 had now reached a point of making the trailer interiors less attractive (by today’s standards) and less durable.
In 1980, a brand new Thor Industries acquires Airstream from Beatrice Foods. Thor continues to build Airstreams today. Although it was many years before Thor changed the overall look of the trailers, they did quickly make a few subtle changes that signal the beginning of the end of the classic era of Airstreams. 1977 Airstream Argosy Billy Gregory Winston Salem, NC
1972-1980 Argosy Anomaly
Beatrice launched two other ambitious initiatives in their short decade or so of company ownership. Both took place under a new brand: Argosy. First, from 19721980 they offered a painted version of the Airstream trailer. Argosy trailers are quite similar to the silver Airstreams of the time. If anything, they had some prototype features that were ahead of the mainline Airstreams. Lacking the eye-catching shiny skin, for many years Argosys were not particularly collectible. Now though, with the price of vintage Airstreams rising, collectors are giving Argosy’s a second look. If it weren’t for the steel endcaps hiding under the cream colored paint, we’d see quite a few Argosy’s stripped to match their silver siblings.
Spencer Williams Salt Lake City, UT 1977 Field & Stream
The second Argosy innovation was the 1974 introduction of a motorhome. With the same rounded shape as the trailers, Argosy motorhomes continue to be some of the most collectible motorhomes ever made. In 1980, the painted Argosy motorhome was replaced by unpainted motorhomes branded as Airstreams.
One of those changes was to the skin. Throughout its long history, all Airstreams had been built with sheets of the highest grade 2023-T4 Alclad aircraft aluminum in .032” thickness. With the 1981 model year, Airstream switched to a softer and thicker .040” 3004 alloy. The trailers are still polishable, but this and other changes make the trailers heavier than ever. Thor’s other immediate change was switching floor material from plywood to oriented strand board (OSB). Floors in Airstreams are structural, and the OSB was clearly inferior. It was less rigid, heavier, and far less water resistant. Floor replacements are often required. No other trailer company has as long a production history as Airstream. While many of us are fans of trailers from the 1970s and earlier, we must remember that the vintage era represents less than half of Airstream’s successful history. The iconic style and continuous innovation have kept the brand fresh and relevant for more than 85 years. If you have comments about this article, please send them to Steve Hingtgen at steve@vintagerv.com
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Trailer Life Magazine Turns 75
Trailer Life launched in July 1941 as the monthly Western Trailer Life, circulated primarily in Southern California. The 18-page debut issue sold for 10 cents and promoted the newly flourishing trailer-camping lifestyle. Five months later, bombs fell on Pearl Harbor, and the fledgling magazine extolled the virtues of deploying travel trailers as military housing. In the postwar boom of 1949, the magazine dropped Western from its name and became simply Trailer Life, reflecting a circulation that by then stretched from Canada to South America. As the idea of RV ownership caught fire with families across North America in the 1950s and ’60s, Trailer Life grew in size and circulation. Now part of the Camping World/Good Sam brand, Trailer Life is North America’s most popular magazine for RV owners, distributed monthly to newsstands and paid subscribers and delivered four times a year to Good Sam Club members. The magazine’s parent company owns both the Good Sam Club (the world’s largest organization of RV owners) and Camping World (America’s largest retailer of RVs, RV accessories and RV-related services), and publishes the monthly MotorHome magazine and the annual RV Buyers Guide and Good Sam RV Travel & Savings Guide (the only comprehensive North American RV park directory in print).
Over the decades, Trailer Life has chronicled the evolution of recreational vehicles from the modest tin-can campers of the 1940s to the next millennium’s fifth-wheel trailers with multiple slide-out rooms, fold-out patio decks and garages for motorized toys. The magazine continues to embrace its roots, with each issue showcasing the latest RVs and RV gear. In recent years, the editorial staff has taken the magazine’s content to the next level with vehicle tests, product evaluations, do-it-yourself projects, how-to tips and RV travel destinations, published in both print and digital editions and accompanied by the TrailerLife.com website and the annual Guide to Towing supplement. The Trailer Life of 2016 differs from its 1941 debut in many ways, but the magazine’s enthusiasm for RVs and RVing is unchanged. Throughout 2016, Trailer Life will turn back its pages, reflecting on RV trends that shaped the decades, while at the same time presenting what’s new in the ever-changing realm of RV ownership.
Trailer Life, North America’s bestselling magazine for RV enthusiasts, marks its 75th anniversary in 2016 with a yearlong celebration highlighting the publication’s history in each issue and featuring a special commemorative edition in July. 28
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1943
Trailer Life Magazine Turns 75
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PROJECT MIDGE We stumbled upon our 1967 Airstream Globetrotter in Craig, CO. It had been sitting, sadly, behind a diesel shop in an industrial area. We brought her down to Englewood and parked her in our alley driveway so we could work on her. We decided “it” was a “she”, and her name is Midge. She was in original condition, which wasn’t too bad…..until we started poking around. Our intention was to keep her as original as possible. As is typical with these old trailers, she had hidden water damage from years of neglect. We found out in a rather scary/funny way that the electrical system was shot: while enjoying cocktails in her with some dear friends (during a rain shower), their adult son came up to the trailer, stood in a puddle (barefoot), and leaned against the side of the trailer and got quite a jolt! The entire skin was electrified. He was fine, although a bit rattled (and we all laughed inappropriately hard). We discovered the original fridge was somehow shorting out and making the skin hot.
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Thankfully, I am married to a fantastic do-it-yourselfer, and we did all the rehab ourselves. We had to gut poor Midge and pull out all the interior skins so we could re-wire and re-plumb everything. The floor was in good condition, with only a few small soft spots. We patched those areas, and installed vintage style VCT tiles. The only parts salvageable were the bathroom pieces and the overhead cabinets. We made the walls, closets, kitchen cabinets, shelving, and tables. We stained everything black in order to hide the water damage on the original upper cabinets. In a stroke of pure genius, I figured out that a small IKEA sleeper sectional would fit PERFECTLY in Midge. The sectional easily converts to a queen size bed, and has storage under the chaise. We bought charcoal boomerang laminate for the counter, kitchen backsplash, and shower wall. My talented husband designed an end table that doubles as a dog crate. We camp with 4 dogs….3 doxies and a sweet mutt. One of the doxies tends to be de-
structive, so the crate/end table was a brilliant idea! It blends in, and most people don’t realize it is there. We thoroughly enjoy every minute we spend in her. In the dead of winter, when we can’t go camping, we head out to Midge for music and cocktails. She makes quite the swanky little cocktail lounge, and is party central wherever we take her. We have acquired 2 additional vintage trailers: a 1965 Holiday Rambler - It was in amazing original condition, and our latest acquisition, is a 1957 Silver Streak Clipper. We have gutted it and re-plumbed it. We are now in the process of putting it back together.
I am co-organizer of a new vintage trailer group Friendly Average Campers of Colorado (FAC), We have several rallies planned for summer 2016, and we are exhibiting trailers at The Denver Modernism Show in August. We are semi-retired, I blog part time for Mod Livin’ (a fantastic Denver mid century modern store), we have 2 adult sons (a newly commissioned Marine Corps officer and a college student), and 4 glorious dogs. I have a blog with all the trials and tribulations of our vintage camper addiction: projectmidge.wordpress.com Shawn & George Stewart Englewood, CO
George & Shawn
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Continued from page 15 on earlier Airstreams, required taking off the lower door panel. And there it wasour trailer had been secretly signed, in a place unlikely to be discovered by anyone: “Made by Vinnie, Johnny, Alonzo 6/56”. (Photo bottom right) I was overjoyed, and at that moment, it felt as if the transfer of ownership was complete.
...our trailer had been secretly signed, “Made by Vinnie, Johnny, Alonzo 6/56”.
Some months later, while paging through Bryan Burkhart and David Hunt’s book, “Airstream: The History of the Land Yacht”, I noticed a picture taken in front of the California factory: Wally Byam, surrounded by all his employees, dated 1956. Vinnie, Johnny and Alonzo were likely staring up from that page, and we have since come up with a theory as to which three they are. I marvel at people who can rip right into an old trailer and manage to have it dazzlingly restored in 6 months. Maybe it requires sacrificing sleep or all other projects, but we are not those people. It took us 4 years of working mostly weekends during the winter and early spring months to complete the restoration. The final push was a self imposed deadline to make it to the Woodson Bridge Rally in Corning, CA in 2015. If that failed, we would at least be done by Pismo, 3 weeks later. We made the first dead-
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line, working right up until the night before to finish. As we pulled out of the driveway the next morning, it occurred to me that this would be the test drive for the new hitch, axle, brakes and wheels, as well as all the on board systems. Other than the short tow home 4 years earlier, it was probably the first time the trailer had gone anywhere in over 20 years. We listened, on high alert for the first part of the journey, but relaxed eventually, after nothing had started smoking, squealing or falling off. But the trip wasn’t entirely without drama. When we arrived at the campground, I made our friends wait outside so I could quickly go put the dinette table up and fluff the pillows before showing it for the first time. Apparently, something had slipped in the old Bargman H20 door lock, and no amount of key wiggling, tugging, or cussing was going to get that door to open. An hour or more later, in the rain, thanks to the dogged persistence of Michael and several friends, they managed to release the back window latches, cut the screen and push me through it. All was well.
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Our Bubble maintains the original layout and feel, and nearly all of its ash cabinetry. We rebuilt the damaged bathroom door and walls, extending it 6 inches to accommodate a shower. The stainless steel shower pan/black tank
combo was fabricated from our cardboard template. We located a correct white Princess stove and restored it. We’re not certain whether the rusty propane fridge that came with the trailer was the ice box upgrade offered in 56, or a subsequent retrofit, but we replaced it with a new Dometic and larger exterior vents. We also eliminated the original electric hot water heater, tucking in an Atwood propane model where an access door had been, under the bed. We added two water tanks with an inline pump to total 30 gallons capacity. We replaced the leaf spring axle with a torsion one, and this time, paid to have the trailer professionally polished. Our goal was to create a more comfortable, fully self-contained trailer that reflects our aesthetic sensibility, yet looks as close as possible to what rolled off the assembly line in June 1956. We are satisfied with the results and very glad to be done. And for the record, we are not looking to acquire any more trailers. Really. Thanks to The man who made it all possible-my hero, Michael Haworth
1978 Airstream Tradewind in Yosemite
R
on Funfar sent us this photo of his vintage Airstream and 1972 Chevy Cheyenne K20 pick-up. Ron is the president of Hedman Performance Group so this truck has been everything from a daily driver, to a parts delivery truck to a “prototype” tester for many products, like headers, created by Hedman. Hedman Hedders, began as a one man shop in 1954. Bob Hedman, founder of Hedman Hedders, sold his highly sought after exhaust tubes to fellow racers on the salt flats of the Mojave Desert. But, what started out as a way to make a few bucks to pay for Bob’s
racing hobby, quickly turned into the premier hedder manufacturer for both the racing and street hedder marketplaces. Ron bought the truck new and used it as a work truck for a decade or so before it was retired to the families use for recreational activities like beach camping in SoCal and water skiing trips to Northern CA. In 1995 Ron’s son took stewardship of the truck and drove it throughout high school, college and military service in the U.S. Marine Corp. The truck has now been restored to better than new condition and is the period correct puller for their vintage 1978 Airstream Tradewind.
Abandoned and derelict trailers as photographed by Bob Moore. Old advertising, mementos, and photos. Profusely illustrated, a must have for anyone who ever looked longingly at one of these steel or aluminum homes on wheels during the 1940s or 1950s. Large format, 128 pages, soft-cover. www.vintagecampertrailers.com
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1935 Torpedo Continued from page 13 were all packed and heading back into Alabama with a flatbed trailer, tools, and enough crew members to get the job done! Once arriving at the location we positioned our tow trailer and were ready to move it out from its garage one last time. I slowly pulled the trailer out of the garage and backed it into position behind our tow trailer. After careful backing, blocking, positioning, and at least one supply run into town, we had it on the flatbed trailer. Then came all the heavy duty strapping to keep it from moving!!! Once on the road, we still had to make
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it down the narrow roads of down town. I felt like I was pulling a house behind me…. not to mention how nervous I was pulling such a rare trailer! Out on the highway, we had to deal with people waving, and getting a little too close while trying to take photos as they were driving. We made it about half way to our shop before dark and pulled over to meet up with fellow TCT’ers to have dinner…..but before we could even get out of our truck people were gathering around the trailer asking questions and taking photos. We eventually made it inside to eat with our TCT friends. To our surprise we started receiving social media alerts telling us about photos of the
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1935 Airstream on our flatbed that were being posted all over the internet…while we sat inside the restaurant!!
Dr. Holman’s 1935 Airstream Torpedo is a remnant of history. It is the oldest existing Airstream trailer. The Airstream Trailer Company officially recognized it as such in 1984. After eating dinner, we headed back on the road but I was still cautious with the trailer and although it made for a long
trip home, I kept it under 50 mph for my own peace of mind. Being dark helped a bit too since other motorist could not see the trailer as well and were not trying to stay close and take photos. We made it back to the shop around 8pm and just backed the entire load into the shop and decided to wait until the morning to unload her in the daylight. The next morning, we were able to ease the trailer off the flatbed. It was much
easier loading! After getting it in the shop all we could do was look at the exterior as we did not have the keys to the trailer. The owner forgot the keys at their out of state residence. The 1935 Airstream Torpedo Trailer ended up being purchased by the Sisemore RV Museum in Amarillo, Texas. Once the purchase was complete we left Panama City, Florida early on a Friday morning making it as far as Shreveport, Louisiana by nightfall. Early Saturday morning we headed to Amarillo, but made a stop outside of
Dallas to see Paige Bridges (famous vintage trailer artists) and present her ‘Tin Can Tourists’ Hall of Fame Award in person. We ended making it to Amarillo late that night for a night time drop off. The staff was nice enough to open the museum for us to walk through, even though it was late at night. I also helped them ID some of their other vintage trailers in storage that are pending restorations. The Sisemore Museum is a great place to visit as they have a variety of unique trailers, many suspended from the roof of the museum!!! Any one driving through Amarillo, Texas should stop by and see the museum as there is no admission fee, free to the public. Tell them “Tim Heintz sent you!”
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Hervé’ 1951 Airstream France
1966 Safari “Ruby” Todd and Katie Robinson Columbus, OH
1977 Argosy Marie Short Griffin, GA 1967 Globetrotter Bill and Mary French Oakland, OR
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From Our friends on Facebook!
USA Rally Calendar We do our best to confirm all even before press but plans do change. Make sure and call to confirm. Many times rallies have an open house on Saturday to view the trailers. Call to confirm the rally is open to the public if not stated. Listing your rally on this calendar is FREE, just let us know in advance. We also offer cheap display ad rates for rallies if you want your event to stand out. Paid ads include a listing on our website and Facebook page events calendar. May 12-15, 2016 Chula Vista, CA 3rd Annual Cindy Ross’ Vintage Trailer Camp 2016. $45.90 per night. Barbara & Cindy. 951-672-2366. Barbarashields@aol. com
May 13-15, 2016 Walla Walla, WA This ROVT event will be hosted by Walla Walla Tin Cans @ the RV Resort 4 Seasons (509-529-6072). Cathy Scott rcscott@charter.net
May 13-16, 2016 Manchester, CA At Manchester Beach Mendocino coast KOA. 44300 Kinny Road, Manchester, CA. 95459. 707-882-2375 or 800-562-4188. www.manchesterbeachkoa.com, Randy and Charmaine Bonfantini.
May 13-15, 2016 Wilder, ID ROVT Camping for a Cause – Idaho ROVT is excited to announce the rally at Rivers Edge RV Park and the park’s “Camping for a Cause” (Make-a-Wish Foundation of Idaho) weekend. Rivers Edge is located on the scenic Snake River at Wilder, IDsusanandjunior15@cableone. net or questions can be sent to Idahorovt@gmail.com
May 13-15, 2016 Bodega Bay, CA First annual vintage trailer rally. Robin Gutierres, KristinaGutierres@sbcglobal.net. 510-537-1537
May 19-22, 2016 Pismo Beach, CA
Pismo Coast resort RV. Open House Saturday 10 am to 2pm. May 19-22 2016 Milford, MI 19th Annual TCT Gathering. The rates for the Spring/Fall TCT Rally are $22 Electric Only and $29 Full Hook up- per night tincantourists@gmail.com 1700 General Motors Rd, Milford, MI, 48390 May 20-22, 2016 Yakima, WA SEE AD BELOW May 27th - 30th, 2016 Canon City, CO. 1st Annual Rally The Starlite Classic Campground, http://www.starliteclassiccampground.com/ 619-467-3876. Sites with
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hookups are full, but dry camping sites may be available.
Cook. thetexashoedown@gmail.com 832 473 - 7389
May 28, 2016 Hempstead, TX 8th Annual Texas Hoedown. 22000 Fairgrounds Rd. The Texas Hoedown Carshow/ Festival is a great family event! 35 RV Camping Spots. If, your camper is Pre-72 you can park Friday, Saturday at a discounted rate, and your admission to show is FREE. Open House: General Admission: $10.00 Suzanne
June 2-5, 2016 Forestport, NY TCT Spring Kickoff. mooredesign02@hotmail.com 10892 Campground Rd. June 2- 5, 2016 Rome, Georgia Who Let the Dogs Out, Scotty camper gathering, hosted by Vintage Road Roamers
club. This event will be held at the Lock and Dam Park, 181 Lock and Dam Road SW, reserve your site: (706) 234-5001 Kiki & Vern. kiki.alexander3@gmail.com Facebook : Vintage Road Roamers Event fee of $15. per trailer-camper. June 2-5, 2016 Lakemont, GA Southern Vintage Trailer Friends River Falls at the Gorge Rally. 32 Resort Drive. www. RiverFallsattheGorge.com Reservation 706-
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FREE BOOKMARK WHEN YOU ORDER FROM US! We have met hundreds of the greatest friends because of the vintage camper trailers hobby. We have discovered that this craziness attracts people from all walks of life. We compiled over 200 pages of pictures and the stories of some of the trailerites that rescue, restore and rally with us. Available at www.vintagecampertrailers.com
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426-3062 (Windy Sky Rentals) SVTF has held the entire “b” loop. There are also Cabins available. $39.00 per night water/electric only (no sewer). All are level and water front!!! Deposit $39.00 and is nonrefundable. June 3 - 4, 2016 Cheyenne, WY Terry Bison Ranch Tin Can Tourists Hosting. The Ranch is a WY. ”Disney Land” Activities for all ages. Go to web site to get full spectrum. More than bison, trains & camels. 307-634-4171 Confused? Call/text/email me @ 434-730-3840, wattmungall@gmail.com June 3-5 2016 London, Ontario Fleetwood Country Cruise In Invitation only - Contact Michael Lambert if you’re interested in showing your trailer artstreamstudio@ gmail.com 9282 Elviage Drive, London, Ontario, N6K 4N5, Canada June 3-5, 2016 Clearlake, CA International Glamping Weekend at Shady Acres Campground, 7805 Cache Creek Way. Lisa at shadyacresclearlake@gmail. com Family friendly weekend...pets allowed too! Electric & water sites off the waterfront. June 3-5, 2016 Elverta, CA Rally at the Ranch. International Glamping Weekend at Gibson Ranch. Family friendly weekend no hookups, just bathrooms, flea markets, pot-luck and a talent show! includes breakfast on Saturday. More details and advance tickets at www.vintagecampertrailers.com (see advertisement below.) June 4, 2016 Meadville, PA Annual Car Show & Vintage RV Rally. Welcome to Our 9th Annual Car Show & 1st Vintage RV Rally in Western PA at Meadville KOA Campground Show from 3:30-5:30! 814-789-3251. Details at https://meadvillekoa.com/car-show-and-vintage-rv-rally/
June 3-5, 2016 Winthrop, WA Winthrop, Wine & Western Women in Old~West Winthrop, Washington - weekend after Memorial Day. A casual Women ONLY gathering. We’ll paint the town. It’s only one block down. Fly casting lessons. Wine & Spirits Tasting, Craft and Antique/Vintage Sale at the Campground. Vintage Trailers, Western Decor & Duds encouraged. Pine Near Campground, pinenearpark@gmail. com, 509-341-4062 June 9 - June 12, 2016 Montross, VA TCT Celebrating Virginia’s State Parks 80th Anniversary Westmoreland State Park, 1650 State Park Rd, The State Department of Virginia has requested the TCT to participate39 Electric/Water sites Tim Heintz at HeintzDesigns@aol.com June 9th - 12th Santo , TX Texas Summer Rally, 14329 S.HWY. 281 Join us for our annual summer Texas rally at Coffee Creek resort .13429 S HWY 281 $31.50 per night, 940-769-4410 www.coffeecreek-rvresort.com We will be having a restoration workshop class. Open House noon-3pm. teresa Baldwin. teresabaldwin1515@gmail.com or 254 - 210 - 1498 June 10-12, 2016 Limestone, TN Southern Vintage Trailer Friends Rally hosted by Marsha Torbett and Kevin Barbato. Join us for a wonderful weekend surrounded by history at the Davy Crockett Birthplace State Park. Casual getaway without many planned events. No open house. RESERVATIONS: Tammy Wood (camp host) at 423257-4500 and refer to SVTF group sites. Once booked, please contact one of the event hosts with your site number or email southernvintagetrailers@gmail.com SITE FEE – $33.19 full sites includes tax and reservation fee (seniors discount – $25.64) June 10-12, 2016 White Bird, ID Idaho ROVT is pleased to invite you to a 2nd Rally at Swiftwater RV Park, along the banks
There’s a signature event held every year for Airstream owners—and those who are considering becoming owners. It’s Alumapalooza, held every year at the Airstream factory the week of Memorial Day. Typically anywhere from 120 to 180 Airstreams show up for what has been described as “a week-long party,” camping on the grass next to the plant where all Airstream trailers are assembled. The schedule is technically five days, but many arrive a few days early and camp without hookups wherever there is space until the official rally field opens up. The event is designed to bring the entire Airstream community together. Airstream staff open the doors to attendees, offering twice-daily factory tours, and discounts in the factory store on spare parts. They offer seminars to educate Airstream owners and conduct feedback sessions to help with new product design. But mostly it’s a social event. The schedule is usually packed with music, games, contests, Happy Hours, and hands-on opportunities to try things like buck riveting, backing up, and even “Human Powered Towing” in teams. The schedule varies each year, but you can get a hint of what’s coming this year by downloading a preview from alumapalooza. com. This year the schedule includes a full day of musical acts, plus a full day of handson workshops, and a fine art showcase, a silent auction for charity, a few cookouts, the “Aluminum Gong Show,” and daily morning yoga, plus many seminars. Alumapalooza is independently produced by R&B Events, in cooperation with Airstream Inc., Airstream Life magazine, and other sponsors. Sign up to attend at alumapalooza.com before registration closes in late May, or if you’ve missed the deadline you can register on site (slightly higher cost).
alumapalooza.com www.vintagecampertrailers.com
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of the Salmon River outside of White Bird, Idaho Camping Reservation made direct with Swiftwater RV Park (208) 839.2700, Rally Registration: Through ROVT ($10 fee Hosts: Anna B. Ousley email: anna@swiftwaterrv.com and Leslie Gregg Alteneder email: blalteneder@hotmail.com June 10-12, 2016 Stevens, PA Vintage Camper and Car Weekend- Camp in a trailer built before 1986 and receive a 50% discount on your camping fees – applies to Friday and Saturday night only. Bring your vintage car for a casual car show, we’ll let the campers vote for the overall favorite. Starlite Camping Resort. 1500 Furnace Hill Road, Stevens, PA 17578, 717-733-9655 June 10-12, 2016 Big Bear Lake, CA Come enjoy the mountains for our third annual vintage trailer run at the Lighthouse Resort on the beautiful north shore of Big Bear Lake. On Saturday morning come mingle for some coffee and donuts followed by an open house in the afternoon. $40/night. Contact: Max Dobis or Lori Dobis @ (909) 866-9464 or email: lighthousemarina35@gmail.com June 10-12, 2016 Clermont, NJ Avalon Campground 917 Route 9 North, Clermont, NJ USA 08210 Join us for our first ever Jersey Shore Wingz Rally weekend! Step back in time and enjoy a welcome lunch, trailer tours, vintage car show, sock hop and BBQ, pancake breakfast and much more!! avaloncmpg@aol.com, 609 - 624 0075 June 11, 2016 Castro Valley, CA 10th Annual Castro Valley Car Show. Classic Cars ‘72 and older, Vintage Trailers and Specialty Cars. Presented by the Castro Valley Moose Lodge 1491, Downtown Castro Valley, on the Boulevard between Redwood Rd and San Miguel Avenue. 300 Classic Cars+Vintage Trailers. wwwcastrovalleycar-
show.com. 2 to 7pm, Ken Carbone castrovalleycarshow@gmail.com, 510 - 881 - 0154 June 10-12, 2016 Quincy, CA Plumas Vintage Trailer Shindig-204 Fairground Rd. You will not find a better backdrop to a vintage camp trailer rally than Plumas County. Towering mountains, cool blue lakes and streams. The Shindig will be at the prettiest fairgrounds in California; the Plumas Sierra County Fairgrounds in Quincy. Saturday night offers a free dinner followed by a classic drive-in movie featuring “Plan 9 From Outer Space”, with cartoons and shorts. Each morning has complimentary coffee and every registration gets a souvenir dash plaque. All this plus two nights of camping for only $80. Saturday free dinner and movie. John Steffanic johnsteffanic@countyofplumas.com , 530 - 283 - 6272 June 10th - 12th, 2016 South Lake Tahoe, CA 8th annual Fallen Leaf Lake vintage trailer camp out. This is a casual camp out - NOT an organized rally. Just a few good friends camping & hanging out around the campfire. Fallen Leaf Lake. Kathy Lebs gardengirl29@gmail.com June 17-19th 2016 Virginia City, NV “Step Back in Time Vintage Trailer Rally” 2nd annual. Reservations: call or email the RV Park in VC at 775-847-0999 or www. vcrvparknv.com and reserve a site. Email / text / call Wes and Diana at 775-813-7960 or loyds_pss@sbcglobal.net after you have made your reservation so we can get your contact info, space, and to send updates. June 17-19, 2016 Roslyn, WA 7th annual Roslyn Vintage Trailer rally 2016 Father’s Day weekend at Runje Field! Vintage trailers and automobiles prior to 1975 are welcome to park at Runje field. This is dry camping. We are camping in a field so no assigned spots. Dogs are welcome with
responsible owners. No pre-registration needed. Please check our Facebook page for the latest information or search for Roslyn Vintage Trailer Rally 2016. Hosted by Kim Ross & Tara Rose-Large. If you have any questions or willing to help out, please contact Kim Ross at themanetamer@comcast.netor 206-227-5194. June 17-19, 2016 Casco, ME Sebago Lake Spring Shakedown A TCT event in a beautiful setting on Sebago Lake, Casco, Maine. Make your own reservations on or after February 1st @ 9 am by calling 207.624.9950 or in state call 800.332.1501. Reservations can be made at www. campwithme.com, killerbob53@gmail.com 11 Park Access Road, Casco, ME, 04015 June 23-26, 2016 Carson City, NV The Rockabilly Riot welcomes Vintage Camper Trailers! See the Vintage Camper Trailers Facebook Events listing for details on this event. June 23 - June 29 Tecumseh, MI Retro Camper Week. 9415 Tangent Road. Camp in your classic, well preserved RV or trailer and get a special discount. Awards given to best retro campers. Please inform us of participation at time of reservation. To qualify for discount, campers must be in good condition and must be made prior to 1989. Camp one or all nights during this week to receive 10% off rate for camping in your retro camper. Plus qualify for the competition. Win a Certificate and free camping! No Open House. Angela Harris rdorman@ tecumsehteamquest.com / 517 - 423 - 5659 June 23-26, 2016 Coshocton, OH 2nd Annual Ohio TCT Rally Details TBD hinny49@aol.com. 24688 Co Rd 10, Coshocton, OH, 43812,
California Professional
Registration Services Year of Manufacturer Plate Assignments, VIN Verification Service, New Titles, Licensed, Bonded, CA Notary Public
Donna Leek
pro.reg.service@gmail.com (530) 320-5708 42
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June 24-26, 2016 Foster, OR ROVT sponsored River Bend Rally (SOLD OUT – WAITING LIST) Come join us at our 7th annual River Bend Rally that is open to all retro or 1980 and older Vintage trailers, motorhomes, teardrops. Note new date! Riverbend Campground, 45931 Santiam Hwy, Foster, OR 97345 July 1 - 5, 2016. Marblemount, WA Sixth time event, invitation to Alpine RV Park 60751 State Route 20 A campground nestled among the foothills of the Cascades, Meet and greet Friday evening, Saturday evening Potluck. Saturday and Sunday we will have a swap meet going on in the rv park. There are showers (no cost), restrooms and laundry room (washer and dryers). Must call or e-mail for reservations, by June 15, 2016, limited space, jra@cnw.com or call (928) 505-2730 until Mid May after call (360) 5952611, Cost $15.00 a night for hook ups and $10.00 for no hook ups, dry camping. Cherri and Mike Aiken (928) 505-2730 until mid May also jra@cnw.com (360) 595-2611 Park # (360) 873-9002 July 1 - 4, 2016 Brooks, OR ROVT sponsored All American Rally No reservations-room for everyone! all-american-rally.com July 15-17, 2016 Ontario, Canada Black Fly Swarm Rally Description: Weekend in Tobermory, ON. End of Ontario’s amazing Bruce Peninsula. econolinebvan@gmail.com 59 Corey Crescent, Tobermory, Ontario, Canada July 15th, 2016 Olympia, WA 2nd Annual South Sound Vintage Trailer Rally - Open to all vintage trailers pre-1975. Make state park reservations online at: http://parks.state.wa.us/223/Reservations. There are full hook up sites as well as wooded sites. No rally fees. Find us on Facebook at South Sound Trailer Rally. Rally hosts are Chris and Jennie McDonald, chrismcdonald0@gmail.com - 360-791-2038
July 21- 24, 2016 Newland, NC Southern Vintage Trailer Friends. Reservations can be made directly with the campground by calling (318) 645-4704 until April and (828)765-2681 during the season . Please tell them you are with the Southern Vintage Trailer group to insure a spot. www. linvillefalls.com There are cabins and tent sites available as well.
There will be many activities planned. The rally fee is $25.00 per trailer.
July 22nd - 24th, 2016 LaVeta, CO I Love Lucy’s Get-Together: July 22nd - 24th @ I Love Lucy’s Place. http://www.ilovelucysplace.com/ 719-742-3252. The campground is booked, but there are other campgrounds in the area (do an Internet search).
Aug 12-14, 2016 Big Bear Lake, CA The vintage car rally is coming to town and you should too. Bring your vintage trailer to the Lighthouse Resort. On Saturday morning coffee and donuts will be provided and in the afternoon enjoy a front row seat as hundreds of vintage cars swing on by the resort. $40/night, this rally is usually very popular and there is a waiting list so space is at a premium. Contact: Max Dobis or Lori Dobis @ (909) 866-9464 or email: lighthousemarina35@gmail.com
June 23 - June 29 Tecumseh, Michigan Retro Camper Week. 9415 Tangent Road. Camp in your classic, well preserved RV or trailer and get a special discount. Awards given to best retro campers. Please inform us of participation at time of reservation. To qualify for discount, campers must be in good condition and must be made prior to 1989. Camp one or all nights during this week to receive 10% off rate for camping in your retro camper. Plus qualify for the competition. Win a Certificate and free camping! No Open House. Angela Harris rdorman@ tecumsehteamquest.com / 517 - 423 - 5659 July 28-31, 2016 Austin, MI 8th Annual TCT Vintage Camper Show Description: Details on registering lauricellapaintinginc@yahoo.com 1775 Port Austin Road, Port Austin, MI, August 4-7, 2016 Loudonville, Ohio On the Road Again, vintage camper rally (4th year ). Held at Toodik Campground, Loudonvile, Ohio 44842. (Amish Country ) reservations : camptoodik@gmail.com or call 877-886-7866. Rally hosts: Kiki and Vern, contact information, kiki.alexander3@gmail.com or can follow on facebook: Vintage Road Roamers. This campground area from the rally is private, full of shade trees, electric and water.
August 5-7, 2016 Felton, CA Trailers in the Trees Rally at Smithwoods Campground. Reservations made with the campground at (831) 335-4321. $20 rally fee. Hosted by Aunt Penny SOLD OUT-Waiting List.
August 10-14, 2016 Bend, OR J Bar J Ranch, 62895 Hamby Road, Bend, OR. The Bend Classic Vintage Trailer Rally will be held at the J Bar J Ranch just East of Bend, OR. Camping will be on a grassy field with the Cascade Front in full view. There is some water and110 electric but this is a ranch and not a trailer park. This is the same weekend as the HUGE Flashback Cruz car show in Bend. Proceeds will benefit the youth programs of the ranch. $50 registration includes camping. Dal Smilie (dalsmilie@aol.com) with questions. August 18-21, 2016 Naches, WA 2nd Annual Nile Valley Rally . Jim Sprick Park, Chinook Pass Washington 13680 State Route 410, Naches, Washington 98937. Ben & Denise Santjer and Steve & Rita Babcock welcome you to Jim Sprick’s Community Park in Naches, WA. This is a “Spouses Welcome” rally, kids 12 and up. Fall asleep to the sound of the Naches river, wake up to the beautiful sunshine of the Yakima Valley! There are coin-op showers, flush toilets. No hook-ups. Camping fees will be charged PER TRAILER this year, not per person and are NON-REFUNDABLE. 3
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nights- $75.00, 2 nights-$50.00. Search on facebook for “Nile Valley Rally”. Link to Register for Rally: https://sraacb.wufoo.com/ forms/m1rz6ya1fg76ne/ Open House: Saturday Aug 20, 2016. Rita Babcock sraacb@ gmail.com / 509 - 833 - 0755 August 19 - 21, 2016 Warrenton, OR We have blocked 48 sites at the Warrenton KOA for this rally. Janet Mossman and Jodi Johnson are co-hosting again. These sites are blocked out under the name of “ROVT North Coast Rally”. The phone number to the KOA is 503-861-2606. August 20-21, 2016 Ninety Six, SC The Upstate Discovery Tour. 97 Main St. Display your vintage camper in the Ninety Six Town Park (Saluda Street, Ninety Six, SC 29666). No fees. Free hook-up (limited 50 & 30 amp, multiple 110 outlets), water access and rest rooms. You may stay at the Park overnight for Fri, Sat and Sun, but very primitive setting. Must be willing to allow the public to see (inside access not required but preferred) your camper from 10am-4pm Saturday and 10am-2pm on Sunday. Free BBQ style dinner at the Park on Saturday night for all participants. Seewww.townofninetysixsc. com for additional attractions and information. Discover the Upstate of South Carolina. Jennifer Donlon Tourism96@nctv.com / 864 - 543 - 3396 August 25-28, 2016 Hiawassee, GA 2016 North Georgia Vintage Trailer Rally at the Riverbend Campground, Call camp ground to reserve a site: 706-896-1415 Contact Pete Whitley pete_whitley@yahoo.com. August 25-28, 2016 Holly, MI Holly Retro Revival. Placeholder for now details to follow toctate@yahoo.com. 14555 Dixie Hwy, Holly, MI, 48442
August 26th, 2016 Sunbury, PA Come join us for our first ever Vintage Camper Rally at Fantasy Island Campground. All vintage campers of every year, make and size are welcome for this thrilling throwback weekend. Lacie Wert ljwert@tiu11.org 717 247 - 0692 August 26th - 27th, 2016 Denver, CO FAC Exhibit at The Denver Modernism Show: http://denvermodernism.com/. We will have 12-15 vintage trailers on display. Tour the vintage trailers and visit with their owners! Tickets to the show must be purchased. September 2-5, 2016 Coleville, CA Camping by the Cliff, KOA President’s Award Campground. Labor Day weekvintage camping by the Cliff. Ten spots available, more if necessary. Pot Luck Saturday night, so bring your favorite to share. Restaurant available for breakfast and lunch. Full hookups, showers and bathrooms. 3 night min. for the group rate of $32.00 plus tax. www. meadowcliff.com, 530-495-2255 under the group name Wes & Diana 775-813-7960 September 3-5, 2016 Newport, WA Please join us for the 1st Annual “Rally at Camp Runamuck”! This will be field-style camping with power and water available to a limited number of spots. Rally is open to all vintage RV’s, teardrops, and trailers built in the spirit of vintage. Being held in conjunction with “Bob’s Car Show” . All proceeds from the rally and car show will go
to “Shepherds for Lost Sheep”,www.shepherdsforlostsheepinc.org No reservations required, but knowing in advance who is coming will help. $20/night Doug and Teresa Johnson runamuckrally@hotmail.com 509638-6117 September 2-6, 2016 Bloomsburg, PA Kampers near Knoebels XVI Come spend a weekend with us in Pennsylvania’s coal region. We will be camping at Indian Head Campground in Bloomsburg. The main event of the weekend will be a caravan to nearby Knoebels Amusement Resort. Knoebels is the largest free-admission and free-parking amusement park in Pennsylvania. The park offers over 45 rides, including the “Phoenix” and the “Twister,” two of America’s largest wooden roller coasters. lbstiles@verizon.net http://kampersnearknoebels.weebly.com/ September 9th - 11th, 2016 Winthrop, WA Wheel Into Winthrop & Vintage Wheels weekend after Labor Day. This is NOT a Tin Can Tourist event. Open to everyone with a vintage trailer. Vintage Trailer Enthusiast Extravaganza! A laid back gathering for folks who own vintage trailers. A great time to make new friends, show off your RV and Oooh and Ah over other folks’ vintage RV’s, Tractors, Motorcycles, Bicycles and collectible Automobiles. On Saturday the 10th,
Ocean View Full Hookup Sites $65/night PIRATE THEME!
*RESERVE NOW!
Limited Space Available!
Rally Host: Alex 818-298-9842 *Reservations: 310-456-6052 Malibu Beach RV Park 25801 Pacific Coast Hwy, Malibu, CA 90265
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you are welcome to show off your trailer as the public will be touring through the campground. Also, a parade of around 120 cars will come through the campground. Pine Near Campground, pinenearpark@gmail. com, 509-341-4062 September 9-11, 2016 Lynden, WA Mt. Baker Rally at the The Northwest Washington Fair and Event Center. 1775 Front St, Lynden, Washington 98264The official rally is the 9-11th (arrive as early as the 6th.) Power and water are available for most everyone. This is field camping no assigned spots. You pay and register upon arrival. Showers, restrooms and an RV dump station are on site. Cost for attending is $20 per night and one time rally fee of $15. Hosted by Brian and Melissa Morrow. September 23-25, 2016 Buellton, CA The 7th Annual Buellton Vintage Trailer Bash. Open to the first 175 vintage trailers or MoHo’s 1975 or older. If you would like to be put on the distribution list, please send David Neel, the wagonmaster, an email. David@NeelLighting.com. On Facebook: “Buellton Vintage Trailer Bash.” David@ neellighting.com September 15-18, 2016 Romulus, NY 9th Annual TCTNE Rally. Details coming soon. mooredesign02@hotmail.com 6096 NY-96A, Romulus, NY, 14541, September 16th-18th, 2016 Honeyville, UT Crystal Hot Springs Great news! Crystal has kept our rates the same($25.00 per day)
the Activity charge will be the same for the pulled pork dinner and music. $10.00 per adult and $5.00 per children under 12. Swim and hot-pot rates will be $4.00. Booking with Adam or Kaylee ONLY. Watt (Orbie) Mungall 435-730-3840 September 16-18, 2016 (Date Change) Big Bear Lake, CA Lighthouse Resort is having its first annual Oktoberfest trailer rally. Enjoy southern California’s #1 Oktoberfest at the convention center during the day and for a nightcap beer and wine will be provided in potluck fashion. Bring a German style dish to the party (brauts, knockwurst’s etc.), drink beer and feel free to get in the Oktoberfest spirit. All spots are $50/night contact: Max Dobis or Lori Dobis at (909)866-9464 or email: lighthousemarina35@gmail.com September 16-18, 2016 Petaluma, CA Meet Your Peeps Vintage Camper Trailer Rally. Call Petaluma KOA for reservations (707) 763-1492 Caravan In on Friday, Chili Cook-off Friday night, Open House on Saturday from 10-2, Cocktails Party and Ice Cream Bar on Saturday, and PJ Parade Sunday morning. Hosted by Aunt Penny September 22-25, 2016 Maggie Valley, NC Southern Vintage Trailer Friends 6th Annual Fall Into Vintage Rally Find the registration form for the rally at southernvintagetrailers. com Send in the registrations form and rally fees Once SVTF receives your form it will be forwarded to the campground for booking approval. The campground will contact you to choose your site and to place your camping deposit. You will not be able to book directly with the campground if you have not sent in your registration.
September 22-25, 2016 Milford, MI Fall Gathering The total fee is $90.00 for one adult and $30.00 for additional adults and kids 10 years and older-includes Window Sign, Entertainment, Catered Meals, and Educational Seminars. tincantourists@ gmail.com 1700 General Motors Rd, Milford, MI, 48390, September 29th - Oct 2nd, 2016 Santo, TX Tin Can Tourists Texas Fall Rally, 13429 S. HWY 281 Santo , Texas 76472. I hope y’all can join for a great weekend, we will be having a restoration workshop this weekend, Lets share our experience and restore these vintage beauties. We will have a great weekend, meeting up with old friends and making new ones. I hope y’all can join us. Open house noon-3pm. teresa Baldwin teresabaldwin1515@gmail.com 254- 210 - 1498 September 30, - October 2, 2016 Newport Dunes, CA Christian Vintage Trailer Club “CVTC” Vintage Trailer Rally September 30 – October 2, 2016 For more info or to register, please email Karen Jennings at christianvintagetrailerclub@gmail.com September 30 - October 2, 2016 Champoeg, OR ROVE 4th Annual Champoeg State Park Rally. Hosted by Ralph and Sherry Hall The rally for young at heart! Halloween theme. Make reservations through the park, and print and pay registration fee found on our forms page www.rovt.org,
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October 7th – 16th Pomona, CA Help Wanted. RVIA is looking for a vintage coordinator to help organize and recruit vintage attendees for our upcoming California RV Show. This is a very part time position that is fun, has lots of show benefits and provides a little dough $$$. If interested send an email to Tom Gaither at tgaither@rvia.org. October 7 - 10, 2016 Laconia, IN So. Harrison County Vintage Camper Rally. 8750 So. Harrison Park Dr. SE. 2nd annual rally at this beautifully quiet park in Southern Indiana. Rally open to all vintage trailers pre1980. Water & electricity at every site. $90 includes three nights camping, rally fees, optional planned events, and door prizes. Local attractions include historic towns with antique shops, a casino, a NASA event at the park observatory, and more. Open House 2 - 4pm on Saturday. Abby Kincaid-Bohn akinc4@gmail.com / 502 - 994 - 3832 October 7-9, 2016 Malibu, CA Ahoy mates! Grab your pirate hats and join us for the inaugural Malibu Vintage Trailer Rally! Pirate themed activities, BYO cocktail welcome mixer at outdoor lanai, and more! Open to all vintage trailers pre-1975 (no open house). Located on a beautiful hillside overlooking the pacific, Malibu Beach RV Park offers full hookup ocean view sites $65/night. Stay in comfort with clean bathrooms and heated showers; conveniently located near area restaurants and shops. Reserve early, limited space available! Rally Host/Organizer Alex 818-298-9842, MalibuVTR@gmail.com. Reserve your site direct 310-456-6052. Malibu Beach RV Park; 25801 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu CA 90265
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October 13-16, 2016 Lodi, CA Trailerfest Rally 2016 “Christmas in the Trailer Park”. www.trailerfestrally.com. Open House Saturday 10 am to 2pm. Bring canned foods or new toys as a donation for admission. October 27- 30, 2016 Spencer, TN SVTF Halloween Spooktacular Gathering Falls Creek State Park. Come join us for our first Halloween Gathering. You can make reservations directly with Falls Creek State park by referencing the SVTF group event. They are holding sites for us through May 2016 so book soon. More information can be found on website -www.SouthernVintageTrailers.com October 28-30, 2016 Santa Barbara, CA 3rd annual Halloween Vintage Trailer Mash. Ocean Mesa , 100 El Capitan terrace lane ,Santa Barbara ,CA.93117. 3rd annual Halloween Vintage Trailer Mash at Ocean Mesa RV resort in Santa Barbara ,Ca. Spooky Halloween trailer decoration contest ,Halloween costume party poolside Saturday night . Family fun for everyone .Oct. 28-30, sites are $76 a night . Call Ocean Mesa for reservations (866)410-5783 NO Open House. Joe Messina, Henrysamocean@hotmail.com or 504 858 - 7376 November 3 – 6, 2016 Lake Havasu City, AZ Join us at the Rodeo Grounds for a fun camp out, all vintage trailers welcomed, $10.00 per night camping fee. Meet and greet Friday November 4, 2016, 6:00p.m. (in large building) Bring a hors d’oeuvre (snack) to share and your own beverage. Showers and restrooms are available. Pot luck on Sat evening, 5:00pm. Wear your best Western Gear for the potluck, prize for the best outfit and a prize for the best or unusual decorated trailer. Open
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House from 10:00am until 3:00pm Friday and Saturday. Camping is $10.00 per night, jra@ cnw.com, please reserve, pay when you arrive, Cherri and Mike Aiken host (928) 5052730 (from June thru Sept. (360) 595-2611 November 4 - 6, 2016 Jackson, CA Rancheria Rally, 12222 New York Ranch Road. Come and join us for a fun weekend at Jackson Rancheria RV Park. This will be a gathering of friends to camp and enjoy our vintage trailers before the weather gets blustery. We have a few simple activities planned. No open house. Wendy and Greg Burns. rancheriarally@yahoo.com 209 - 605 - 1305 November 12-15, 2016 Charleston, SC Join us for our 3rd Annual Gathering at the Festival of Lights celebration at James Island County Park near Charleston, SC. Detailed information can be found at www.SouthernVintageTrailers.com on the events tab.
March 3, 4 and 5th, 2017 BOOT CAMP 2017 Operation Restoration Lodi, CA
We have Towerpark to ourselves for Boot Camp in 2017. 3 days this year, more classes, more information, more good times. Stay at a nearby hotel or in cabins or camp in your vintage (or not so vintage) trailer at the park. NO open house. Same price as last year. Put your deposit down now.
Go to www.vintagecampertrailers.com
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