Pet peeve

[Kmikesell]

love these old camper designs!

[Bill]

Originally Posted by Kmikesell

David Woodworth, a preeminent collector of early RVs and RV camping memorabilia, relates that "Before then [1910], people camped in private rail cars that were pulled to sidings along train routes. The year 1910 brought a new freedom to people who didn’t want to be limited by the rail system.

Aw, c'mon, Mr Woodworth. Could any of the common folk - the real campers - afford to rent a private rail car and have it pulled to a handy railroad siding at the location of their choice? I can't imagine my Dad doing it. No wonder the RV industry took off so quickly once it started!

Bill

[Kmikesell]

Originally Posted by Bill

Aw, c'mon, Mr Woodworth. Could any of the common folk - the real campers - afford to rent a private rail car and have it pulled to a handy railroad siding at the location of their choice? I can't imagine my Dad doing it. No wonder the RV industry took off so quickly once it started!

Bill

Henry Ford and his buddies started the whole car camping "thing"!

[Wavery]

Originally Posted by wbmiller3

My dad's first camper in the 60s was a Cox. Canvas top, heavy as hell beds that were just hinged and you had to lift them up and out. I remember us going through I don't know how many tires on a trip to Arizona in 1969. As an 8 year old kid I insisted on being able to watch the moon landing, so took along a tiny B&W portable TV.



(Picture from www.popupcamperhistory.com)

Note in the brochure, both the humans, and the trailers, are referred to as "campers".

My 1st trailer "Camper" was a "Nimrod" and it looked just like that one. You can see it up against the garage door in this pic from 1975. Before that, I only had traditional slide in truck campers.

[wbmiller3]

I remember seeing Nimrod campers.

[cRay60]

Cox was my first camper, loved it! Easy to set up in the rain which I did more than once!