Remember when?

[Grumpy]

For you "old timers" like me... 1957 They were all heavy back then...

[LuckyDuck]

Are those flower boxes over the propane tanks? Wow, hitch weight wasn’t a concern!

[Scott]

Originally Posted by LuckyDuck

Wow, hitch weight wasn’t a concern!

And the trailer was probably towed by the family sedan!

[Grumpy]

Yep. Lucy & Desi ... "The Long Long Trailer" 1953.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ucb9O8q1eOc

[Happy wife / happy life]

My Dad retired from the Air Force in 1959. He drove us from Albuquerque NM to Sacramento CA in a 1955 Chevrolet belair station wagon pulling a dual axel Airstream. I don’t remember much of the trip ( I was 7 years old ) except the part my Dad was putting out a wheel bearing fire with containers of milk. Hadn’t thought about that adventure in years.

[bucko]

Thread title Reminded me of this song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTA2buWlNyM

[TaftCoach]

Cars were a lot heavier then as well. Now they are sufficient and efficient for 99% of the miles driven.

[DocBrown]

Being that there are concrete blocks under the frames, these appear to be park models not meant to be towed on a regular basis.

[SkyBound]

My grandparents Cadillac from the early 70s had a 500ci big block in it and pulled an airstream all over the place. Absolute beast. Fuel consumption was in gallons per mile and it didn't even matter.

[Hollander Mutthaulers]

'57? For me in Montana camping was rolled up in a wool blanket with boots for a pillow. Later, after decades of tent camping, our little unit is perfect.

I think dealers would still cajole for a sale, "Sure! You can tow that [nice big heavy steel trailer] with your car! No problem!"

[hikerjohn7]

Originally Posted by Grumpy

For you "old timers" like me... 1957 They were all heavy back then...

Back in 1953-54 my dad got tired of tent camping and built his own RV from a boat trailer frame and oak stringers covered with Formica. That's him on the left. He pulled his homemade RV with a 54 Oldsmobile. And, when we pulled through the campground full of tents in the Smoky Mountain Park, everybody's jaw dropped. Of course, it didn't have a bath or a kitchen but it did have window screens and bunk beds which were more comfortable than sleeping on the ground in sleeping bags. And we didn't need AC in the mountains.

A funny story about this RV was that, to make the walls rigid and strong on their two-by-two oak stringers, my dad knew it would take lots of screws. So, he threw a party in the backyard and furnished food and drinks. But he also gave everybody a screwdriver and a bag of screws to screw the Formica to the stringers. That was in the age of old flat-head screws so it was a task.

The trailer turned out to be so strong that when he pulled through the park, he accidently snagged it on a boulder but it didn't hurt the RV. It bent the steel bumper on the Oldsmobile instead.

Ah, the good old days...

[JFlightRisk]

That's a great story and photo. Thanks for sharing it.

[LuckyDuck]

Originally Posted by hikerjohn7

Back in 1953-54 my dad got tired of tent camping and built his own RV from a boat trailer frame and oak stringers covered with Formica. That's him on the left. He pulled his homemade RV with a 54 Oldsmobile. And, when we pulled through the campground full of tents in the Smoky Mountain Park, everybody's jaw dropped. Of course, it didn't have a bath or a kitchen but it did have window screens and bunk beds which were more comfortable than sleeping on the ground in sleeping bags. And we didn't need AC in the mountains.

A funny story about this RV was that, to make the walls rigid and strong on their two-by-two oak stringers, my dad knew it would take lots of screws. So, he threw a party in the backyard and furnished food and drinks. But he also gave everybody a screwdriver and a bag of screws to screw the Formica to the stringers. That was in the age of old flat-head screws so it was a task.

The trailer turned out to be so strong that when he pulled through the park, he accidently snagged it on a boulder but it didn't hurt the RV. It bent the steel bumper on the Oldsmobile instead.

Ah, the good old days...

That is similar to our first “camping” trailer. Dad took a two-wheeled utility trailer chassis and built three sides out of plywood. The “roof” was a large canvas tarp tied down on the sides. The back was a hinged half piece of ply with the tarp coming down to meet it. The “sleeping” accommodations were a mattress inside.

Our TV was a 1958 Ford Custom 300 (no seatbelts of course). The rig was ugly as a mud fence but apparently better than a tent. I was only about 5 and my brother 1, but I remember trips to Yellowstone with it. I also remember mannerless bears acting, uh, “curious” outside while Mom guarded our freshly cooked breakfast inside. But that’s another story…

Yep, fond memories!

[hikerjohn7]

Originally Posted by LuckyDuck

That is similar to our first “camping” trailer. Dad took a two-wheeled utility trailer chassis and built three sides out of plywood. The “roof” was a large canvas tarp tied down on the sides. The back was a hinged half piece of ply with the tarp coming down to meet it. The “sleeping” accommodations were a mattress inside.

Our TV was a 1958 Ford Custom 300 (no seatbelts of course). The rig was ugly as a mud fence but apparently better than a tent. I was only about 5 and my brother 1, but I remember trips to Yellowstone with it. I also remember mannerless bears acting, uh, “curious” outside while Mom guarded our freshly cooked breakfast inside. But that’s another story…

Yep, fond memories!

It's a good story. Bears outside the camper? Wow!

Once we camped in the Smokey's in a tent on the edge of a river with a steep bank. Tents then were made of canvas and it was before they had floors and zippers. Those were also the days before bear-proof garbage cans so, there were bears everywhere. You could always tell when bears came around because you could hear people in nearby campsites beating on cans and frying pans to run the bears off.

Once, in the middle of the night, we heard a commotion outside our tent and shined our flashlights under the edge to see what we could without opening the door flap. We saw bear feet treading back and forth. The next morning, when we went outside, we found that the bears had ripped open our cooler which was made of steel and thrown it down the riverbank. They had also punctured our parents' beer cans which were also made of steel in those days. Their claws when through the steel cans like they were butter.

[nambarc]

I want one.

[craigav]

Here is something I saw on the internet that reminded me about this thread. I bet most young people have no clue how to "program" one of these. ~CA

[ependydad]

Originally Posted by craigav

Here is something I saw on the internet that reminded me about this thread. I bet most young people have no clue how to "program" one of these. ~CA

I don't think I'm super young (42) and would have no idea how to program one of them.

[JFlightRisk]

Yup. Pull the button out that you want for that station, dial it in, and push the button back in.

Didi I just date myself??

[craigav]

Originally Posted by JFlightRisk

Yup. Pull the button out that you want for that station, dial it in, and push the button back in.

Didi I just date myself??

LOL. Perhaps myself as well.

[Murff]

My first camping trip as a newlywed (was that really 50 years ago?) and we went to Yellowstone. Also, totally unprepared. Tried finding a campsite that even allowed tents was hard to find, due to the bears. We had our dog with us. Finally got the pup tent set up and froze our hineys off as it was first part of June. Besides freezing, a neighbor's motorhome furnace went off about every 20 minutes and it was noisy!

Around 4 AM, we heard this noise on the ground and a metallic rattling noise that was first faint and then louder as it got closer and then would fade again. This happened several times before I finally crawled out of the tent to find the dog had pulled it's corkscrew stake out of the ground and was running and playing with another dog. Dog spent the next few hours in the car.

Learned a lot that trip. Ever try to produce kindling without a hatchet and all you have is a rubber mallet and and cross lug wrench?

Murff