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Old 04-06-2011, 03:45 PM   #1
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What was your first camper as a kid?

Ok - lets date a few of you folks

What was the first camper you remember or ever stayed in as a kid?


We had a 1968 Nimrod Crown Riviera - it was literally a rolling tent with absolutely nothing inside. My dad built a storage box out of plywood and it doubled as a bed for my brother (there were 5 of us in that little box).

Every time we would camp, my dad would get a sticker from the camp site and put it on the outside. There had to be hundreds on it. I sure wish I had taken pictures of the outside of all those stickers. It was basically a chronological account of my childhood. We would take it from Ohio and circle the entire west coast and back every few years. It even made a few trips down to Disney World.

Good times!



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Old 04-06-2011, 04:03 PM   #2
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When I was a kid my parents started us out in a tent in the early 60's. They bought a Nimrod popup too in the mid 60's but I don't remember what model. IIRC Nimrod and Apache were the big names in pups back then. Ours was basic too and yeah, dad built a plywood box we used to store our clothes in. We did have an add a room which was nice. Our Coleman lantern and stove were powered by 'white gas' which was more economical than the Coleman fluid. My sister and I learned alll about water conservation because we took turns hauling it. Can't figure out to this day how we went thru so much water seeing as it was only used for cooking and dishes. Maybe mom and dad just wanted us to get our exercize. We were all over the USA and Canada, coast to coast over many years. Great memories!!!!!
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Old 04-06-2011, 04:15 PM   #3
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Ours was a 1960 something "Monitor" travel trailer pulled at first by a station wagon then by a new 71 Chevy pickup. I don`t remember too much about it other then it was fairly small and had gas lights. -Lee
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Old 04-06-2011, 04:46 PM   #4
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We had family friend with a 1960 Nimrod pop up. They traveled cross country in it and then had a seasonal site at a state park in Vermont. We would visit and spend a night camping with them.
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Old 04-06-2011, 05:30 PM   #5
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My parents borrowed a single axle Shasta from a friend and hooked it up to the '57 Mercury and we went to Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon in the early 60's. What a fun trip. They never bought an RV but for 40+ years I remembered that trip and I guess it was the reason I bought my RV in 2008.
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Old 04-06-2011, 08:20 PM   #6
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36 chevy pick up and a Camel canvas tent, white gas stove & lantern. in the late 50's
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Old 04-06-2011, 08:25 PM   #7
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What was the first camper you remember or ever stayed in as a kid?

Never stayed in one as a kid.... but my brother had a neat red Buddy L, Ford style station wagon car with a pop-up pull behind camper! I played with it alot. (I had one of the Buddy L station wagons too, but mine did not have the camper. Mine was white with woodgrain sides)
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Old 04-06-2011, 11:58 PM   #8
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My parents had a 1974 Stuery pop up with avocado green and white striped canvas. It had 2 dinettes that folded down into beds, stove, sink, ice box and porta potty cabinet. There were 8 of us in the PUP. We traveled from MN all over the west for a month. We have great memories of our trips with my parents. That got me hooked on camping and getting a PUP. We did that 9 yrs ago and traveled across the US and Canada 4 times. We just traded it in on our Jayco last November. I am glad I can share those memories with my daughter.

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Old 04-07-2011, 10:43 AM   #9
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My parents didn't camp! I asked for a tent for my bday in 9th grade and tent camped at the beach pretty much by myself for a few days during that Easter break (my adult brother checked me in and was supposedly camping with me but he didn't stay). I remember borrowing a fishing pole and sitting on the wharf for hours hoping to catch a fish (if only I knew then what I know now about bait! LOL). There was definitely a learning curve to tent camping!
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Old 04-07-2011, 11:54 AM   #10
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My parents started taking me camping before I can remember it. I learned to walk at a campground! The one I remember was a Dutchcraft camper. I can remember exactly how it looked on the inside and outside. My sister and I used to fight over who got to sleep in pull down bunk bed and who got to sleep on the fold down table. Then my brother came along and he got whatever he wanted We would spend all day riding bikes and at the playground. I've still got some of the scars to prove it! Many happy memories of campfires: my Mom burning the soles of her shoes on the fire ring because there was a skunk under her chair, feeding the skunks hot dogs to torment my Mother, Dad eating peanuts and throwing the shells (to attract the skunks, I'm sure), etc. I can also remember spending the last two weeks of August before school started sitting in the camper with a wash cloth over my nose and eyes because I couldn't breathe due to allergies.

Now it's fun for my parents, my brother and sister and their families to come visit Mike and I when we camp. It brings back many fond memories and lots of good stories to tell the nieces and nephews! I'm hoping to hook a whole new generation on camping. Thanks for letting me share the memories!
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Old 04-07-2011, 07:25 PM   #11
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My parents had a late 70's Shasta TT that is the first one I remember. I'm not sure the model but I remember that it had bunks, a front dinette, and a rear bathroom. My parents then moved up to a Honey class C in the 80's. I loved those trips and that's why I'm now into camping and hope my family gains great memories for a long time to come. Great topic and thanks for giving me a reason for reminiscing!
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Old 04-07-2011, 07:45 PM   #12
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Wow! I could have written some of these posts. My family's first camper was a 1965 Nimrod Riviera. It had nothing inside, just as was stated by others here. My dad built wooden boxes to store our clothes in, and for my brother and sister to sleep on. There were 4 of us kids. We took a 3 week trip out East to visit historical sites.
But that was not our first camping rig. My dad and his brother each built a 4 x 8 foot box out of plywood and used it on top of their station wagons to carry luggage and sleeping bags, etc. during travel. But at night they would put up 4 foot sides and we would sleep in the box on top of the car. That was in 1961. We took a trip around Lake Superior in a week with that box.
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Old 04-07-2011, 11:13 PM   #13
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We were po when I was a kid so a canvas on a line served as a tent for my brother and I. Sallie and I bought a home made tent / camper that took at least a half hour to set up. I think we used it twice on the same week end ( Friday and Satrurday) and sold it when we got home.
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Old 04-09-2011, 02:00 PM   #14
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These are great stories. Our family had a little cabin (and I mean little - 8'x16') at Crooked Lake in SE Saskatchewan, so we didn't do the mobile thing. Our cabin did, however, move around. Before my Dad bought it in 1952, the fellow who built the shack hauled it to Florida on the back of his grain truck and spent winter there. I don't know if it got hauled there more than once or not. Can you imagine hauling an 8x16 shack on the back of a grain truck from Sask to Florida before 1952!
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Old 04-10-2011, 08:01 PM   #15
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I came across this pic and scanned it in tonight....this was our 1968 Nimrod...I think it had more miles than any car we ever owned! Look at all those stickers on the outside from all the places we went...





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Old 04-10-2011, 11:22 PM   #16
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Our tent trailer was about that size with only one bed wing folding out and where the person is standing we had a 8x8 ft room. When packed up for travel there was hardly no room in the trailer after the tent and poles were stashed. We had to carry the ice chest in the truck and our clothes in the cab of the truck. We sure didn't miss that old camper.
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Old 04-11-2011, 01:00 AM   #17
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Well...To Maromeo...that's too funny! I see you are from Scottsdale AZ as am I...Our first camper we had was a 1973 Steury pop up.My mom liked it because it had a closet that folded down onto one of the benches. I thought it was cool as it had a skylight thing in the fiberglass roof... We had soooo much fun in that thing!!! Best Story....I had to drive it and the family back from the Mazatzal wilderness when I was 13 into Globe AZ with our International Harvester Travellall. My brother had whacked his knee with an axe, and both my folks dammm near fainted at the sight of blood. Yes 1970's Avocado green striping. Keeping it in the family as we just bought our Jayco from Little Dealer,,,same family we bought the Steury from all those years ago...Cheers!
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Old 04-11-2011, 04:35 AM   #18
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In 1953, my Dad built a camper on a metal frame and the sides were wood and contained fold up metal supports. Once the supports were up, then a tarp covered the camper. I thought it was great. We pulled it with a 55 Ford and took it to Yellowstone National Park. What memories!
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Old 07-24-2011, 01:34 PM   #19
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1977 Triple E 19.5 Foot. It was small, but there was many great vacations in it. My parents towed it thousands of miles
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Old 07-25-2011, 06:43 PM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tafische View Post
Ok - lets date a few of you folks

What was the first camper you remember or ever stayed in as a kid?
......snip
Well, to this day I can still smell the hot canves and feel the sticky surface of the air mattress in my parents tent back in 1958 camping on the shores of Lake Huron......,



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