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Deep in the Heart of Texas
Traveling in Style
Nearly 50 years since they hit the market, vintage travel trailers are making a comeback
Celinda Emison - Abilene Reporter News
When Chris Cummings spots an old, broken-down aluminum travel trailer, he sees a chance to restore a piece of history.
Cummings and several other Big Country residents are part of a movement to restore vintage travel trailers, from the larger models to the smaller ones lovingly referred to as ''rolling bedrooms.''
Some of the most sought after and collected models are the shiny aluminum trailers - Airstreams and Silver Streaks. These well-built traveling homes gained popularity in the 1950s. Today, there are travel clubs, Internet sites and rallies across the country devoted to the vintage trailer movement.
The vintage trailer fans are serious about restoring and preserving a piece of Americana. They remember a simpler, easier time when camping was about meeting people and sharing a common interest.
Some are purists, wanting to restore the trailer to its original condition, meticulously seeking out original parts from other enthusiasts. Others enjoy updating the travel trailers to include at least a few modern conveniences.
Today, many of these vintage trailers are still on the road thanks to people like Cummings, who restores them to their shiny, just off-the-showroom-floor beauty.
After watching a program on vintage trailers in 2003, Cummings decided he wanted one.
''I saw this 16-footer called a 'Bambi' and it was such an iconic thing, it brought back memories,'' said Cummings, who lives in Abilene and owns The Paint Center.
A friend told Cummings about two silver trailers spotted in the Big Country. The first was a 1962 Airstream ''Globe Trotter,'' a 19-foot trailer in immaculate condition, sitting by a home near Reagan Elementary in Abilene.
He contacted the owner, Mrs. J.C. Harber, who was living in a retirement home in Abilene.
''It had belonged to her husband and she did not want to part with it,'' Cummings said.
Finally, after about a year and a half, he mailed Harber a letter describing his childhood memories of the silver trailers.
''I told Mrs. Harber I wanted to live my memories,'' Cummings said. ''Her representative called me and said my letter moved her to tears, so she agreed to sell it to me.''
Meanwhile, Cummings had been trying to buy the other trailer, a 1950 Silver Streak ''Clipper,'' that appeared to be abandoned on a county road in Brownwood. Silver Streak made aluminum travel trailers in the 1950s.
About 15 months later, Cummings would finally realize his dream. Within 24 hours, he became the proud owner of both travel trailers.
''It's a God thing,'' he said.
Cummings described the Globe Trotter as a time capsule - it had not been opened in 10 years. All of the appliances worked. He even found $420 inside, which he took back to the previous owner.
''They gave me $100 for being honest,'' Cummings said.
First, he worked on the exterior. Then he refurbished the interior, installing new laminate floors, cushions, upholstery and curtains. So far, Cummings has put about $4,500 into the project.
He's not quite finished with the refurbishment, but the Globe Trotter is travel-ready. Its maiden voyage was to NASCAR races in Charlotte, N.C., in October 2005.
When he's not working on one of his trailers, Cummings makes aluminum bird houses that are replicas of his Airstream - and other trailer enthusiasts are buying them. Last Christmas, he sold out the birdhouses.
'Love at first sight'
In 1994, Steve Harris of Brownwood saw a vintage 1951 Silver Streak ''Clipper'' in a used trailer sales lot and it was love at first sight.
''I've always loved the silver trailers and wanted one,'' he said. ''It was in great original condition.''
Harris refurbished the interior and exterior and actually lived in it near Lake Brownwood for several years. So far, he and his partner Steve Puckett have spent about $5,000 restoring the travel trailer.
The leather banquette (couch) is his pride and joy. All of the cabinets and countertops are original.
''To look at these trailers is to look at a work of art,'' Puckett said. ''It is a piece of history.''
After seeing Harris' trailer, Katy and Barry Creek, also of Brownwood, began searching for one of their own. They started looking for an Airstream to buy on the online auction Web site eBay.com about three years ago.
''My dad saw one for sale on the bulletin board at work in Brownwood, so we went to look,'' Katy Creek said.
They found a 1959 Airstream ''Traveler'' that had been sitting in a field outside of Grosvenor west of Brownwood.
''It had a trash can lid on top of it to keep the rain out,'' Katy Creek said. ''But we knew it was a diamond in the rough and we wanted something we could update.''
Two years and about $9,000 later, the Creeks have a trailer that is showroom quality - with wood laminate floors, granite counter tops, refurbished cabinets and stainless steel appliances.
''I've spent the last two years polishing it,'' Barry Creek said with a laugh.
Keeping the vintage aluminum polished is quite a chore, requiring 80 to 90 hours every year.
Even if the trailers are parked, people are interested in seeing them.
''We've had at least 50 people either leave notes on our door or come to the door,'' Barry Creek said.
The vintage trailer enthusiasts don't seem to mind. They say they are proud to pull these conversation pieces around with them to place after place.
''There is an instant camaraderie with other trailer owners,'' Puckett said. ''It's like having an instant family.''
Travel trailers: a brief history
Airstream trailers first came on the scene in 1936, when the first ''Clipper'' was built. The silver trailer was modeled after the first trans Atlantic seaplane, slept four, carried its own water and was fitted with electric lights. The cost for this land yacht? Only $1,200.
In 1969, the crew of Apollo 11 was quarantined in a modified Airstream trailer for three weeks upon return from the moon to determine whether they had brought back ''lunar pathogens.''
In 2004, Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie hauled a silver 25-foot CCD International Airstream trailer on their Fox television reality show ''The Simple Life.''
Airstreams can be found in the Smithsonian Institution, the Henry Ford Museum, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
www.reporternews.com/news/2007/jul/15/traveling-in-style/
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