Text by Patrick Bell.
As there are many types of trailers, our focus today for the most part is on the camping type. Many people heed the call of the open road, and like to take a bed along with them. Join us as we look at some vintage trailers, cars, and the related activities.
We begin on a beach with some military style portable runway panels in place so you can drive on the sand. Everyone was relaxing in their own way; a woman on a chaise lounge, a boy with an implement of some sort, and a man in the back seat of the 1958 Plymouth Custom Suburban 9 passenger wagon. The Shasta camp trailer had a clothes line for wet life vests, so they had been out in the water.
The Plymouth was V8 powered, and the 9 passenger models had the spare tire storage behind the removable panel on the quarter panel. There were some advantages to having it outside versus inside, but overall I don’t think it worked too well.
This site appears to be a trailer park, as opposed to a campground. There was a lawn and flower beds along with a boy and a dog. I guess the small trailer was for the boy, while his parents were in the larger one. Out front was a 1951 Ford Custom Tudor Sedan.
I am not sure what kind of fish the girl was holding in the upper photo, but it was nearly as long as she was tall. Behind her was a 1949 Lincoln Cosmopolitan with a large sun visor and a California license plate renewed for 1952. This was the first year of a body style used through 1951.
The lower image shows the family’s catch for the day I presume, along with all the fisherpeople. And a better view of their trailer and awning to the left.
It looked like an unwanted visitor dropped in from above the Yellowstone camp trailer; a dead tree limb that got hung up on a power line. A picnic table was to the left along with various lawn chairs and other necessities. To the right was the apparent tow car; a two tone 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air Townsman wagon.
Here was someone’s trophy clamped to a 1957 Dodge Coronet 4 door sedan. Through the car you can see a small boat, and they were located in a trailer park. Both of the visible trailer’s had lean-to’s attached for additional room, and the one on the left had a nice sitting area and a flower trellis.
This one looks to be a pop up camp trailer with an awning over the kitchen/dining area. The lady of the camper was relaxing and appeared to be reading something. There were many towels hanging to dry, but it did look like a community clothes line.
On the right edge was the right front corner of a 1957 Chevrolet, partially hidden above it was a white 1962 Chevrolet Impala, and to the left possibly a black 1960-1963 Ford Falcon Ranchero.
This group was camping in the desert with a 10′ cabover camper mounted on a 1962-1966 GMC Wideside long bed pickup. It had a pair of leveling jacks under the rear bumper to help stabilize it. And no clothes line at this campsite, just a tree.
To the right was a 1961 Ford Galaxie Club Victoria with possibly a 1965 issue Ohio license plate.
This set up looks abandoned, but apparently nobody wanted their picture taken. A 1962 Chevrolet Biscayne 4 door sedan with V8 power was the tow car for a Prowler camp trailer. All the windows were open so it was a warm day at this impromptu campsite which was barely off the road. And there must have been something to look at behind the camera as all three lawn chairs were facing that direction.
Now we have a 1963 Ford Fairlane 500 4 door sedan with a heavy duty trailer hitch and a Washington state license plate that was issued in Spokane County, where the seat is a city of the same name. It was parked in a trailer park in front a Terry camp trailer. The two likely belonged together and the lady made a trio.
In the background was a 1961 or 1962 International Travelall, and to the left was an Aristocrat camp trailer.
Two girls were enjoying a bottle of soda pop, while Mom was posing along with them. They were traveling in a 1966 Dodge Coronet 440 4 door sedan and towing a Shasta camp trailer. To the left was another Dodge 440, this one a 1964 2 door sedan. To the right of the tall girl’s head was a 1964 Ford Fairlane 500 2 door hardtop with the deck lid open, and to the right of the Shasta was a black 1960 Chevrolet Impala 4 door sedan. The red and white pickup with camper was a 1965 or 1966 Ford F-series, and to its right was the right rear corner of a 1965 or 1966 Chrysler Town & Country wagon.
A man was posing with a 1969 Ford LTD 4 door sedan and an Airstream travel trailer. The LTD had a square tube framed something on the front end, likely a bug shield, as well as a trailer mirror on the fender. The Airstream had a hinged cover for the front window, a TV antenna on top, and a roll up awning on the side. The number on the upper front indicated he was a member of a caravan, most likely the Wally Byam Caravan Club International.
A well dressed man was standing with a 1967 Lincoln Continental Sedan that had a trailer hitch and a 1971 Illinois license plate. Neither of them seemed to go with what we can see of the trailer to the left, so perhaps he was a visitor. In the far end of the yard was a pink flamingo.
And another Lincoln in the driveway of this mobile home. This one was a 1969 Continental Sedan with a Washington state license plate issued in Snohomish County where the seat is Everett. Parked in front of it was a 1970-1972 Ford Ranger XLT F- series Styleside pickup.
This combination fits together a little better, though it is still not what you would expect a Lincoln owner to have for housing. It was a nice mobile home with full skirting, an awning on the front window, and a covered porch/deck on the other side.
To close we have a 1972 Buick LeSabre with a 1975 Illinois license plate along with a pop up camper that was all popped up and ready for use. They were an economical way for many people to experience camping, and were much easier to tow as well. The Buick made a great tow car, with lots of room for stuff like lawn chairs.
Thanks for joining us and have a great day!
Thanks for the camping pics, brings back memories from the 60s. There were a lot of tent trailers then, cheaper to purchase and tow. And frequently set up in the yard at home to either air out or to sleep in when the house was just too hot at night.
We used to tent camp in the 60s and 70s and I was always jealous of folks who had actual campers. The big Airstreams always seemed to be pulled by Cadillacs or International Travelalls. I’m at an age now that my idea of roughing it is staying in a low-end Hilton property, but I do appreciate the looks of a polished Airstream.
I’m roughing it this morning in a dry (no water, pit toilets) Forest Service campground. But being in an actual campground and not boondocking is a luxury for us. And I’m posting this via satellite, something these Lincoln and Buick driving campers could never imagine 60 years ago. Other than the campground host, no one here has a trailer. A couple of vans, a few rooftop tents but mostly crossovers and ground tents. And every vehicle here is black, white, gray or brown/beige.
In the photo of the 1969 LTD and the Airstream, I see a motorcycle between the two. Perhaps a Honda ST70.
Beautiful photos.
Not to pick nits, but I will anyway.
For someone who has camped (with a tent and/or a trailer) all over the most of the continent, I have an issue with your statements that differentiated campgrounds and trailer parks.
Most campgrounds have facilities for trailers, but most dedicated commercial or residential trailer parks often restrict soft-sided or primitive camping.
You can, of course, camp with a trailer in a trailer park, but you usually cannot camp with a soft-sided tent or primitive gear in that park.
I object to Google AI interference in my searches, but I will admit it is time appropriate when necessary
I have to wonder whether those fins on the Shasta in the first pic did anything for the rig’s directional stability. 🙂
lolol I think they’re, there for “decoration”.
The fins on old Shasta travel trailers are actually known as wings, decorative aluminum or stainless-steel attachments mounted on the upper rear sides of models from the late 1950s and 1960s. Inspired by the tailfins of classic 1950s automobiles, they were. purely cosmetic styling to give the camper a futuristic look in the rocket age.
Nice pictures .
Part of my youth was spent in areas like the one with the ’69 Lincoln, few of those parks were well kept, I had a serious fear of ending my days in a trailer .
From the mid 1950’s through ’64 / ’65 we had IHC Travelalls and a HUGE ‘cottage tent’ .
-Nate
Retro trailers and matching cars of the same era are the in thing these days at auto shows. Even young people think they are cool because they look different. The trailers specifically which are more rare than classic cars.
As a kid growing-up in Arizona in the seventies, our family had a 1965 Chevy panel van, for various chores, including dry camping. Mom and sister slept in the van; Dad and us boys slept outside on cots, under the stars. Thank you for bringing back good memories.