old camper at a site i drove by

mowermech has it right.
Having lived in a 'trailer camp' in the late '40s and early '50s the Vagabond was a nice "house trailer" (nothing like a camping trailer or TT) which today we call them a mobilhome made for full time living.
Camping trailers from that era were small single axle and a few tandems less than 20'.

The Airstream was made as a travel trailer with holding tanks/fresh water tanks/12v and 110v systems/converters/etc.

Lots of confusion caused by those old house trailers someone converted into a beautiful TT such as the all rivited aluminum '40s/'50s Spartan Manor and now call them a travel trailer.

Chances are, that is not a "camper" or "Recreational Vehicle", that is a "trailer house".
Some may ask "What's the difference?". That is a good question.
A "trailer house" does not have holding tanks. It does not have a fresh water tank or pump. It does not have a battery. It does not have a 12VDC system, except for the DOT exterior lights. It was built to be towed to a site in a trailer park, and lived in.
In other words, they were the ancestors of the single-wide "mobile homes" that are built today.
My family lived in one in the early 1950s. It was smaller than the one shown, but similar.

I was at a CG with an abandoned Airstream that someone just left. It was in decent shape. CG Owner called a scrap yard to come get it for the scrap metal. :E

I asked him to give me a couple days before they started to cut it up.

I looked on line for antique airstream clubs and found The Airstream Guy who restores and supplies parts for antique TT's. He drove in from out west and took it and SAVED it!


Here are the pictures of the Airstream that was doomed for the scrap yard!

To OP:

Think of ALL the hard to find parts on that RV you saw that people restoring one could use!

Give a simple shout out/email to were it is located to one of the clubs for that type of TT. :W

This is a good starting point.
/tincantourists.com
http://oldtrailer.com/vintage-vagabond-trailers.html

FireUP; Back then, autos could be had with BIG motors...and of course they (the cars were HUGE with "real" steel chassis.... compared to todays' almost fragile bathtub clones.

Check out that old movie: "The Long, Long Trailer" with Lucille Ball and Dezi Arnez. Same generation trailer, I think...all being pulled with a Mercury sedan (or was it a convertible?)

It is indeed a Long, long trailer!

I love the huge windows. And the bathtub!

Old-Biscuit,
I was thinking the exact same thing.
Dave

"LUCY...you got some splaining to do" :B

Just this weekend there was a Vintage RV Rally at South Beach SP, there were some great vintage rig here.

You know, the one in the video link is a '53 model/year. If the one in the OPs pictures is the same, I'm presupposing that, those models, especially in that length, are SERIOUSLY HEAVY! Based on materials for construction and techniques that were used in those days, they have to be heavy. Now, with all that being said, just what, in 1953, would tow something like that? I mean, they didn't have production 900 ft.lb. torque diesels like they do in the '17 Ford, GM and Dodge trucks. Or, they really didn't large cu. in. Gas engines either.

In fact, wasn't the engine available in a Chevy at that time only a 216 cu. in. 6 cyl? I don't know what Ford had. Just wondering.
Scott

gbopp wrote:
That was a neat looking rig. :(
Thanks for posting.

X2