When did slide outs first show up?

the one in the first picture was a park model. The tipouts were designed to be tipped out then screwed to the trailer body. They were NOT meant to be used as a standard travel trailer moved from campground to campground. The current form of slideout showed up in the late 80's with the BAL cable system. A nightmare of a system that broke constantly.

So these "tip outs" would fold into the TT body and lay on the floor, and then the opening would be covered by either canvas or plywood during transit?

It doesn't seem like there is enough room in the TT in the original post to accommodate those large tip outs when folded down in. and I would think there would be all sorts of leaking issues....

The first one they had - dinette only had three large hinges.

The second trailer had piano hinges.

All of theirs had a light plywood cover that was screwed to the opening frame with a foam rubber between the frame and cover. That might have been something his dad added.

During the summer they would typically stay one to two weeks in one place, move 80-100 miles and stay another couple weeks as the pipeline progressed across the country.

Thanks everyone, just to get a visual of the technology, were the tip outs on a piano type hinge on the bottom of the tip out and simply "tipped out" when the trailer arrived at its destination?

The Canvas covers for the open areas while traveling could cause some pretty serious issues. But I would imagine that these destination trailers pretty much stayed put when they got where they were going.

thanks!

jeremiah

PawPaw_n_Gram wrote:
One of my best friends family used to travel with the father to pipeline construction sites in the summers of the 60's. They would buy a 35-40 footer each year for their summer trip and sell it just before heading home to south Lousiana. Those would be called Park Models today.

In 66, they showed up on their way north with a trailer with a tip-out dinette. In 67, they had one with three tip-outs.

TTs in the '60s were small single axle and large 18'-22' tandem axle units.

Units 35'-40' were actually house trailers of that era or mobilehomes as we call them today. They came with tip outs/pull outs in the '60s.

One of my best friends family used to travel with the father to pipeline construction sites in the summers of the 60's. They would buy a 35-40 footer each year for their summer trip and sell it just before heading home to south Lousiana. Those would be called Park Models today.

In 66, they showed up on their way north with a trailer with a tip-out dinette. In 67, they had one with three tip-outs.

For the RV industry, manual slide outs with manual slide out frame supports began in the early 1980's (mainly on large park model trailers). Tip outs, as shown in your picture showed up in the mid 70's. Electric slides arrived in the late 80's early 90's in class A motor homes and then in travel trailers in the mid 90's .... slides have evolved and improved over the years, our trailer has opposing slides that open up the entire center of or trailer for that residential feel.

Lou

Frederick W. Follett (Patented in 1921) was busy working on an “expansible body for automobiles and other vehicles,” a state-of-the-art touring car hybrid which employed two lateral slides and a vertical slide thus allowing the vehicle interior to be converted into sleeping quarters when camping. A dresser, wardrobe and other storage compartments - to house the requisite clothing, food and cooking utensils - were provided at the rear of the vehicle along with a hot and cold water tank, toilet, kerosene stove, ice box and, remarkably, a hinged bathtub that could be lowered when needed thus making this a true camping vehicle in every sense. In car entertainment was provided by a phonograph and a small library which you could enjoy inside the vehicle or, alternatively, you could deploy the two roof awnings either side of the vehicle and sit outside.
Concept......


'Extensicar', patented in 1924 by John and Mary Purdey of Wolverhampton, UK. A rack-and-pinion mechanism operated by a handle at the rear of the caravan wound out extensions on both sides of the body. (Caravan was a towed trailer)

D H Morgan built a caravan in 1937 for the actor Claude Dampier which boasted four slide-outs, two each side to the front and the rear of the wheel arches.

Claude Dampier (1939/1940?) commissioned a motorhome from Carlight that boasted such features as hot-and-cold running water, mains electrics, radio, a battery fed by a trickle charger and dual gas/electric lighting. The body sports a 'west wing' slide-out and may have had the equivalent on the other side.

Unfortunately the depression and then WWII halted productions on those that went from concept to production.

Slideouts made a come back in 1990 when Newmar patented their power slideouts used in their MHs & FWs

During WW2 there were command post and shop trailers with full length slideouts on both sides, roughly doubling the contained volume of the transportable unit. Not the same push button tech of today's RVs but the same principle. I would not be surprised if someone found something yet earlier.