Happy campers
Copyright © 2002 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.
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What they got, for $650, was a real attention-getter: a 1972 Silver Streak tow-along camper. The 20-foot long trailer is rounded on the ends, like some sort of alien spacecraft in a 1950s' movie. Its bright silver exterior has been known to blind people, and its turquoise-colored interior is pure nostalgia.
"It looks like R2D2 from 'Star Wars' or a big silver beetle," said Diane Aldrich, 47, of Windham. "I was amazed how people have been drawn to this. It's like Mecca for people who like campers."
| ABOUT TRAILERS |
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For more information on vintage campers or motor homes, here are some resources to contact: The Vintage Airstream Club — More than 1,000 members nationwide, this club holds rallies around the country and posts lots of information and classified ads on its Web site, www.airstream.net. If you don't have Internet access, write to membership chairman Wayne Moore at P.O. Box 4173, Windham, N.H., 03087. Tin Can Tourists — A group committed to the celebration of classic trailers and motor coaches, also hosts annual gatherings. The Web site is www.tincantourists.com. Trailer Life Magazine — Covers all aspects of recreational vehicles, including vintage ones. For more information, call (800) 825-6861. Vintage Vacations — California-based company which restores older trailers. For more information, call (714) 288-9233.
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And today, when people seem to be rediscovering the joys of driving vacations in light of last year's air-travel worries, old trailers have a new appeal. Here in Maine, people who own or restore vintage trailers and campers cover a wide spectrum. There are those like the Aldriches, who were looking for a cheap vacation vehicle. Some were just given an old trailer for free, then fixed it up. Others own more valuable antique campers, such as vintage Airstreams, which are often silver and rounded as well, and could sell today for $10,000 or more.
Some of these Mainers are in national clubs, like the 1,000-plus member Vintage Airstream Club or the Tin Can Tourists. Others keep up on developments in the vintage camper world by reading Trailer Life magazine or going online to find articles and information. But all share a passion for the nostalgia and uniqueness represented by old trailers.
Sheri Huff of Raymond, for example, spends her days around lots of newer trailers at her job. She's co-owner of Lee Family Trailer Sales and Service in Windham. But when she goes home, the trailer parked in her yard is a cute little 1965 Scotty trailer. A customer of hers had owned it for 20 years, and wanted to get something newer, so he basically left it at Huff's dealership so he wouldn't have to dispose of it himself.
Huff fell in love with the 13-foot trailer, with its rounded top and wooden paneled interior walls. It sleeps four, has a little dinette and a two-burner stove. It also has a swinging canvas bunk, like something on a Navy submarine.
Huff painted the outside burgundy and gold, to match her pick-up truck, which is something she says is popular among trailer owners in the western part of the country. She also had her business name lettered on the outside. The little old trailer attracts attention whenever Huff goes camping, so she gets some publicity for her business at the same time.
To restore the trailer, Huff removed and hand-sanded all the woodwork inside. She also removed the old, bright-red cloth upholstery and replaced it with a southwestern pattern of squares and triangles.
Huff loves the way the trailer looks now, and she especially likes the fact that it was built the year she was born, 1965.
The love of campers and trailers goes way back in Huff's family. Her husband's great-great uncle, Albert Chapman of East Corinth, was featured in a 1953 Portland newspaper article after creating his own 35-foot motor home. The $9,000 vehicle looked like a stainless steel school bus. Chapman was quoted as saying his motor home didn't "curve around as fancy as those Detroit factory jobs, but it won't rattle and that's important when you're riding inside."
Huff sells new and used trailers at her business, and says that very few older trailers are in great condition or hold their value. That's not true of old Airstreams, the curvy and silver trailers Albert Chapman may have been alluding to in his "Detroit factory jobs" quote. Airstreams, maybe the most recognizable trailers ever, were first manufactured in 1936.
Today, one can browse the Vintage Airstream Club's online classifieds and find plenty of valuable antiques: a 1956 Airstream Ambassador selling for $5,500; a rare 1957 Airstream Bubble valued at $10,000 to $11,000; a 1978 Airstream International Land Yacht with twin beds, for $6,000.
"They have a clean, unique look and they hold their value because there were limited numbers made," said Huff.
The Aldriches' Silver Streak looks like an Airstream to some people, but it's not. Still, it's bubble-like appearance and shining silver exterior grab's people's attention.
Diane Aldrich had never camped in her life before he husband, Darin, brought home the Silver Streak earlier this year. Darin grew up in Windham and had camped most of his youth, so he was familiar with silver bubble trailers.
"He pulled up with it and I said, 'What is it?' " recalled Diane.
But Diane soon fell in love with the quirky trailer, especially because the turquoise-colored cabinets inside reminded her of her mother's kitchen when she was a child.
The Aldriches installed a dorm-sized refrigerator and put one of their TVs on the shelving unit. They also put a microwave on the counter.
The interior is a model of efficiency. The gray vinyl bench pulls out to make a double bed, and the gray vinyl dinette seats fold down to make a twin bed. Of course, together, the two beds take up the whole trailer.
"But it's great because you can lie in bed and reach the refrigerator and TV without getting up," said Diane, a kindergarten teacher. She said that as many as five members of her family have slept in the trailer at once: she and her husband and three children, ages 1, 5 and 13.
Aldrich says she's delighted with how easy it is to camp in the Silver Streak, and she thinks her family may take it cross country. For now, they camp at local campgrounds on weekends, where owners of bigger and newer trailers seem curious and even envious.
Jerry Chambers of Rumford understands that sensation. He acquired his camper by following Maine's great tradition of swapping big-ticket items, say an old truck for a tractor.
Chambers was selling his 1986 Ford Bronco when a man in North New Portland, north of Farmington, called and offered to trade his 1973 Champion motor home for it.
Chambers, who worked for years as a mechanic, decided to take the challenge. He gave the engine a good tune-up and got the 20-foot vehicle running. Then he replaced the orange carpet and countertops with a softer, bluish-gray color. He built a new table for eating, and sewed new cushions and drapes.
Chambers, 43, takes his restored motor home out about five times a year and has gone to Washington, D.C., with it twice, for Memorial Day events.
"It gets a lot of comments," said Chambers. "In Rockland last year, these people had a $125,000 motor home and they wanted to see the inside of mine."
Staff Writer Ray Routhier can be contacted at 791-6454 or at:
rrouthier@pressherald.com