“The Rally”
Birmingham, AL
July 24, 2010
Got up this morning rather early, started to get the trailer ready for tours, and open all the windows, etc…. Being Saturday must have help bring out even larger crowds than we have had during the week. People started to show up much earlier, by 8 am there were many people walking around to see the vintage rigs. The entire day was quite busy, had many interesting people tour the trailers. First in the morning was an elderly lady that had suffered a severe stroke, but was very happy to see my trailer, she talked about how it was almost identical to the trailer she lived in with her parents growing up. Apparently her father worked for the Pontiac Chief Trailer company and traveled all around to the dealerships and pulled the trailer to keep his family with him while he worked. She told me it was a 1951 Pontiac Chief and I remembered that I had a late 1950 Trailer Topic issue laying on the couch, I grabbed it up and knew right where there was a full page ad showing the ‘New’ 1951 Pontiac Chief trailer to come out the next year! She was very thrilled to see the ad of the same make and model trailer they lived in, she yelled out the door for her husband to come and see, “there it is” she told him, that is the same trailer I have be telling you about for 50 years! “that is what it looked like!” She then thanked me and told me it had made her day to see that trailer one last time!
Later in the day I had another really neat experience with a younger girl about 24 years old. She came with her mother and was completely blind. I had seen her outside of other trailers feeling of the outsides, and when her and her mother came by I told them to come on in and check out the trailer. I had her the young girl outside saying how cool these trailers “looked” as she felt of the outsides, so when she came in I told her to feel free to “see” anything she wanted to, and gestured to her mother that she could touch anything she wanted. The young girl had a great time feeling of everything and saying how cool everything looked! Her favorite parts were the big chrome coffee pot, she loved the profile of the spout and handle (Her mother would describe as she felt) and she loved the refrigerator handle, as well as all the curved wood and of course the 1950 TV with all the neat shaped buttons! Out of the whole week I think this was the coolest experience!
I also had an acquaintance that I have corresponded with online for many years come by, She felt it would be fun to play a joke on me…..and she got me good! I had just got done having a conversation with a women telling me of a guy that had many vintage trailers sitting in a barn and where he was located! After that is when my acquaintance came by, After looking at my trailer she proceeded to tell me that she still had all of her fathers old trailers he bought many years ago in a barn! Then her and her friend told me of how it looked very space age, was Fiberglas, and called something like geographic? I immediately was thinking of the 1960′s Holiday House Geographic!!!!!!! A very rare trailer of which just a few where made!!!! One went up for sell not too long ago for $400,000.00!!!!! I told her to wait just a second and ran to Al’s Motor home where he had a picture of one and came back to the trailer. Asked if the trailer looked anything like the picture and they said yes, that’s it! I about had a heart attack until they started laughing and told me who they were and that they were joking!!!! They got me good!
By around 3 pm the heat was just getting to be too much! Heat index was well over 100 degrees! There were even a few of the Vintage trailers to pull out by 3 pm! It was just that hot, and no wind like the other days! Al went to talk to the Good Sam’s Club (who sponsored our Vintage Rigs to be there) and they agreed that we could leave Saturday or Sunday Morning, and not be required to stay through 3 pm on Sunday! By 5 pm I had decided to pack up and head back too. I had 12 hours to travel and figured if I got as little as a few hours down the road it would be that many less tomorrow. About 4 other Rigs decided to leave today as well, the rest will pull out very early tomorrow before the parking lot gets full. I actually made very good time, I left the fairgrounds by 6 pm and by 11pm I found a great Campground just north of Birmingham AL. I am very happy to make it just about half way today, I should be home a little after noon tomorrow!
Tim Heintz
TCT S.E. Rep.
1950 Spartanette Tandem
