Can you tell us about how you got into the vintage trailer hobby? My husband, Nick, and I had been informally looking at campers for a couple of years as we approached retirement. We looked at one vintage camper, but it was too heavy for us to tow and needed quite a bit of work.… Continue reading New Member Interview with Jennifer Redden

by Andrew Woodmansey Part Three – Early RV Design Trends Three early North American RVs to feature strongly in current histories of the North American RV include the Pierce-Arrow Touring Landau (1910), the ‘camping auto’ of Thomas Coleman du Pont (c1911) and the ‘gypsy van’ double-decker bus of Roland P. Conklin (1915). Their place in… Continue reading Updating American RV History – Part Three

by Andrew Woodmansey Part Two – Not Always The First An online search for the ‘first RV’ often directs us to a number of North American motorised vehicles, with the Pierce-Arrow Touring Landau of 1910 being a particular favorite. Although there is no doubt that North America was great at adapting RVs to local conditions… Continue reading Updating American RV History – Part Two

by Andrew Woodmansey Part One – Health Seekers and Ambulance Wagons Why does American RV history need to be brought up to date? Because over the last decade or so literally millions of old newspapers, photos and books have been digitised by libraries and museums around the world. This has allowed us to make new… Continue reading Updating American RV History – Part One

Can you tell us about how you got into the vintage trailer hobby? First, I do not consider it a hobby to restore vintage campers. The restoration process is very costly and requires an enormous amount of research and time. My firm specialized in Historic Restoration of State and Federal buildings , so I felt… Continue reading New Member Interview with Mitchell McDaniel

Can you tell us about how you got into the vintage trailer hobby?  We actually purchased a Vintage Cruiser bout 5 years ago which is a new trailer that is retro in design to look the part but definitely not as cool. I am an antique car collector and have become very interested in restoring… Continue reading New Member Interview with Matthew Hodgman

Can you tell us about how you got into the vintage trailer hobby?I was born into camping, my parents had an late 50’s truck camper when I was born and when I was 2 months old, I went on my very first camping trip.   We lived 2 doors down from Butch & Carolyn Adams.… Continue reading New Member Interview with Janine Bailey

We collect Tin Can Tourists historical documents and photos in order to preserve and understand our past. Here are a few programs from Tin Can Tourists conventions held in Tampa Florida in the late 30s and throughout the 40s. In the late 30’s the organization was only 20 years old and was finding its way.… Continue reading TCT Convention Material from the 1930’s and 40’s

Can you tell us about how you got into the vintage trailer hobby? My Wife and I always planned on traveling in a Vintage RV after retirement.  I am an Analog Guy and have always appreciated past technology. In 2016 we started traveling in our RV.  We have visited 23 States so far and the… Continue reading New Member Interview with John Roberts

Can you tell us about how you got into the vintage trailer hobby? We are very new to the vintage trailer hobby, but have a few friends with vintage trailers and have been looking for quite some time. What type of trailers have you owned and what do you have now? What is your dream… Continue reading New Member Interview with Don & Kathy Brown

Can you tell us about how you got into the vintage trailer hobby? My grandparents purchased a camper new in 1970, in the 90s my dad inherited it and our family camped in it since then. Last year i inherited it and decided to restore/renovate it. I’ve been vintage camping my whole life just didn’t… Continue reading New Member Interview with Philip Ross

Can you tell us about how you got into the vintage trailer hobby? We got into the vintage trailer hobby when Gary came home with yet another antique tractor. I (Carrie) informed him it was my turn to start collecting trailers. What type of trailers have you owned and what do you have now? What… Continue reading New Member Interview with Gary & Carrie Powell

Can you tell us about how you got into the vintage trailer hobby? I got covid in 2020 and subsequently had a couple scares where I was exposed to people who had Covid and I had to quarantine away from my wife and kids. We borrowed a 10-year-old rPod 171 from some friends and I… Continue reading New Member Interview with Alex Dulude

Can you tell us about how you got into the vintage trailer hobby? When I was in my early 20’s (1980’s) in L.A. I used to go to place (Iowa Boys, “outstanding in the field”) that specialized in used vintage trailers to sell and supply the film industry. I used to spend hours walking through… Continue reading New Member Interview with Ingall Bull

Patrick and Pam Rediker’s 1963 Go-Lite Can you tell us about how you got into the vintage trailer hobby? We have an appreciation of all things vintage. Pam and I wanted torestore a trailer together, so the search was on. Two years later weacquired a 10-foot, 1963 Go-Lite, manufactured by the HerzigManufacturing Company in Fremont… Continue reading New Member Interview with Patrick and Pam Rediker

What could be better than having a Tin Can Tourists membership? Combining it with a Harvest Hosts membership! Harvest Hosts can be used as an ideal in-between stop or even destination when traveling across the continent.  Harvest Hosts allows its members to take a step off of the beaten path and enjoy unlimited overnights at… Continue reading Harvest Hosts, the Perfect Co-Pilot

About 15 years ago, we purchased a very sad 1958 Oasis.  She had missing windows and water damage. She was purchased with no other purpose than to have a place for our grandsons to sleep when visiting. The grandsons used her and then grew up. The camper sat neglected until about a year and a… Continue reading New Member Interview with Layne & Linda Anderson

Can you tell us about how you got into the vintage trailer hobby? I can’t say that it’s a hobby with us yet, but more of a bucket-list dream. Both my wife and I love camping though our lifestyle prevents us from being away from the farm for the most part. My grandfather had a… Continue reading New Member Interview with Merrill Walters

About two years ago we were contacted by an author named Andrew Woodmansey who wanted to talk about the Tin Can Tourists for a book that he was working on called “Recreational Vehicles – A World History 1872 -1939“. We shared some emails back and forth and I was impressed by his level of research.… Continue reading Rewriting RV History

Can you tell us about how you got into the vintage trailer hobby? When my father passed away suddenly, I decided to take what I called an almost 2 week “solo soul-journ” to deal with my grief and escape with my memories.  I travelled solo to some wonderful, remote locations as some of my fondest… Continue reading New Member Interview with Amy Lea Raglin

Can you tell us about how you got into the vintage trailer hobby? I completely stumbled upon it really. I bought an old trailer for 500 bucks a few years ago to take my kids camping because we had tent camped as kids and my kids were getting older, now or never situation. It was… Continue reading New Member interview with Carrie Schmidt 

Can you tell us about how you got into the vintage trailer hobby? I work at Old Fort Parker Historic Site and I needed a trailer from time to time during large events or road trips, so why not a vintage one? So, I bought my first vintage trailer from a TCT classified ad and… Continue reading Not so New Member Interview with Sarah McReynolds

Can you tell us about how you got into the vintage trailer hobby? I had restored/renovated a few campers and RVs with my wife, only for her to eventually sell.  So, I decided I wanted a project for myself that I was going to keep and use.  Most important was that I could handle the… Continue reading New Member Interview with Brigitte Dutil