A Giant For Its Time!

This is a photo of our first family camper in 1949. My dad bought a small, old camper, cut it in half and build bunk beds and a bathroom in the middle and then put it back together. He was a “jack of all trades”. We were now the proud owners of a 32′ trailer, which was unusually long at that time.

Me, Dad, Mom, my brother, and 2 collie pups left the Fremont, Ohio area in the snow in January heading for Tampa, Florida (with no maps!) Since there were no interstate highways in 1949, we were traveling on two-lane roads. My Dad pulled it with a 1937 Cadillac Business Coupe. His first mistake was going north instead of south, and ended up in Toledo. Second problem was getting stuck on a gravel road , being unable to make it up a hill. He had to block the wheels and find a farmer with a tractor to help pull us up the road. Because the trailer was so long, we attracted a lot of interest from everyone.

We finally arrived in the Tampa area and parked in a trailer pard (Egypt Lake) and lived there until September. We returned to Ohio in September 1949, since my Dad was unable to find work. We lived in it for another month, and then it was sold.

My husband and I are avid campers, traveling to just about all the states and as far as Nova Scotia and Alaska.

Submitted by Barbara Ingersoll of Medina, OH as a part of the RV Centennial Celebration “Share Your Favorite RV Memory” contest.

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