Smithsonian Magazine

[roadeo]

Was told about an article from Smithsonian Magazine 1985.(month unknown) Airstream trailers and the people who own them. Showed a Rally in Lake Placid...3,965 trailers on 140 acres, parked in geometric patterns. Article said "to Airstreamers, 50 trailers constitute an intimate gathering".

Any chance any of you have this article?
Could you report on it possibly or even post part of it here? That is more than 17 years but don't know about the copyright renewal etc.
Wouldn't posting here be considered fair usage anyway?

Is there a Bibliography of magazine articles on Airstream and/or all Silver trailers anywhere that anyone knows about?

[roadeo]

Do not know if the Official Archivist of the forum, or is it of the WBCCI or the VAC. Mr.Coldwell I believe, saw this or not. But I would again like to inquire as to whether anyone has ever seen a "Bibliography" of articles and even ads etc of articles concerning Airstreams.

Thanks

[47WeeWind]

Originally Posted by roadeo

Do not know if the Official Archivist of the forum, or is it of the WBCCI or the VAC. Mr.Coldwell I believe, saw this or not. But I would again like to inquire as to whether anyone has ever seen a "Bibliography" of articles and even ads etc of articles concerning Airstreams.

Thanks

Roadeo:

A bibliograhpy of both current and out of print Airstream books and articles is posted on the VAC site at:

http://www.airstream.net/reading.html

Airstreams ads are too numerous to track down and list each one over the past 70 or so years, but some are posted in the VAC Archives. Explore the VAC web site for more good information:

http://www.airstream.net

[MarkE]

rodeo,
I have an aged photocopy of this article. It is a 9 page article written by Doug Stewart, who was a guest in a caravan to the International Rally and at the rally.
It is a good mixture of factual background of Airstreaming, WBCCI; and human-interest anecdotes from his observations/experiences while attending the International.
There are some good photos (my copy, being a black & white photocopy, isn't as impressive as the original magazine spread).
The author relates stories of several of the Airstreamers he spoke with.
The pages do not give any indication of which issue of the magazine this appears in. If anyone has that information, please pass it on as I would like to see if I could track down a copy. I made my photocopy years ago from a co-worker's magazine.
An interesting read.

[roadeo]

Mark according to the above linked bibliography furnished by Fred Coldwell, the Smithsonian issue was December 1985.

Thanks to both of you for the quick replies.

Fred does the VAC maintain a file of all those actual items? If so are researchers allowed to use? Is there an actual mission statement & plan for the archives or is a more casual type undertaking?
I am glad it exists in whatever form. BTW does it suffer in any way from lack of funding? What are your most pressing needs?

[47WeeWind]

Originally Posted by roadeo

Fred does the VAC maintain a file of all those actual items? If so are researchers allowed to use? Is there an actual mission statement & plan for the archives or is a more casual type undertaking? I am glad it exists in whatever form. BTW does it suffer in any way from lack of funding? What are your most pressing needs?

Roadeo:

The VAC Archives does not have copies of all the items mentioned in the list compiled by Pat and Paul, but many of those items are around here. The VAC Archives is informal and casual, basically a few boxes and three ring binders in my house. I've concentrated on acquiring at my own expense original 1940-50 Airstream sales literature as that was the least represented area in the Archives. I donate scanned images to the Archives, which consisted of poor b&w photocopies of 1940-50s materials and some original 1960s and later materials when I took over 4 years ago. Some more original 1970-90 sales literature has since been donated.

There is no Archive funding from the VAC during the last 2 years, as the Vintage Advantage magazine properly absorbs a large portion of club funds. Only about half of the VAC members are on line, and bandwidth (not server space) and time for scanning are limiting factors in distributing high resolution images on line. But all VAC members receive the Vintage Advantage magazine, so I've determined the best way to distribute and share the Archive materials with all VAC members is to publish a series of detailed trailer articles in the VA over time, which I'm doing.

I work with R.J. Dial and make minor contributions to his Airstream trailer year and model web site. The last 2 years I have given a Power Point presentation on recent vintage trailer developments at our annual Rocky Mountain VAC Rally. The 2003 electronic presentation have been (and the 2004 soon will be ) posted to our RMVAC Rally web site and are available for all to see on line.

The VAC Archives is seeking original Airstream materials from 1940 to 1990. We are particularly looking for 1955-1980s WBCC and WBCCI Member Directories and back issues of the Caravanner newspaper. We are always interested in old full line sales brochures and single page sales flyers, old Caravan and Rally photos, etc. Much of this material, such as the Directories, is good to have though not valuable enough timewise (i.e., not enough inquires for) to scan and post. I occasionally answer on line Forum questions when I have factual data to contribute. Some Archive materials have been scanned and were posted to the VAC web site a few years ago.

As with all WBCCI/VAC member contrubutions and efforts, it is purely voluntary on my part. If I win the lottery and cease having to work for food and travel, I could spend more time improving the VAC Archives. As it is, those who have seen my Power Point presentations correctly wonder whether I have a life beyond old alunimum.

[EweMama]

Is there funding now to help Fred Colwell with his passion (which he freely shares) for Airstream and vintage trailer history?

[vswingfield]

I remember the article. If I remember correctly, among other things, ther was a photograph of a trailer with a spinet organ installed at the factory for Wally’s friends that had WIBCCI number 2. Mrs. Thetford played the organ.

[Ganglin]

There's a 24 issue lot on Ebay that includes Dec. 1985.