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bspa · 07-16-2018, 12:25 PM

I know 70 years is a long time, but old Airstreams were sturdy, right? I would love to know if my grandparents' Airstream is still usable (of course, I would like to get it). Is there a registry that tracks back to the 1960s? They were Edwin and Edna Long. Lived in West Palm Beach, Florida. Thanks to anyone who has those old records and can give me an ID number.

**DKB_SATX** · 07-16-2018, 12:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bspa

I know 70 years is a long time, but old Airstreams were sturdy, right? I would love to know if my grandparents' Airstream is still usable (of course, I would like to get it). Is there a registry that tracks back to the 1960s? They were Edwin and Edna Long. Lived in West Palm Beach, Florida. Thanks to anyone who has those old records and can give me an ID number.

Were they members of the WBCCI? (did they have big red numbers on the upper part of the front of their trailer, if you remember?)

That number would belong to your grandparents (while they were members) not really to the trailer itself, so a later owner of the trailer might remove the number, though lots of vintage trailers still have the "ghost" of an old number visible if they haven't been stripped and polished.

If you know their WBCCI number, or you're certain of a range of years they were members, there are records at HQ and some historian hobbyists have membership records going back a long way, so you'd be able to get someone to look by name and year to find their number. Finding the trailer itself is likely to be MUCH harder if you don't know what happened to it... many states didn't issue titles for trailers back in the day, for example, so tracing its ownership might require a bit of luck.

smithcreek · 07-16-2018, 12:53 PM

If tracking down the actual trailer does not work out you might consider determining exactly what model and size trailer they had and finding one just like it.

bspa · 07-17-2018, 08:37 AM

Thank you for the realistic answer. Actually it was the 1950s, and I was a preschooler. I think they trailed it behind (strange the things you hear and remember), and went on caravans through the southwest. Have some souveniers from the trips, but no photos of their travels. I just asked my older sister if she had a photo and she realized we don't have any of their photos - don't know what happened to them. Going to track down the cousin's widow and see if she might have some. Didn't realize the numbers didn't stay with the Airstream, so thanks for the suggestion to maybe look for something similar. Have someone nearby who restores Airstreams and his advice is to look for one pre-1980 anyway, with sentimentality out of the equation. But if I volunteer does look them up, I would really appreciate it. Maybe I could have their membership number.

**DKB_SATX** · 07-17-2018, 09:10 AM

Hehe... I just realized you posted this in the wrong subforum. You thinking "vintage kin" in terms of "a vintage trailer your kinfolks had" but vintage kin are non-Airstream aluminum travel trailers from the 80s and before.

Click on this and read about the club: WBCCI forum

On a couple of threads in that forum are discussions about looking for old owners or old trailers by tracking down WBCCI numbers and/or memberships. There are a few people who read those threads who have many years of old membership lists and may be able to help you if you can remember a range of years during which your grandparents were traveling with their Airstream.