Someone asked about the blue berets. This has been discussed in a seperate thread.
There is of course the
Blue Beret, the Club informant; and the article of head gear the blue beret.
In
1948 Wally Byam and Cornelius Vanderbilt Jr. toured Europe via Airstream and Jeep. They took many pictures, met many people and saw the devestation of the Second World War.
Wally began his life long love of Paris, France. He also discovered the basque beret.
He found that it kept his head warm, it was easy to fold and put into his pocket.
Wally wore them to work, on his Caravans and it was to him the "nuts." Early Caravanners saw Wally with a beret and wanted to have their own. It didn't take long for the beret to be the symbol of the Caravans. Then when the WBCC was formed in
1955, it carried over as not only the Caravan symbol, but the Club symbol.
When it was necessary to have a house-organ representing news and Club activities...naturally, it was called the
Blue Beret.
Years pass, and personal choices supercede traditions. A few Caravanners today do wear the blue beret, too few. At rallys, and club functions I am still proud to wear mine. I have had it for 54 years and means everything to me. It tells me of Wally Byam, Helen Byam Schwamborn, Airstream, the WBCCI and hundreds, if not thousands of personal and close friends that have gone before me.
If you don't wear the blue beret hold it in esteem, if you wear it, you are sharing in the tradition, history, and belief in the Wally Byam Caravan Club.
Pee Wee
If you go to this Sierra Neveda Site you will find more about the blue beret and other historical items.
http://sierranevadaairstreams.org/memories/history/peewee/index.html