100 Years of Exploration and Innovation
Americans, it seems, have been destined to be RVers since the earliest days that explorers set foot on this continent. Adventurers at heart, settlers came in search of freedom and opportunities to grow and discover. And, discover they did – first by ship, then by horse, in groups by conestoga wagon trains, and ultimately, by motorized vehicles that became the RVs of today.
A century ago, the popularization of the automobile, improving roads, and America’s passion for exploration gave rise to mass-produced, manufactured recreation vehicles, and the RV industry was born.
In 1910, there were few gas stations, few paved roads and no highway system. But there were RVs. Through war and peace, booms and busts, fuel lines, fads and the cyber revolution, the RV lifestyle has endured and is still going strong, even in today’s challenging economic times.
“Think about how far we’ve come in the past 100 years in terms in technology, yet the reasons to RV remain the same,” says RVIA President Richard Coon. “RVing has been able to thrive and grow because people still enjoy the freedom that it provides.”
The industry will celebrate its centennial in 2010 with a series of events that showcase today’s innovations and new products while emphasizing America’s century-long love affair with RVs.
“Recognizing and celebrating the 100th anniversary of the RV industry is a unique opportunity to tell our story to the media and public,” says Coon.
1910 Marks Birth of Modern RV Industry
The roots of RVing are as old as pioneers and covered wagons. But 1910 is the year that America’s leading RV historians — David Woodworth, Al Hesselbart and Roger White — cite as the beginning of what has become the modern RV industry.
“The first motorized campers were built in 1910,” says Woodworth, a preeminent collector of early RVs and RV camping memorabilia. “Before then, people camped in private rail cars that were pulled to sidings along train routes. The year 1910 brought a new freedom to people who didn’t want to be limited by the rail system. RVs allowed them to go where they wanted, when they wanted.”
Hesselbart, archivist for the RV/MH Heritage Museum in Elkhart, Ind., also pinpoints 1910 as the birth of the RV industry. “Camping has been around for centuries, but 1910 is when the first auto-related camping vehicles were built for commercial sale.”
Known as “auto campers” or “camping trailers” a century ago, these vehicles were a forerunner of today’s modern RVs.
“There were one-offs [individual units] built prior to 1910,” says White, an associate curator for the Smithsonian Institution. “But 1910 is a good benchmark for the industry.”
“The 1910 RVs offered minimal comforts compared to today’s homes-on-wheels,” says Woodworth. “But they did provide the freedom to travel anywhere, to be able to get a good night’s sleep and enjoy home cooking. One notable exception to today’s RV was the bathroom. In 1910, it was usually either yonder tree or yonder bush.”
Hesselbart points out that one brand of auto camper in those days was equipped with a bathroom onboard. “Pierce-Arrow’s ‘Touring Landau’ had a potted toilet,” he says.
A version of today’s Type B van camper, the Pierce-Arrow “Touring Landau,” was unveiled at Madison Square Garden in 1910.
In addition to Pierce-Arrow, there were several other companies or auto-body builders producing motorized RVs. These companies and innovative products were featured in a Popular Mechanics issue in 1911, but Woodworth says the motorhomes highlighted in the article were actually built in 1910.
Camping trailers made by Los Angeles Trailer Works and Auto-Kamp Trailers also rolled off the assembly line beginning in 1910. Hesselbart says the earliest RV on display at the RV/MH museum is a 1913 trailer, ancestor of the contemporary travel trailer.
An American Journey Continues
As a society, Americans are driven to and by challenges. We itch to know what lies beyond the next curve in the road or over the crest of a distant hill. We are a curious people and our quests have resulted in inventions that help us answer that call to discover.
For American pioneers, the journey of discovery was equally as important as the final destination. Unlike any other mode of transportation, traveling by RV on our highways, byways and the less-traveled back roads allows us to discover our own gems along the way. Fly over at 50,000 feet and you miss the little details – speed by on a train at 100 mph and the scenery becomes a blur. RVs allow us the convenience of making our own travel routes, time schedules and to make detours and unexpected stops at sites along the way that catch our attention. What will you discover when you go RVing?
Watch the RV Centennial Video
Take a stroll (or a scroll) down memory lane. Click on this link to view a video recounting the RV industry's illustrious history.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHS3xPi4lwE
The Pierce Arrow Touring Landau (pictured above), an ancestor of a type B van camper, went into production in 1910.
The 1913 Earl was an ancestor of the contemporary travel trailer.
By the end of World War I, Americans were traveling in auto campers with tents, beds and cooking facilities.
RV camping clubs date back to the Tin Can Tourists of the 1920s and 1930s. The Tin Can Tourists were RVers who braved dust and mud to drive their Tin Lizzies across the U.S. before transcontinental roads were paved. They camped by the side of the road, heated tin cans of food on gasoline stoves, and bathed in cold water.
RVs sold in the 1930s used aircraft-style construction and came equipped with beds, dinettes, electricity, and water.
After World War II, the RV industry flourished as more Americans sought mobility.
From tiny do-it-yourself kits to plush 30-foot models, travel trailers came into their own as true towable RVs by 1950.
Many of today's RV manufacturers started production in the 1950s and 1960s.
The RV's evolutionary path included advances in aerodynamic design and interior comforts.
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