Airstream
Trailer (Metallic
Finish)
$79.99 
1:18
scale
Airstream and it's place in History
Sleek
and shiny, Airstream trailers have been turning heads on the
highways since they first started caravanning across America
in the 1930s. Praised for their clean lines and timeless aesthetic,
movie stars and design buffs are still snapping up these vintage
beauties.
They
look a bit like slender silver marshmallows rolling down the
highway. And even though the RV industry has changed dramatically
in the last half century, the now legendary Airstream looks
a lot like it did way back in the olden days, when it set
the standard for luxury
Wally
Byam, Airstream's founder, was practically born a traveler.
As a young child he traveled extensively with his grandfather,
who led a mule train in Baker, Oregon. Later, as an adolescent,
Wally was a shepherd, living in a two-wheeled donkey cart
outfitted with a kerosene cook stove, food and water, a sleeping
bag and wash pail. These early experiences no doubt contributed
in large part to the direction his life would eventually take.
On January 17, 1936, the Airstream Trailer Co. introduced
the "Clipper", and an American legend was born.
The Clipper was truly revolutionary. With its monocoque, riveted
aluminum body, it had more in common with the aircraft of
its day than with its predecessors. It could sleep four, thanks
to a tubular steel-framed dinette which could convert to a
bed, carried its own water supply. It had an enclosed galley,
and was fitted with electric lights throughout. The Clipper
boasted of its advanced insulation and ventilation system,
and even offered "air conditioning" that used dry
ice.
At $1,200, the Clipper was expensive, especially during the
Depression years, yet the company could't build them fast
enough to keep up the demand. And Wally Byam's meticulous
attention to quality would prove crucial. Of more than 300
trailer builders operating in 1936, only one, Airstream, would
survive.
But survival was soon threatened. On December , 1941, the
Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, and leisure travel and the
materials necessary to build trailers both became luxuries
the country could not afford. Structural aluminum was classified
as a critical war material, available only for the building
of vital aircraft. Tires and gasoline became scarce.Wally
Byam closed his doors and took his experience with aluminum
fabricating first to Lockheed, the Curtis Wright, for the
duration of the war. But he remained determined to return
to trailers as soon as possible.
With the war's end, the economy boomed and consumers began
demanding more of the goods they had been deprived of. By
1948, Airstream Trailers, Inc., was helping to satisfy that
demand at its new facility in Van Nuys, Calif.
The demand for Airstream trailers seemed to know no bounds,
and it was soon obvious that Airstream had become a nationally
known product. In July 1952, the lease was signed for a facility
in Jackson Center, Ohio, to serve the eastern market. By August
the first Ohio-made Airstream rolled off the production line,
and the California factory was moved to larger facilities
in Santa Fe Springs.
For the next ten years, Wally continued to improve and refine
his products, and the company continued to prosper and grow.
During this period, the company made the transition from direct,
factory sales to adealership network, providing even better
service and responsiveness to its customers.
Byam died in 1962. Many companies would find it difficult
to survive the loss of such a dynamic, visionary leader, but
Byam's technical and organizational skills had been absorbed
by his successors, and the company continued to flourish.
Airstreams are found in both the Smithsonian Institution and
the Henry Ford Museum. An Airstream trailer was selected by
NASA to house the first astronauts back from the moon. Airstream
motorhomes continue today to be an integral part of the space
shuttle program. Airstream have truly become an American Legend.
©2003
by Out West Newspaper
