I am still searching for the name(s) of who built the two Mystery trailers. Signs point to aviation

During a family drive through car trailer enclosed st louis rental the outskirts of Eugene when I was in elementary school, I'd witnessed an unusual mobile home being towed down the highway. The nameplate said "Pacemaker," and it featured an unusual and futuristic two-story design. At that moment I became obsessed with trailers — giant mobile homes with soaring rooflines and swooping paint jobs, acres of rivets and shiny aluminum, as well as tiny travel trailers that defied visual logic.
My years as a fan and collector of old stuff began with cars. First there were convertibles, then muscle cars, followed by unusual orphans and, finally, station wagons. Of course, station wagons car trailer enclosed st louis rental — what better to tow trailers with?
I found my first trailer (that I could not resist buying) peering back at me over a fence along an alley in Walla Walla in the early '90s. It had a pair of rear windows that reminded me of the prying eyes of an alien visitor from outer space.
At first glance I assumed it was an early version of the Airstream brand. The title, however, said it was a 1936 "homebuilt." car trailer enclosed st louis rental I decided it was time to become a travel-trailer detective and learn more about the history of the Airstream brand.
First, I began an online conversation with members of the Vintage Airstream Club. They told me what I had was not an Airstream. So I turned to the friendly Tin Can Tourists Association (the oldest trailer club in the USA with roots dating back to Florida in 1919).
Ultimately, I ended up focusing on my communication(s) with trailerite No. 1 and trailerite No. 2 in California. We'd met online thanks to the Vintage car trailer enclosed st louis rental Airstream Club, and we'd remained in contact due to our interests in aerodynamic orphan-trailers in general, and not just those from one specific manufacturer.
It's now 20 years later, and the Mystery '36 with the alien-eye windows resides in a world-class collection of eccentric vintage RVs. After years of trading emails with trailerite No. 2 in California, I sold it to him and he restored it to beyond-new condition. Upon completion, it made its return debut as part of a vintage-American-vacations-on- wheels exhibit at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles.
car trailer enclosed st louis rental With the help of an old trailer club article car trailer enclosed st louis rental he'd sent me, followed by a little sleuthing, I'd located a similar but longer car trailer enclosed st louis rental and three-years-newer version car trailer enclosed st louis rental of the Mystery '36 sitting quietly tucked away just north of Los Angeles in a canyon high above Malibu. The fingerprints of the builder (still a mystery) of the '36 were all over the '39. The owner and I immediately became friends. I had no intention of buying car trailer enclosed st louis rental that trailer. Just knowing car trailer enclosed st louis rental of its existence added valuable background information to my search for "the Mystery builder."
Then my phone rang on New Year's Day, 2008. It was the owner of the '39. Her daughter was getting car trailer enclosed st louis rental married and the newlyweds were headed for graduate school, and she'd decided it was finally time to part with the beloved family travel trailer (I have pictures of her daughter as a baby having a bath in the '39's kitchen sink). She wanted to sell the '39 to help finance graduate school car trailer enclosed st louis rental for the newlyweds.
Long story short, the '39 moved to Walla Walla. It's a time machine that never fails to make me smile. car trailer enclosed st louis rental It's original and not in need of a major restoration, just some renovation here and there and, of course, an extensive exterior polish to restore its factory mirror-finish.
I am still searching for the name(s) of who built the two Mystery trailers. Signs point to aviation pioneer Hawley Bowlus, car trailer enclosed st louis rental famous for his line of aviation gliders. Hawley had a sideline business building deluxe travel trailers. That operation went bankrupt in 1936 due to the trailers' monocoque riveted aluminum aircraft design and resulting high construction costs.
Wally Byam, who'd previously been designing and selling a line of build-it-yourself wooden kit trailers under the name of "Airstream," bought what was left of Hawley's trailer operation, simplified the construction process to make it cost effective car trailer enclosed st louis rental and affordable, and changed its name from "Bowlus" to "Airstream."
Hawley Bowlus was the chief engineer for the construction of the Spirit of St. Louis in 1927. He became good friends with the Lindberg family and even taught them to glide. I've long sensed a lingering link between Hawley, his employees, the busy 1930s travel-trailer industry in Southern California and the Mystery '36 and '39. I'm still looking for that final piece of the puzzle.
R.L. McFarland was born in Walla Walla, attended car trailer enclosed st louis rental schools out of town, and worked as a professional tour director car trailer enclosed st louis rental nationally and internationally. He's returned and can be contacted at rvonsamson@gmail.com .
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