Roadway Through Time: A view of the RV display at the RV/MH Hall of Fame in Elkhart, Ind. shows the RVs parked along a roadway with decorations made to look like a campsite. The RVs are displayed beginning with the oldest models and progressing forward through the decades. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
The Earl: This 1913 Earl travel trailer is displayed with a Model T Ford. The 1913 Earl is the oldest RV that has survived through the years. It was made by a Los Angeles carriage maker and restored in 1980. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
By GARY WARREN
Photographer
Formerly of Los Alamos
Since the invention of the automobile, Americans have had a love for the freedom of the open road and the desire for a road trip. It did not take too many years for the first camper trailer to become reality. Motorized campers quickly followed and that was the beginning of what is now known as RVing.
Those early trailers and motorized campers were very basic, but they allowed Americans to travel about and spend the night in their camper trailer or vehicle when it came time to stop for the night. Moderate advancements in campers were made through the years but the 1950s saw a tremendous growth in the travel trailer industry. It was in the 1960s that the motorized campers experienced similar growth and the recreational vehicle (RV) industry was born.
Today, the RV industry is booming. More and more families are choosing RVs as a way of family travel. There are no official numbers, but it is believed that over a million Americans are living and traveling in a RV full time. With the advances in the internet, a new group of this growing phenomenon is the “digital nomad”, those who travel and work from their RV via the internet as they move about the country. The average age of the full time RVers has also lowered in recent years as more Americans in their 20s and 30s have chosen to live and work while traveling.
About 80% of RVs produced in America are made in Elkhart, Indiana which is known as the “RV Capital of the World”. Many RV manufactures for both motorized RVs and trailer or towable RVs are headquartered in Elkhart as well as companies that make parts for the RV industry.
Another addition to the landscape in Elkhart, Indiana in recent years is the Recreational Vehicle/Manufactured Home Hall of Fame better known as the RV/MH Hall of Fame. The museum opened in 1991 and moved into their current facility in 2007. The new facility was far larger and more modern than the original location and has allowed for many more RVs to be displayed.
We visited the RV/MH Hall of Fame museum last year and enjoyed the journey through the history and progression of the RV. The walkway through the museum is painted to look like a highway with the white stripes down the center of the road. Along the roadway are RVs parked in spaces designed to look like campsites with artificial trees and other decor that you may see at a campsite.
Visitors will see campers over 100 years old as they travel along the roadway through time. The selection of units on display depicts the history and progression of the RV through the years. The oldest camper is a 1913 trailer, and the progression takes viewers through the decades as RVs became more advanced and larger in size. The museum display concludes with RVs from the 1980s era. A separate room displays a few new RVs from the modern era.
Many of the RVs along the roadway in the museum are open for visitors to tour and view the interior features while others are just to be viewed from the outside. It was interesting to see how major advances such as water tanks and plumbing changed the look, design, and size of the RV.
We thoroughly enjoyed seeing and touring these RVs and seeing how they changed as America changed through the decades. Anyone interested in transportation, travel, and RVing will enjoy traveling through time at the RV/MH Hall of Fame in Elkhart, Indiana.
Editor’s note: Longtime Los Alamos photographer Gary Warren and his wife Marilyn are traveling around the country, and he shares his photographs, which appear in the “Posts from the Road” series published in the Sunday edition of the Los Alamos Daily Post.
Telescoping Apartment: Shown is a 1916 Automobile Telescoping Apartment as it appears while at the campsite. For travel, the side cabinet slides in and the rear section then slides forward and is secure for travel. The unit was made in San Francisco and sold for $100. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
Hunt Housecar: This futuristic looking RV is a 1937 Hunt Housecar built by Hollywood cinematographer and producer Roy Hunt. Hunt built several of these housecars in the 1930s, which had the pointed front end design. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
Shasta: A 1954 Shasta travel trailer is seen displayed at the RV/MH Hall of Fame in Elkhart, Ind. The popular design is similar to many travel trailers produced in the 1950s and 1960s. Today manufactures are replicating the exterior shape and design as retro style travel trailers as the design remains popular. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
1974 GMC: GMC produced this motorhome from 1973-1978 and featured a 455 cubic inch engine that was used in the Cadillac Eldorado. The GMC motorhome was front wheel drive and had many advanced features for its time. Just under 13,000 of these motorhomes were produced and it is estimated that 8,000 are still in running condition today. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
GMC Interior: Shown is the interior of the 1974 GMC motorhome at the RV/MH Hall of Fame in Elkhart, Ind. The units were manufactured for six years in the 1970s. The interiors of the RVs at the museum also reflected popular interior features and color schemes of the era such as the yellow appliances and decor seen in this 1974 model. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
Winnebago: Shown is a 1967 Winnebago Motor Home which was one of Winnebago’s first motorized RVs and sold for about $5,000.. The company had been producing travel trailers for about 10 years before entering the motorized RV market. The company based in Forrest City, Iowa quickly became a leader in the RV industry and is very active in the industry today. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
Executive Diplomat: One of the ‘newer’ RVs on display at the RV/MH Hall of Fame in Elkhart, Ind. is the 1986 Executive Diplomat. Shown is the plush interior and advancement in the interior of the Executive Diplomat and RVs by the mid-1980s. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com