March - April 2017 Volume: 6, Number: 2, Issue: 30
The magazine for all vintage camper trailer collectors, restorers, admirers and dreamers.
RESCUE
R E S TO R E
R A L LY
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Inside This Issue
Two Geographics pg. 8
1941 Vagabond pg. 10 Happy Camper Art pg. 16
Articles Treasure Island Rally O’dell’s 1961 Holiday House Two Geographics? 1941 Vagabond - Original Condition Happy Campers - Vintage Trailer Art Need, Art and Community Service Weather-Proof Like a Pro Tools and Tips You need to Know About Guide to Formica USA Rally Calendar
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DO YOU OWN A HOLIDAY HOUSE? Visit www.vintagecampertrailers.com to “register” your Holiday House for a reunion at Murphy Auto Museum
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Publisher Paul Lacitinola Editors Caroline Lacitinola
Cover Art
by Ron Garrett. See page 16
American Trailerite By Paul Lacitinola Publisher VCT Magazine Volume: 6 - Number: 2 - Issue:30 PO Box 354, Elverta CA 95626 (916) 572-8554 www.vintagecampertrailers.com vintagecampertrailers@gmail.com Publisher: Paul Lacitinola American Trailerite The VCT Magazine is published bi-monthly January, March, May, July, September & November. Take chances, make mistakes. That’s how you grow. Pain nourishes your courage. You have to fail in order to practice being brave. Mary Tyler Moore (AKA: Laura Petrie, Mary Richards) Vintage Camper Trailers is a non-denominational supporter of the vintage camper trailer hobby. We welcome all collectors, restorers, admirers and dreamers. Subscribe Today - See page 37 for details.
Vintage Camper Trailers Magazine reserves the exclusive right to reject or accept advertising or editorial material submitted for publication. The editorial content contained in this magazine does not necessarily represent the views of the publisher. Vintage Camper Trailers Magazine (USPS Publication Number 15940) is published bimonthly (in January, March, May, July, September, November) by Vintage Camper Trailers, 8416 Elwyn Avenue, Elverta, CA 95626-9552. Periodical postage paid at Elverta, CA and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Vintage Camper Trailers, PO Box 354, Elverta, CA 95626-0354.
WE BUY Vintage Camper Trailers, Bicycles, Cars, and Pick-Ups. (916) 992-1427
This issue (#30) marks five full years of publishing the Vintage Camper Trailers Magazine. Many of you have been subscribers since we were a newsprint tabloid. Your continued support is what has allowed us to grow the rag into its current glossy form. With this issue, we are investing in our mailing process to do everything we can to insure your magazine arrives in good condition. The plastic cover will keep your magazines dry, clean and tear free. We are also implementing new subscriber management software that will improve how we handle subscriptions. (You’ll have to talk to your carrier about folding.) The magazine, book(s) and rallies that we host have become a full-time business for Caroline and me. We wouldn’t have it any other way. The people we have met and those that support us with ideas and contributions to the magazine are what make it fun. Advertisers that invest their profits to help support a niche magazine constantly impress me with their loyalty. Many have been with us for years. We especially thank all of you that tell your friends about the magazine or pass out our handouts at rallies to let others know about us. From day one we wanted our magazine to focus on rescuing, restoring and rallying with vintage American trailers. Not trying to be all things to all people, we offer a variety of articles and pictorials that address what we think are the three “R’s” of the hobby that attracted most of us hobbyists to the vintage lifestyle. Setting ourselves apart by being a printed magazine in a world of online blogs, websites and social media. While we participate in all that fun (with well over 650,000 followers) the magazine is something you can keep and flip through anytime, anywhere. Our family owned business has allowed us to teach our two children about business, customer service and public speaking. Caroline and I have developed a handful of “talks” that we do at libraries, schools, car-clubs, rallies and historical groups. We speak to the history of the American trailering industry through the modern rally. Other talks cover buying and selling trailers, hosting rallies and doing what you love and loving what you do. We are amazed the interest we have with audiences from 12 to 92. It is a testament to the connection that many have with the past, camping and family. Those that approach us after the talks consistently comment on our passion for the hobby that comes through in our presentation. That appetite for continuing to improve ourselves and our business is what makes all the long hours’ worth it. Three Things You May Not Know About the Vintage Camper Trailers Magazine: 1. We have subscribers in every state in the USA and a dozen foreign countries. 2. The magazine is based in Northern California but is printed and mails out of Missouri. 3. We have never missed a deadline or not mailed on time.
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H OL I DAY H O U S E For the Love of Learning Speaking with Mike and Jody O’Dell about how they became interested in Vintage camper trailers soon lead me to understand that they love a challenge and there is nothing they can’t overcome. This is the couple that has literally done everything! Certified rug hooking enthusiast, business owners, interior designer, tool and die maker, electrical engineer, Marine (Presidential Helicopter Squadron for Ronald Reagan), electrician, parents, linesman, car test driver, seamstress, tax accountant, as well as accomplished vintage camper trailer restorers - I think that just about covers SOME of what they’ve accomplished in their lives.
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While spending numerous weekends in the car waiting for Mike while he was racing his bike, Jody mentioned that a little trailer might make her wait a bit more comfortable. Mike thought that sounded good and they started looking for a trailer. Jody found a 1946 Curtis Wright for sale. It was a total wreck and Jody said she learned what to do by doing it wrong the first time. The Curtis Wright had to be completely rebuilt – including having the frame welded and replacing the springs. But, Jody and Mike persevered and found that they loved their new old trailer and the people they met in the hobby. Continued on Page 24 The Jetson’s style phone “rings” when you push the door bell button. (pictured below left.)
This room divider was made by the O’Dells out of a variety of different sizes of PVC pipe framed in plexi.
MI K E & J ODY O ’DEL L
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MARRYING A NEED, ART, AND COMMUNITY SERVICE
Together
vintage trailer help give the opportunity to space, out of
inspired pods homeless the have their own the elements
In the early 1900’s, Oak Park in Sacramento, CA was a culturally thriving and economically vibrant, destination neighborhood. By the 1960’s, the Interstate freeway expansion program subdivided many historic Sacramento neighborhoods like Oak Park, creating isolated areas of poverty or relative prosperity. Oak Park’s sense of community started to decline in the early 1960’s because of the freeway expansion. Declining property values were inevitable as
families moved out to the new suburb communities that were made more accessible by the freeway expansion. During the 1980’s and 90’s further deterioration of the living standards was exacerbated by frequent occurrences of petty theft, street crime, drug activities and gang-related violence. Recently, real estate speculators and building contractors have been buying up low-priced homes in parts of Oak Park that were either abandoned or sold off as unmanageable. They are turning them around and reselling them as reasonably priced starter homes. Kevin Greenberg and Aimee Phelps are neighbors in Oak Park. They also saw opportunity in their own “back yard”. With about $18,000, raised through a GoFundMe campaign and local business’ support, these community entrepreneurs are giving shelter to those who have been living on the streets for years. They see the homeless as part of the community
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Phelps and Greenberg came up with the idea of portable “pods,” designed like mini-travel trailers and covered them in vibrant one-ofa-kind paint jobs that look like art. Kevin Greenberg, pictured above, puts some finishing touches on a vintage trailer inspired pod.
in Oak Park. Their vintage trailer-inspired pods help give the homeless the opportunity to have their own space, out of the elements. Phelps and Greenberg came up with the idea of portable “pods,” designed like mini travel trailers. They covered them in vibrant, one-of-a-kind paint jobs that look like art. These tiny sleeping shelters are built on two-wheeled frames, sized to fit within a parking space and engineered to be moved easily. The idea for a mobile pod is based on Sacramento’s 72-hour parking code ordinance. “Vehicles are not allowed to park on the street, in the same location, for more than 72 hours.” Pod recipients are advised to move their shelter every three days. Greenberg and Phelps came up with the idea, designed the pods and have built and delivered about 10 of the portable shelters to Oak Park’s homeless people. Each one is an insulated sleeping shelter that holds a foam mattress, pillow and blanket. There’s even a broom and trash can to help keep the unit tidy. Making one pod requires about $250 in supplies and 10 hours of labor. Recycled materials, such as the wheels, brake and handles from donated wheelchairs are used. Initially, the mobile housing units were designed to be towed by bicycle. A handle allows the pod to be “walked” to a new location. This is one of several evolutions to the original design, as not all
recipients have bicycles. The pods have a welded steel frame, a plywood floor and insulation. Instead of bicycle wheels, (like in the original design), Greenberg switched to harvesting used wheelchairs – an item that has proved to be both expensive and tough to find. In September, 2016, Phelps and Greenberg built the first pod and delivered it to Gwen, a homeless woman in Oak Park. “Giving that first pod away was amazing,” Phelps says. “That’s my favorite part: to see the joy and love and being able to raise somebody up — to lift them off the ground, literally. It makes me sad I didn’t do something sooner.” “We don’t just give them something and walk away,” Phelps says. “We befriend them. We see their humanness. We’re still trying to figure out where to go next and how many pods to build,” says Greenberg, a project manager for a web development company who also builds art-bicycles on his own time in his garage. “We don’t want to inundate Oak Park, and we know there are many other areas with needs.” Phelps sees the project growing into “Pod Nation”. “If we can bring everybody together, that would be the best part,” she says. “What you’re doing is marrying a need, art and community service together.”
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Tools & Tips We are restoring a 1955 Spartan and came across a couple of tools and tips to share. We restore our own trailers and try to do most of the work ourselves. We do turn to friends for help and advice in an attempt to do things the right way the first time. After considering several different types of insulation options, we decided to use R-Tech 1-1/2 in. x 4 ft. x 8 ft. R-5.78 Rigid Foam Insulation. It is the same thickness as the wall “studs” and it seemed like the best solution for this project. Thinking we would take advantage of the very rainy weather we have been having in California we thought we would knock out the insulation in a couple of evenings. Once we got started we realized that the moisture created in the trailer, caused by the cool outside air and the warmer inside air, was not good to be insulating over the top of. Finishing this job will have to wait until the weather cooperates. We had started to install the insulation by cutting the panels the width we needed to fit them between the wall studs. We would measure the cut and then slice the Styrofoam with a razor knife and then snap the foam back and cut the back side along the crease with the knife. It worked but it was messy and pieces seemed to usually end up a little too big and would have to be trimmed. With work stopped because of weather we moved on to other projects. A friend stopped by to check our progress and recommended cutting the insulation with a saw. Simple solution to making straighter more accurate cuts with less mess. He recommended the Stanley Sharptooth Smooth Cut saw which we found at the home improvement store
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By Paul Lacitinola for about $13.00. It is a 10 in. FineFinish Mini Utility Saw that will cut a fine edge in wood, laminates, plastics and Styrofoam insulation. (For the curved corners, we used the saw to score the back of the material so it would follow the curve of the aluminum.) The other project we were able to get done was installing a missing window which we found a replacement for at www. vintagecampers. com. We also ordered some rubber gasket material for a front window and the Straight Tip Filler Strip Insert Tool (about $32.00) to install it. When I looked at the tool and the lock strip part of the gasket, it seemed obvious how it might work. It proved to be a little more difficult to do. I see now they recommend using silicone as a lubricant, and that would help. I used some soapy water and that worked OK too. The easiest place to start installing the lock strip was at the joint where the two ends of the gasket meet. With the strip inserted through the top of the tip of the tool you “swim” the tool through the channel in the gasket. Wiggle the tool side to side and push (slowly but firmly) through the channel. Everything is tight. Go slow, keep it lubricated and don’t rush. If you hurry
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the tool may pop out the channel and it is difficult to get started again. (Yes, it happened to me.) I “wiggled the tool back in to the channel using the same motion and then had to go back and fix the inch or so that had not gone in with the tool. Once I got the hang of it, the tool worked great. Where the two ends
of the lock strip met I cut it 1/4” long and forced it together tight. (If you don’t, rubber can shrink and cause a gap. I’m not sure how you could install this strip without this clever tool.
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PO Box 354, Elverta CA 95626 Note your “Last Issue #”. This is Issue #30
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