Yesterday's RV rests in museum

A vintage RV

Today’s RVers have never traveled in so much comfort: microwaves, television, gas or electric-powered refrigerators, small but adequate bathrooms, in short all the comforts of home.

That hasn’t always been true. Our first trailer was only 15 feet long, had no bathroom or running water, an icebox instead of a refrigerator, but we survived. And, I assume, we would have survived even in the antique motor home we saw at the Cloud Museum in Bard, California recently. The motor home dates to the 1930s and is in pretty bad shape, but you could still see how advanced it must have been for its time.

 

Inside an old RV

It had an ice box, a four-burner propane stove, a wall storage system I’d love to have in our current trailer, a nice sized sink and bunk beds. The sleeping area had a small vanity sink and a toilet (Jon thinks the waste was just dumped out on the ground), which I wondered why it hadn’t been put in a nice-sized closet. There were chairs that looked like they would have been very comfortable for the driver and passenger.

The walkway from the front to the rear was very narrow, and slides hadn't been invented yet. I couldn’t identify anything that would have served as a dining area. The inside was quite compact and would have served a couple’s needs quite nicely. If it were given a cosmetic makeover inside and out, and an engine overhaul, it would meet the needs of today’s RVers.