Camper trailers have existed for well over a century. During that time, the world has seen everything from cute fiberglass “egg” campers to gigantic hotel rooms on wheels. All of these campers can trace their heritage to trailers like this, the 1913 “Earl” travel trailer. Built for a college professor, this 111-year-old relic is believed to be the oldest surviving RV in the world.
If you’re getting a sense of deja vu, don’t worry, I can clear it up. As of now, there are two RVs believed to be the oldest of their kind. A little over two years ago, I wrote about how a Ford Model T with a wooden box on the back is believed to be the oldest surviving motorhome in existence. That coach was a 1914, making this travel trailer just one year older.
I love that these RV artifacts have been rescued and preserved.
These rigs offer great insight into just how far camping has come and perhaps more interesting: How little has changed. The Earl travel trailer is a window into both.
The RV/MH Hall of Fame museum in Elkhart is a must-visit if you’re ever in Indiana. The museum has spent decades preserving the history of RVing going all the way back over a century to the covered wagon. I love how the museum is also laid out in chronological order, so you can see the birth of the RV and stroll through history to the modern day all in the same room.
According to RV/MH Museum Curator Al Hasselbart, this trailer currently holds the title of the world’s oldest surviving RV. Now, I should note that this doesn’t mean it is the first travel trailer. You may see that on some outlets, but the truth is that we don’t know what was the first travel trailer. Camping out of towed vehicles dates back to the horse-drawn wagon era and technically you could call some of those travel trailers. So, this isn’t the first, but it’s still very important.
Hasselbart explains that the trailer was built for a professor named Earl who worked at California Institute of Technology. At the time, pretty much everyone went camping using tents, and that’s what Earl did on field trips. However, he wanted something better, so he commissioned a special trailer to be built by a Los Angeles carriage maker.
Hasselbart says that the carriage builder started by making the trailer’s body out of steel and wood. The roof was made out of an oilcloth.
Inside, everything is crafted out of hardwood and you got two benches that converted into twin beds, a central table that folded up against a wall, a wardrobe, and a small galley. That’s right, this 111-year-old trailer has the same layout many very basic campers have over a century later. The Earl doesn’t have anything like running water or electricity. However, it does have copper chain window screens and canvas storm shutters. This camper would be a spartan rig today, but back in 1913, Earl would have looked like royalty in the campground.
Hasselbart says the trailer was restored in 1980. The restorers were faithful to the original trailer, but made one improvement in the form of a longer-lasting vinyl roof. You can see the carriage builder’s influence in the trailer’s wheels and overall design.
The curator then goes on to say that Earl pulled his trailer with a 1913 Ford Model T. This car is special because it was one of the last Model Ts to come off of the factory line in a color other than black. Of course, after 1914, Ford enacted the famous policy of “you can have any color so long as it is black.”
Power in this Model T comes from a 177 cubic inch four that made all of 20 horses. A regular Model T is good for maybe 45 mph on a good day. It’s unclear how fast this one went with a hardwood and metal trailer in tow. What is pretty neat is how the car tows the trailer. Tow hitches didn’t really exist back then, so Earl had a blacksmith shape a metal hanger off of the rear of the car. A hole was punched through it and then the trailer’s simple tongue was bolted to the hanger.
The trailer can pivot on the bolt, but unlike today’s trailers, it cannot pitch and roll independently as there is no ball. The car was restored in 1990 and the restorers even went as far as to replicate the car’s original blue paint.
The RV/MH Hall of Fame says the car and the trailer were donated to the museum by Wade Thompson, one of the purchasers of Airstream in 1980 and one of the founders of RV conglomerate Thor Industries.
Together, both the car and the trailer represent a different time. Back then, travel trailers were highly custom affairs and their owners used them to get out of uncomfortable tents. Yet, it’s also fascinating to see that in some ways, things haven’t changed. This trailer has couches that turn into beds and a fold-away table just like today’s rigs. It’s going to be fascinating to see what the next 100 years will have in store.
(Images: Author, unless otherwise noted.)
Seeing as travelers’ caravans date back to antiquity, (Roma wagons? Conestoga wagons?) this does kind of beg the question of what exactly is a camper, anyway? Must it be pulled by something with a mechanical engine, not an animal? Or is it only for recreation, not a primary residence?
Word is in the name, Recreational Vehicle. This was built for camping trips of leisure you’d WANT to live in briefly and gained popularity during the late 1800s/early 1900s in England and the Eastern US, instead of HAVING to live in it for work-related situations.
Gypsy and Sheep Wagons were there as a means of shelter during working situations.
The only thing I CAN think of is Wind in the Willows where Toad took up using a Gypsy Wagon as a trend/fad. But who is to say it was a new thing wealthy people were doing vs just catching his fancy?
Where’s the shitter?
Save the Shitters! I’m coming for you, RVIA!
NGL, I am surprised there hasn’t been like a wet-bath/rear entrance dinnette floorplan. Go through the rear narrow webath with sink and toilet into a dinette/bed combo. Cooking? small burner on the freaking dinette table ]:[
Ok, so this confirms that a thing that I thought was a thing actually is a thing and not just in my head.
Why does it seem to be a rule that every vehicle or trailer that purports to be a recreational vehicle must have a giant table in it somewhere?
If I’m out in a place where this is my lodging then I’m probably sitting outside to eat my dinner or have a little plastic folding table out there to do food prep or play cards on or layout the smörgåsbord. That table in the trailer is just taking up space. Or worse than that, becoming one more horizontal surface to catch random crap that doesn’t need to be there. Ok, in big RVs or pull-outs that are essentially mobile homes, fine, have a table. But in tiny little vans or trailers? Why waste space with this thing that is mostly useless and becomes one more thing to have to manage when it’s time to convert the seating to beds?
Don’t gypsy wagons predate this by a lot?
That’s what I was thinking.
And I’m sure some Romans might have had some wagons that would have also qualified as ‘camping trailers’.
No water or electricity would not have been considered a hardship back then as most actual homes outside of large urban areas lacked indoor plumbing and electricity then. So, this trailer would’ve seemed quite luxurious.
My FIL, born in ’46, didn’t live in a house with water & power until he was 9.
Heck, there weren’t really other campers back then, either. So, Earl rolling into a camping area with this thing must have shocked a bunch of people every single time.
I imagine that most camping back then involved tents or bedrolls. When I was a kid, in the 60’s and early 70’s the tent was what we used. IIRC there were very few RV, s or trailers around.
Yeah, not like tents had running water anyway
Were there even “camping areas” back then?
Of, course! In those days camping areas were literally everywhere !