It's only a movie, but... apparently it wasn't so unusual to have such a long and heavy trailer pulled by a regular old sedan back in the early '50s. One thing I noticed in the movie was an extra wheel under the trailer's tongue to support its weight because the Mercury did not have a weight distributing hitch. Anybody remember these tongue wheels? And I wonder how this set-up performed with a crosswind.
I know it's just a movie, but was it all that far from reality?
I think the movie was mostly hyperbole - no one really pulled a trailer that size for camping. The trailer in the movie was more in line with what we consider a mobile home today. They could be pulled by cars, such as the Mercury in the movie, but mostly just short moves and they weren't moved often. The travel trailers of the day were much smaller and lighter than the trailer in the movie.
In 1958, as a teenager, I traveled with an uncle that was moving from Oxford, AL to Englewood, CA to help him make the move. We were in a 1958 Mercury convertible and pulling a very long travel trailer much like the one in the movie.
While we used just a frame mounted hitch, it was a simple ball mount. No weight distribution, no sway bars or such. The trip went up some pretty good mountains and there was no problem making the trip. I helped drive some and the worst of it was pulling that long of a trailer. He used the trailer for several years afterward to go camping with. It did not have much of the nice features of today but accomplished it's purpose.
RV parks were few and far between. Once located in one, there were many comparable rigs there. In the mid 50's, they were not popular as they are now but they were out there.
My wife and I were married in 1955 while I was in the Army. We bought a new 35 ft Pacemaker trailer to live in. I think the park models now are more like what we had. I had a Coleman Fuel Oil furnace and a small house type refrigerator.
It was not meant to be a "camper" trailer. When we moved we hired a Pro to pull it with a truck. Our car was a 1952 Chevy "slip and slide powerglide" that would not pull it at all.
In the movie they used a 2 wheel dolly connected to the car ball hitch. There was a ball hitch on top of the dolly to pull the trailer. I suspect that the dolly would have a lot of shimmy.
We had the 2 bedroom trailer to live in, and now I pull a 27 ft for fun!
'Tis a privilege to live in the Ozarks!
If you can read this...thank a Teacher.
Since it is in English...thank a Veteran.
I wasn'r even born back then, I came along in 61 but my family and I camp all the time. We have that movie in our trailer library, we've watched it many times. We always make comments when we see big rocks while we're traveling how that would make a nice piece for our collection. We don't really collect anything bigger than a Marble.
A good friend I work with showed me a the trailer he grew up in, a long and heavy Spartan trailer that many today would consider a mobile home. It had a couch that was convertible to a bed, a big fridge and bedroom in the back. The wood paneling was absolutley beautiful. His dad died and he sold it to a museum in Oregon. His Dad towed it himself from one job to the next for many years and it had the most interesting hitch. The trailer tongue had been modified so that it had a solid stinger that went underneath the truck and hitched to the back of the axle. No trailer weight was on the truck chasis, it was all carried on the axle and it towed much like a fifth wheel as far as stability and turning. They enjoyed that trailer for 50 some years, it was shinny silver like an airstream, straight side walls and radiused at the front and back as many of the older trailers were made back then. Sure was neat to see.
My folks who immigrated here in the 50's built there own trailer and towed it behind a Chevrolet Corviar Greenbriar Van. That was later replaced by a 64 Travelall and a 16 foot Aloha travel trailer. I remember camping all the time with that. My folks are in their 70's now and still doing it with a Cummins powered Dodge and an Airstream.
On our last trip my wife was driving, I was napping and it was raining hard out. The car in front of us stopped on a two lane to turn left and my wife stomped on the brakes and the Suburbans antilock kicked in. (Our brake controler is on the right side of the steering column.) I reached over and kicked the gain up full on the controler, while the kids in the back cried out, trailer brakes first, trailer brakes first Mom! We both got a good laugh out of that. Hans
Hans & Family
98 3/4 4X4 7.4 Suburban "Pullrite"
96 3/4 4X4 6.5 Extended Cab Silverado
02 Wilcat Bunkhouse www.gyswyt.com
The wheels under the tongue were actually two wheels and were known has a Nelson Trailer Dolly. They even had a slogan,"make your trailer travel jolly with a Nelson trailer dolly".
We always had trailers when I was a kid. I remember pulling a 25' trailer to Florida from Michigan with a 1948 Chevrolet. This was followed in 1950 with an Olds 98 towing a 28' Airstream. My Dad liked the Spartan trailer, so he did a trade in Florida and towed the 30' Spartan back to Michigan. He always used weight distributing hitches however. That Spartan was a heavy trailer and I can tell you I would never attempt the same thing today.
97 Dodge 3500 diesel, 1999 31' Jayco 5th wheel, amateur radio W6POK. Semi retired broadcast & communications systems engineer.
JEFF & SUZANNE, EMMA THE LAB & MADISON THE COCKER SPANIEL IN A 2001 RED CHEVY SILVERADO LS EXTENDED CAB 2500HD, 8.1L VORTECH ENGINE, ALLISON TRANNY, PULLING A 1998 30ft AIRSTREAM EXCELLA WITH A HENSLEY ARROW HITCH, McKESH MIRRORS.
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