Thanks for sharing the pics.We have several 70's models TT @ our hunt club.Mine is a 1976 20ft shasta that I leave there year round.I'll take some pics next week when I'm @ the club and post them.
2006 Dodge Quad-Cab 2500 CTD,4;10 gears,pulling a Forestriver Flaggstaff 831qbss
I'm one that also appreciates the past and all the wonderful,fun memories! I started with a 74 Lance cabover truck camper and since then have had many, many older and new trailers, fivers, and campers. I came back 8 years ago to the old stuff.... Though it's not a pull trailer or fiver, see the link below to my truck and camper
The main thing is KEEP ON KAMPIN!!
Cheers,
Dak
1977 F250 Ranger (My Baby!)
1992 Sierra 21' TT by Cobra (pictures coming!)
Escapee #22435
Wow. That's a gold mine of old trailers. In 1973 I lived in Sugarland Run, Virginia, and bought a brand new Starcraft pop up like the one you had. Next we bought a 22 ft. Golden Nugget with a tandem axle in 1975. Lots of fun on Skyline Drive or over on the Eastern Shore. Brings back old memories.
We now have a vintage 1985 35 ft. Airstream diesel motorhome. With the generator and ac it sure is different than those days.
Those pictures bring back a lot of memories. Our first one was a 60 something truck camper. When we moved up to a '70 terry taurus trailer, I had to rebuild the whole thing from top to bottom and paint inside and out. We thought we really had something with the '74 Wilderness that had a real bed. I guess our current 2000 Cherokee fiver with a big slide is low end by some people's standards but, compared to where we came from, I feel like I have died and gone to heaven!
Neat pics! That Smokey on the 5th picture looks like it has the same layout as my old 1971 Norris Volunteer, but probably a little bit newer. I sold it to a neighbor, and he has planst on restoring it. So far, it looks like he's gotten some work done that I've always wanted to do with it. The Midas on the 15th picture down looks to have almost identical styling to it, and probably from the same year.
My old Norris TT has many of the things you describe there...the tiny fridge, and the pressurized water tank. What I liked about that camper was the really nice cabinetry in it. Of course, it was colored with alvacado green countertops! It looked like really classy household cabinets were installed, and they were made out of real wood, not the paper-covered particleboard junk used today in most TT's.
I enjoy the styles of the old campers, you could tell them apart just like one could the cars. TT's these days are just white boxes, and the only thing that tells them apart are the stickers on the side The older TT's too sat lower to the ground, and had a more "cozy" feel. The new rigs that sit so high off the ground seem just like all those big McMansions in planned communities that try to appear tall and stately
My parents rented a TT in 1957, special ordered the '58 KenCraft (full, one piece fiberglass roof, marine toilet with no holding tank, propane instant water heater, entire toilet closet was the shower stall, and the pressurized water system as the OP described). We used to use the gas station air system to pressurize the tank, but more than one I had to go out and pump it up while my mother or father finished their shower or maybe the dishes. the furnace was in the floor, had no lighter, had to use a match on a steel wand. No blower, but if the wind was blowing the match blew out before the furnace lit. Lights were propane with a mantle. Mantles broke almost ever time the TT was moved. Blew out tires right and left due to the TT's weight. They finally went to mobil home tires. Refer was a gas/elec (120 volt) to switch over you removed the gas flame spreader and plugged in the elec. element. The elec. element was suspended from the cord, the flame spreader was on a long piece of piano wire and both had to be put in from the top of the refer. No black or grey tanks either. Ah, the good old days!! Always glad to see some of the newer rigs!
Deen - Vancouver, WA
'02 Dutch Star 4090 (41+', triple slide)
435/1200 ISC Cummins/Banks PowerPak
'08 Honda Civic/dolly
'05 Honda Odyssey/dolly
NRA Benefactor Life Member
FMCA f47302s, Life Member: Good Sam, Newmar DP Owners Group
51st yr of RV'ing
cybervanner wrote: Neat pics! That Smokey on the 5th picture looks like it has the same layout as my old 1971 Norris Volunteer, but probably a little bit newer.
Oh my gosh - I had forgotten the Norris! Yes, I remember them well.
Danny at Cheek and Shockley calls the stuff used today "paper wood". I agree - that's all it is, paper covered light density paper board. And, you better NOT let it get wet or it will fall apart as you watch!
If your friend gives up on the old unit he is working on, please let me know. I'm kinda getting the itch to do something with an old camper.
You live just up the road from me. Have you been to Naylor's? If not, make the trip and see the collection first hand. It is also a very restful place to go and hide.
Professor Randy T. Agee & Nancy Agee, Mechanicsville, VA
2009 Cedar Creek 34SATS 5th Wheel - GMC 3500 dually
Generator Collection: Champion 40008 - ELM3000 - Kipor 2000Ti - Kawasaki 1400 - Champion 7,800W LPG (Home Back Up)
we had the exact same skamper growing up, My parents kept it over 20 years, the last trip we took in it was in 1989, The frame of the trailer is still being used today by a guy who converted it to a snowmobile trialer.
TV: Mint 1972 Ford F-250 XLT
TT: 1969 19' Excel; entertains 6, feeds 4, sleeps 2 You don't shoot to kill, you shoot to stay alive.
I don't carry because I have to, I carry because I get to. I like new things-
- when they're 40 years old! My pictures
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The older TT's too sat lower to the ground, and had a more "cozy" feel. The new rigs that sit so high off the ground seem just like all those big McMansions in planned communities that try to appear tall and stately
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