'Everywhere you go.' That's a perfect way to describe what's happening with the fever for vintage trailers.
It is spreading, spreading, spreading, and not just among women. Lots of guys are just as hooked on them as anyone--and in fact, one of the early Pied Pipers was none other than Craig Dorsey, of Vintage Vacations. You may even own a copy of his wonderful book, Trailer Travel: A Visual History of Mobile America.
Until sometime in the late 2000s, vintage-trailer interest was spread in an organic way, from one person to another, with occasional boosting from a book, magazine article, or cable TV segment. The fabulous Sisters on the Fly group, with over 4,000 members, grew and flourished in just this way. (Girl Camping Girl is among the happy camping members.)
Hard to believe now, but as recently as, let's say, 2008 (that's when I took the photo above), people were NOT constantly 'checking their Facebook' from something held in the palm of their hand. Most didn't even know what Facebook was. They weren't getting their travel directions from a 'droid voice linked to a satellite. They weren't miffed if your party invitation didn't include a GPS-able address. People had cell phones, but not smart phones or iPads. They weren't 'living online' to the extent that exists today.
This is how swiftly the tech-and-social-media revolution has changed many things, from as we knew them just a short time ago.
With its what--800 million users? 900 million users?--Facebook makes it possible for an individual to communicate with the world. Photo sharing is simple, anyone can be his own broadcaster, and people with a shared affinity can build cyber-friendships like never before.
Meanwhile, Pinterest, the online pinboard form of social media, enables anyone to 'be an artist,' and express her inner fantabulous self via the photos of others. With pinboard names like Vintage Trailer Longings, and My Future Vintage Trailer, Pinterest is another way for trailer fever to spread that few could have imagined circa 2008.
You can find this Girl Camping blog photo, plus hundreds of others, on Pinterest. It's almost scary to see how one person's images can proliferate and spread the vintage-trailer bug to persons and places unknown.
Then, there's the whole expanding business of vintage-trailer merchandising, fueled by the phenomenon known as 'glamping.' (Just type that into Google/shopping, and see what comes up.) The travel icons of a bygone era are a whole new source of ka-ching, now that there are so many enthusiasts to sell to.
It's been a lot of fun to be part of the feverish ride so far. And we're not looking for a cure any time soon!
