At a shady campground outside of Columbus, a group of dedicated people relived the glory days of American camper culture.
They came in Shastas, Airfloats and Arrows, compact aluminum contraptions built in the “canned ham” style, their appearances resembling the tinned meat you’d find in a grocery store. Some were painted in colorful splashes of color — deep reds, seafoam greens, princess pinks.
The community came together from every kind of background. Some of their participants are from urban areas and others are used to country living. They are retirees and young couples, blue-collar workers and white-collar entrepreneurs.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]Click here to purchase photos from this gallery
But at the center of their group is a passion for vintage-era campers — restoring them, redecorating them and relaxing in them.
“It’s just kind of a fad right now,” said Deena Kelly, a Franklin resident and vintage camper enthusiast. “Everybody has their own thoughts and preferences about what they like.”
Once gathered at CERAland campground in Columbus, they formed a makeshift neighborhood, sharing in potluck dinners, held late-night campfires and shared stories of their travels with their old-time traveling rigs.
Without fail, the other vintage camper enthusiasts are some of the most interesting and welcoming people, said Phil Schaefer, an Indianapolis resident who owns three vintage campers.
“I don’t know how else to say this — some of us are wacko,” he said. “A lot of people will take a theme, and go overboard on it. It can be Elvis or Route 66, and they go overboard on it. Or they’ll go the other way, and restore it the exact way it was when it came out of the factory 50 or 60 years ago.”
Almost for as long as people have owned automobiles, recreational vehicles have offered the opportunity to take their homes with them on their travels. According to the Smithsonian, the first recreational vehicle was unveiled in 1910, a Touring Landau made by Pierce-Arrow. The elongated vehicle featured a back seat that folded in to a bed, a chamber pot toilet and a sink.
That same year, the first camping trailers were released to the public. Soon, people were pulling cozy trailers with beds, tables, bathrooms and other amenities to parks and campsites all over the country.
A camping club known as the Tin Can Tourists formed in 1919, growing to more than 150,000 by the mid-1930s, according to the Smithsonian. The sales of recreational vehicles, including campers, continued to grow.
In 2017, more than 500,000 recreational vehicles were shipped in the U.S. These new models feature all of the comforts you could ask for: luxury furniture, spa-like bathrooms, full kitchens.
But for a segment of RV enthusiasts, nothing will beat the authenticity of a vintage model.
Terri Moore and her husband, Doyt, didn’t even know they had a vintage camper. Only during an excursion to Starve Hollow State Recreation Area did they get a sense of how unique their vehicle was.
“A couple came up and said how much they loved our vintage camper. I was like, ‘Vintage camper? It’s just old,’” Terri Moore said. “The woman touched me on the arm and said, ‘Oh honey, you don’t know what you’ve got.’ And we didn’t.”
The Norristown residents had purchased their 1972 Jayco more than a decade ago. They had camped in a tent in the past when their children were younger, but wanted a more comfortable rig to enjoy the outdoors.
But when they first encountered the Jayco, it was in dire shape.
The camper had been sitting in the woods behind Moore’s cousin’s house, and had become so buried that they couldn’t even unearth it with a backhoe. The whole back seam of the body had opened up, leaving it exposed to the elements.
Getting the camper into livable shape wasn’t easy. The camper had been open to the weather and wildlife, requiring almost every aspect of it to be rebuilt. They went to work renovating the entire thing initially, then recently took it apart again to shore up some leaks that had developed over time.
“We didn’t even know there was a vintage camper anything. But then we got online and starting looking, and joined some vintage camper Facebook pages,” Terri Moore said.
Social media is how the Moores connected with Kelly and her husband, Joe. They own a 1966 Fleetwing, a pudgy little camper that they had owned for the past two years. The Franklin residents had often gone camping in Brown County with family who had a motor home, and it was so quiet and peaceful, they decided they wanted to do it more.
They weren’t interested in tents and air mattresses, though. Instead, they found a pop-up camper that they used for a number of years. But the more they connected to the vintage camper community, the more they wanted one of their own.
“It’s one of those things you come across and say, ‘Wow, I’d love one of those,’” Deena Kelly said. “I happened to find ours one day when I was on the internet from someone up in Decatur County.”
When they first bought the yellow and blue Fleetwing in 2016, they faced a major restoration project.
“We had the intention of just basically cleaning it all up,” Deena Kelly said. “Well, when we got it, we found the floor was all rotted. We took it all the way down to the frame and rebuilt the whole thing.”
The work took 18 months. They took the walls down and restored the classic woodwork inside, put down new checkerboard tiles, cabinetry and seating. The exterior got a sleek white and red paint job.
“Most of the people who buy them have bought them to fix up,” she said. “On the occasion that they’re already fixed up, all they have to do is make it their own.”
For the Kellys, making it their own meant outfitting the interior in a cheery red, teal and white color scheme. Decorative flag banners match the polka-dot curtains, and throw pillows add comfort to the camper’s bench seating.
They named their vehicle Dottie Jane, and it has served as a perfect way to bond with other campers they encounter at parks and campgrounds around the region.
“We were camping in McCormick’s Creek (State Park) and ran into another vintage camper there. We stood and talked for two hours with them. They came and looked at ours, we looked at theirs, and we both commented on how different and unique they were,” Deena Kelly said.
Some members of the community go beyond just restoring a vintage camper, instead going for a matching restored camper and tow vehicle as well.
The Indianapolis resident has owned six different vintage campers throughout his life, and currently has a collection of three that he takes to shows and other events. He has a passion for automobile history — he’s also had 127 antique cars in his life.
“Yes, it’s an obsession,” he said.
Schaefer’s family owned a lake house while he was growing up, so he never went camping as a child. But as an adult, he was drawn to the older automobiles among other vintage hobbies.
“I’ve always been into old stuff — I’ve restored old houses, I buy and restore old cars,” he said. “The vintage campers, like an old house, have more character than the new campers. They have details that you won’t find in new ones. It’s fun to restore them.”
He found his first vintage camper at a tax auction for a failed taxi company in Indianapolis.
“I just went over to see if there was any car parts or anything. I see this old camper inside the taxi building,” he said. “I had just finished restoring a 1956 station wagon, and I thought it would be really cute to take to car shows to use as a rolling picnic basket.”
So Schaefer bought it at a heavy discount, restored it and decorated it to match his station wagon. At first, all he used it for was as an accessory at car show. But after one of the car clubs he was a part of planned an overnight camping trip in Georgia, he camped in it for the first time.
From that point, Schaefer’s interest in vintage campers groew. He decided he needed a larger model as he started camping on longer and longer trips. He currently has a 1960 Arrow and a 1954 Airfloat model, and purchased a 28-foot-long 1953 Spartan that he has been using in his travels for the past 12 years.
“I spend the entire winter in it in Florida now that I’m retired. I probably spend every other weekend in spring-summer-fall going camping in it, either doing a car show and camping nearby or going on a mini-camper rally,” he said.
Schaefer, the Moores and the Kellys all took part in the October vintage camper rally at CERAland campground outside of Columbus. The weekend-long gathering included weenie roasts, group meals and a public open house for people to show off their decorated campers.
The event was filled with laughs and fun, as people from all over south-central Indiana came together with one requirement — a camper that was built before 1975.
“It was all people with the same interests, who could gather and see each other’s campers and hear the stories,” Deena Kelly said. “Everyone has different tastes, so it’s interesting to see what everyone has.”
