Vintage Campers, Trailers & Teardrops

Loved this book...great addition to my camper book collection

Very informative and interesting book

The newer generation that is fascinated with the Tiny House craze may not know that this is nothing new. Basically, what’s old is new again. In Vintage Campers Trailers & Teardrops, author Patrick R. Foster gives us an in-depth look at the history of those portable, mini-habitats. This book is filled with photos, short articles, advertising clippings, jokes, and general knowledge about portable homes. There are chapters on the tow-along, camper shells, the classic VW campervans (yes, this is my fav), the iconic Airstream, and pop-ups. All chapters are packed with photos and vignettes of the life and times “back then”. This is a wonderful book for the nostalgic armchair traveler. This would be a great gift for that hard to buy for grandpa or uncle plus this would make a thoughtful donation to the library of your local senior center. But, be sure to keep one for yourself. BTW – the best joke in the book is an old camper saying: “The Good Lord made shinbones strictly to help people find their trailer hitch in the dark”. Been there, done that. The newer generation that is fascinated with the Tiny House craze may not know that this is nothing new. Basically, what’s old is new again. In Vintage Campers Trailers & Teardrops, author Patrick R. Foster gives us an in-depth look at the history of those portable, mini-habitats. This book is filled with photos, short articles, advertising clippings, jokes, and general knowledge about portable homes. There are chapters on the tow-along, camper shells, the classic VW campervans (yes, this is my fav), the iconic Airstream, and pop-ups. All chapters are packed with photos and vignettes of the life and times “back then”. This is a wonderful book for the nostalgic armchair traveler. This would be a great gift for that hard to buy for grandpa or uncle plus this would make a thoughtful donation to the library of your local senior center. But, be sure to keep one for yourself. BTW – best joke in the book is an old camper saying: “The Good Lord made shinbones strictly to help people find their trailer hitch in the dark”. Been there, done that.

Very lovely book. However, was looking for more teardrop, since it is in the title... the 5 pages of 'teardrops' were more tiny trailers... not the teardrop we know today.

This is a high quality book with a hard cover, thick pages and strong binding. The font chosen is clear and easy to read and sized to be easy to see. The pictures and adverts are printed crisply and large enough to be seen without feeling like they're wasting space. This is such a fun trip down memory lane . . . as a kid that was raised camping in a pup (pop up) that transitioned as a young adult to tent and backpacking, and then when I had my own kids went through a transition of pup to hybrid to TT (travel trailer) I loved everything about this book. The narrative is easy to read and gives a wide variety of historical background not limited to campers, but focusing on things that have impacted the development of the trailer industry and experience. This is a book I will keep on my shelf and revisit often. A great find!

If you're looking for a deep historical look into the history of campers in (mostly) the US than this may not be what you're looking for. However if you've looking for a fun entertaining coffee table book with lots of photos than this is for you. My history of campers is minimal but since I've been camping my entire life I have a place in my heart for classic campers. The old ones have a lot of charm and character. Occasionally I've had the opportunity to talk to owners of restored campers and their hard work has really paid off. They have an appreciation that new caravan owners don't seem to have. The book is great for passing time with no stress added. Highly recommended

Vintage Campers, Trailers, and Teardrops is by Patrick R. Foster and published by Motorbooks. This book contains photographs and art that goes back to the twenties and has over one hundred and fifty pages of text. Vintage Campers appeals to a century's worth of campers. This includes travel clubs like Sisters on the Fly, whose motto is “No men, no kids, be nice, have fun.” This is a beautiful book (size 81/2 X 11 inches) with stunning colors. It has eight chapters describing trailers that were called “canned hams,” “silver bullets,” “covered wagons,” and of course the world-famous Airstream. There's a separate chapter on European camping. The British and the Germans really vans. There's a 1960 Holiday House Model 19 that looks like it belongs to someone who wanted to take their own Dairy Queen on vacation with them. Some of the photographs are black and white, but are almost as interesting as the ones in color, which sometimes match the cars on display next to them on the grass. Native Americans used travois—netting between poles used to carry belongings from campsite to campsite. I've seen historical photographs of these. Some of the best photographs in Patrick Foster's book are the ones of vacationers who have used their campers to travel to the water.

I received this book recently and it took me about 2 minutes to decide to send it back. It's poorly researched compared to other books on the subject. The construction of the history of classic trailers is disjointed and lacks any logical progression. Very often the author fails to identify a make of a trailer in a picture and since many of the examples shown are from the 60s and even the 70s, the laziness in the research, or lack thereof, is obvious. There are many far superior books on the subject available.

This book is very poorly researched. Sure it has lots of pretty pictures but the captions if any are often wrong and very vague. I have been involved in the Vintage Camper Scene for 20 years and I have seen most of these pictures before. It seems the pictures have been taken straight off the internet. There are far better books out there on the subject. It seems the author and Motorbooks just want to cash in on the Vintage trailer scene. I'm having fun going through the book with my post it notes marking the mistakes. Don't waste your money.