[VAC] Re: "Park" model misnomer

["Fred Coldwell" <Agrijeep@xxxxxxxxx>]

Brad:

   I'll take a stab at answering your question.  Airstream
never marketed or referred to any of their trailers as
"park" models.  All Airstreams were marketed and sold to
travel, to move, to "hit the road", irrespective of their
features.  

    The 1940's trailers typically lacked a toilet and shower
(which were seldom chosen options) and did not have grey or
black holding tanks.  They were plumbed to be hooked up to
city or campground (pressurized) water for kitchen use.  
All electrical wiring was 120 volts except for the trailer
brake and marker lights, which were 6 volts to match motor
vehicles of that era. 

    The 1950's trailers added toilets, but they did not have
black water holding tanks.  Users were advised and expected
to dig a hole in the ground (gopher hole) for waste water of
all colors.  A potable water tank was added that could be
accessed by a hand pump.   Most trailers were wired for 120
volts only, and a few had one 6 or 12 volt ceiling light
that connected to the car battery.  There were no on board
batteries (except for a few models in the late 1950's like
the World Traveler). 

    On board 12 volt batteries first appeared generally in
the 1960s.  Sales literature suggests the Univolt first
appeared in 1964 models.  Black water tanks became standard
during the 1960s, but grey water tanks were not standard
until the early 1970s. 

    I think people today mistakenly call some early
Airstream trailers "park" models because they are not fully
self-contained (12 volts, battery,. water tank, grey and
black holding tanks).  The old Airstreams thus appear under
today's trailering sensibilities and standards to have been
intended to be "parked" and "hard plumbed" to the parking
site.  That was never the case.  Instead, the mistaken use
of "park model" to old Airstream trailers results from
applying today's concepts and some borrow mobile home
marketing labels to a different era in trailering.         

Fred Coldwell
VAC Archive Historian