Tom:
The correct name of the trailer manufacturer that Wally
Byam worked for immediately after WW II is Curtis Wright
Industries with one "s". That company is named after its
founder, an individual "Curtis Wright". It has no known
relationship to the company formed from the WW I era merger
of Glenn
Curtiss and the Wright Brothers aircraft interests.
The description from the VAC Fredericksburg 2000 rally
program is incorrect, and its original source, Bud Cooper,
has now revised his data to reflect the correct company name
having a single "s" in Curtis and "Industries" instead of
"Corporation."
The correct name "Curtis Wright Industries" appears in
many contemporary (1947) magazine ads showing the new C-W
"Clipper" model trailers. Additionally, there is a short
article titled "Wright Enters Third Year" beginning on page
55 in the July 1946 issue of Trail-R-News magazine
discussing Curtis Wright Industries' trailer production,
which began with "homosote" trailers in 1944. The earliest
magazine ad I am presently aware of for the all aluminum C-W
Clipper appeared on page 85 in the February 1947 issue of
Trail-R-News magazine.
As a general historical research rule, primary source
materials such as contemporary magazine ads and articles are
usually far more reliable than secondary source materials
such as general descriptions published more than 50 years
later.
To help document his caption or description, Doug may
wish to include in his new book a small photograph of a
Curtis Wright Industries data oe serial number tag besides
the photo(s) of a C-W Clipper aluminum trailer.
Fred Coldwell
VAC Archive Historian