Silver Palaces

Travel back in time and experience America's silver masters of the road with vintage trailer expert Douglas Keister as he explains the simple, historical beginning of the streamlined trailer, its evolution, and the state of vintage trailer collection and restoration today.

The genesis of the streamlined aluminum trailer lies with William Hawley Bowlus, inventor of the Bowlus Road Chief trailer in 1934. From there, it was a matter of sell-outs, buy-outs, folding in, and adapting features from one company to another. But while Bowlus may have invented the streamlined aluminum trailer, it was Wally Byam's Airstream that has become almost generic for a streamline trailer, just as Scotch for adhesive tape, Kleenex for facial tissues, and Windex for window cleaner.

If Airstream is the queen of travel trailers, then the Silver Streak is a sister, Spartan and Boles Aero were its cousins, and the Hunt and Thompson housecars were the mansions of the road. Photographs of all these and more-plus the vintage automobiles that pull them around the country today-will delight and entertain you.

Find out how the many challenges in making mobile spaces for living were addressed, how World War II affected trailer production and evolution, and how the RV and travel associations that sprang up around the country influenced the growth of this incredibly American obsession!

Includes a foreword on "Streamlining" by Arrol Gellner, syndicated columnist of Architext.

Douglas Keister has photographed twenty-two critically acclaimed books. He also writes and illustrates magazine articles and contributes photographs and essays to dozens of magazines, newspapers, books, calendars, posters and greeting cards worldwide. His most recent books include Classic Cottages, coauthored with Brian Coleman, and Stories in Stone: A Field Guide to Cemetery Symbolism and Iconography. Others of his books include Ready to Roll, Red Tile Style, the Bungalow, and Victorian Glory. He lives in Chico, California, with his wife, Sandy Schweitzer.