This Camper Was a Quarantine Staple Before Covid

On July 24, 1969, President Richard Nixon stepped off Marine One onto the deck of the USS Hornet, which had steamed to the central Pacific to pick up the Apollo 11 astronauts. Lunar travel being new, NASA physicians were concerned that Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin might have brought home “lunar pathogens,” so they forced the men into quarantine. (Sound familiar?) Yet for the millions of Americans watching on TV, there was something oddly familiar about the tear drop-shaped aluminum container the astronauts were sitting in. Indeed, some viewers even had one in their driveways. The Mobile Quarantine Facility, as it was known, was a modified Airstream trailer. Today, 52 years later, it’s strangely fitting that Americans are again taking to the open road in Airstreams as they emerge from their Covid cocoons. In fact, dealerships notched a 22% rise in sales in 2020. Inside or outside RV circles, there’s no brand of camper as recognizable—or beloved—as the Airstream. It’s a quality machine, sure, and as of 2006, 65% of all the Airstreams ever built were still on the road. But it’s mainly the look, its inimitable streamlined silhouette rendered in riveted aluminum, distinctive enough that the Museum of Modern Art has one in its permanent collection. “Its form follows function, it's a beautiful piece of art and it's resonated with people for nine decades now,” CMO Mollie Hansen said, noting how the trailer’s external shape has changed only slightly since the art deco era. “There’s something timeless about it.” The enduring American camper was the creation of Wally Byam, who grew up on an Oregon sheep farm living inside a wagon fitted with a kerosene stove. Even after graduating from Stanford, Byam loved to go camping, though his wife hated sleeping on the ground. His solution was a bullet-shaped trailer he fashioned from masonite. After enough people begged Byam to build them one, he went into business, switched to aluminum, and Airstream was born. Though it’s marketed to the masses, Airstream trailers were never cheap; they were—and are—positioned as long-term recreational investments. For example, the original 1936 Airstream Clipper slept four, came with dry ice air conditioning and a cocktail bar and started at $1,465 ($28,578 in current dollars). Today, prices range from $39,100 to $161,900. That’s not pocket change, of course, but Airstream’s Ohio factory still has a year’s worth of orders to fill, and it still makes every trailer by hand. “Quality is paramount in keeping this brand alive and thriving,” Hansen said. “We take that very seriously.” Quite an undertaking While Airstream is best known for its trailers, the company has produced motor homes of various types. And some could get pretty elaborate. But none held a candle to the rig produced by Airstream’s commercial vehicle division in 1981. The brainchild of Ohio funeral director Dale E. Kloss, the Airstream Funeral Coach could hold 20 floral sprays, 14 mourners and, of course, one casket. Priced at $85,000, morticians praised the rig, though only 32 were made. Airstream’s planned Heritage Center museum will have one on display. Happy Campers Wally Byam (1) built his first trailer so his wife wouldn’t have to sleep on the ground. By 1936, his aluminum Clipper model (2) set the standard for American trailers, though they lacked features like electrically adjustable beds (inset) as today’s models do. After the war, Americans heading for the suburbs on new interstates bought Airstreams in droves (3). But no Airstream was more American than the one adopted to house the Apollo 11 astronauts (4).

Perspective

This Camper Has Been a Quarantine Staple Since 1960s Space Missions

As America returns to travel, the 90-year-old Airstream trailer is as popular as ever

Robert Klara

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Robert Klara