Quick! To the RV Time Machine | I Heart RVing
WE MIGHT BE FORGIVEN for looking to the future. Heck, did you see that Cybertruck? Or for standing in awe of the present. (We could stare at the Bowlus Volterra for hours … and may already have. Ugh, lost track of time.) But to hit rewind and play back the tape of our RV ancestors? That’s something we’ve never been able to do. At least, not the way Andrew Woodmansey does it in his new book, Recreational Vehicles: A World History 1872–1939. Woodmansey’s book is so good that—can’t believe we’re about to say this—it makes us miss coffee tables. It’s beautifully printed, richly illustrated, and almost impossible to put down. (Apparently, time travel is addictive.) But there are three big things about this visual history that we’re particularly wild about. So here we go.
Our 3 Favorite Things
1 COUNTLESS PICTURE OF A LOST RV AGE
Credit Pen & Sword Books for going all-in with this picture-heavy history. The innumerable period photos make it an absolute page-turner. From the Dupont Camping Auto to the Airstream Silver Bullet, the weird models and surprisingly familiar innovations make it a visual feast for any RV enthusiast.
2 A PORTAL TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THE RV WORLD
We’d have guessed that the ole U.S. of A. was the birthplace of the RV and that the rest of the world has been playing catch-up. (Like disco, right?) Wrong. RVing has been a global phenomenon almost from the get-go. Woodmansey tours its incredible, simultaneous evolution in Europe, Australasia, and the U.S.
3 AMAZING STORIES WE NEVER KNEW ABOUT
Woodmansey is not only a prodigious researcher (no telling how many hours he poured into this book), but he’s also a storyteller. Did you know that a doctor’s weird (but awesome) prescription to go camping in 1894 launched one of the first RV influencers (the Lasleys)? Us either. This book is rich with fun camper trivia.
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