Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Our Vintage Campers- Before and After

I must apologize to you my readers and followers. I thought I had a fairly good handle on my blog. Not so much.

Jules was perusing my blog the other day and mentioned that I might be a tad remiss in my photos of her campers. She said that even though I have entries and pictures of all three of the campers, there isn't one specific blog entry with ALL of the campers, before and after they were rescued by Jules. I made visitors have to search multiple entries if they wanted to see Bob, Walter and Ginger.

Let me tell you a small secret that I learned from Norm; 'if Jules suggests something, a smart man will take that suggestion, make it his own idea and run with it.'

Here are a few pictures of our campers, what they looked like when we first got them and what they looked like after Jules' design and decorating ideas had been applied.

1958 Hiawatha camper


This was Bob the Burger in the very beginning. A leaky, soggy floored, ugly duckling looking to be a swan. Well, a tired vintage camper waiting for Jules' to give it a new life.





Jules actually had the idea of Bob the Cheeseburger long before they got the camper. Finding a camper shaped like a burger was the first step in making the idea into reality.

1958 Hiawatha camper, Bob the Burger


 


Roughly 12 weeks later this was Bob in all his glory. A new lease on life and making a new name for himself.



Everything inside Bob was decorated with a McDonald's theme.

This is the kitchen.

Don't worry, I thought the drawers were broken too. They were designed tipped like that to stay in while travelling.









The dining room and living room.

Considering that Bob is all of ten feet long inside, you need to maximize the space. (It is also the bedroom when the table is down.)











Ginger the man having morning coffee with Jules.










1965 Aristocrat Lo-Liner

Here is Walter the Hippie at the beginning.

This is where we found him in Necedah, Wisconsin. He had been parked in this spot for over 17 years.









1965 Aristocrat Lo-Liner, Walter the Hippie

Yes, I said Hippie. He HAD to be considering that he is a 1965.

Peace, Love, and Groovy. Far out man...


 
 




Walter is bigger than Bob. Walter actually has three beds hidden away. Here is the dinette. What hippie theme would be complete without a lava light?








Walter's kitchen and living room.

The couch converts into a full size bed and it has an upper bunk.

Jules does great work. She made all of the curtains and seat covers.




1959 Shasta Airflyte
Lastly, I introduce Ginger the Gingerbread House. I know, I felt the same way. Gingerbread house? Where? I don't see it!

But Jules has vision like nobody else I know. She looks at something and doesn't see what is, she sees way past that to what it will be.





1959 Shasta Airflyte, Ginger the Gingerbread House
 

See what I mean? Yes, this is the same camper.



Although this picture makes Ginger's wings look white, they are actually pink to match the wheels and step.











The interior of Ginger is tasty with a lot of pink, caramel colored paneling and candy. The dinette like most campers converts into a bed.







This shelf is above the dinette. See what I mean about tasty?

Makes me hungry.





The kitchen and rear couch. The seats in Ginger are covered in a lovely pink Naugahyde.


As you can see, Jules is very talented. But she isn't a magician. The exterior body work and paint on all of the campers is done by her son Norm III. He is very proud to be Jules' son and would do anything for her. He also likes to color outside of the lines like her. So he paints her campers the way she wants them and we think he is crazy talented. It must be genetic.



 Well, those are our campers.

Happy Trails, see you in a campground!

Travis