One of the latest trends is tiny houses.  With the price of a run of the mill home skyrocketing, people are beginning to question just how much house they really need.  A precursor to this movement is the camper craze of the postwar period.  An example would be this 1961 Century Teardrop Travel Trailer being sold on eBay out of Mason, Michigan.  With nothing you don’t need and everything you want, these lightweight, aerodynamic campers were mobile living space in their day.  Is a little camper like this still practical?

The nickname “canned ham” obviously comes from the shape and construction that resembles one of those canned hams you take camping or put in your emergency food supply.  These trailers were very popular in the postwar era for reasons such as cost and ease of use.  These lightweight trailers could be pulled by most cars, and the postwar prosperity experienced by many in the United States allowed for both the disposable income to purchase such a luxury and the explosive growth of campgrounds across the country.

To be fair, the amenities provided by these campers can be described as spartan.  They usually do not come with a toilet or shower.  That was to be provided by the host campground or the neighboring trees and water bodies.  What they do usually contain is a refrigerator, a gas stove, lighting, and a lot of convertible space.  Couches and tables become the foundation for beds.  It is actually fascinating to see how well engineered some of these units were.  It is like those tents you see at Wal-Mart that say you can sleep eight people in them.  They had better be close family.  Really close.

After a while, a lot of these campers became extra storage behind the house or got a second life as a hunting camper.  Now there seems to be a renaissance of sorts for these cool little campers.  People are cleaning them up, repairing leaks, and even dropping serious cash restoring them.  Some camper companies have even changed their styling on smaller campers to pay homage to these little homes on wheels.

The camper we see in these photographs looks to be a good candidate for a simple refurbishment.  There are a few imperfections outside, namely a dent where a previous owner encountered a more immoveable object.  The inside pictures show water damage around the vent in the ceiling.  There is also damage to the floor.  It appears that the camper was not stored level and all of the water that entered found its way out in the left front corner.  We are also told of damage in the rear below the bed.

The rest of the woodwork in the camper appears to be in great condition.  The refrigerator looks like a 1980s replacement, and the electrical outlets and plates are new.  The original stove even seems to be in place.  The seller tells us that the front cushions will need to be recovered and a cushion will have to be made for the rear beds.  Sadly, the laminated floor will need to be replaced as well.  Rugs are currently covering the damage.

Looking at the pictures of the damaged areas shows how most of these campers met their demise.  These were not built to last for decades.  Leaks often came from broken seams in the body, dried up caulking, and aged rubber seals.  To repair or restore a camper like this you have to understand that they were built from the frame up and the body was the last piece of the puzzle.  Complete restorations usually begin by removing the aluminum outer layer and disassembling from there.

With bidding currently at $3,950 it is obvious that there is still interest in these little campers and that this one is very restorable.  Looking at these campers and how they are built, you have to wonder how a modern interpretation would fair in today’s housing crazed market.  If you could find a place to set up with a proper bath house, this might be a decent option until a better one presents itself.  The construction methods used in the past would certainly work even better with today’s 3D printing technology.  Maybe this is an idea whose time has come around again…