- published: 03 Jun 2016
- views: 357
Airstream is a brand of luxury recreational vehicle manufactured in Jackson Center, Ohio, USA. It is currently a division of Thor Industries. The company, which now employs fewer than 400, is the oldest in the industry. Airstream trailers are easily recognized for their distinctive rounded aluminum bodies, which originated in the 1930s from designs created by Hawley Bowlus. Bowlus was the chief designer of Charles Lindbergh's aircraft, the Spirit of St. Louis.
The company was created by Wally Byam, who began building trailers out of Masonite in his backyard in Los Angeles during the late 1920s. A lawyer by training, Byam published a magazine selling "how-to" kits to customers wishing to build their own trailers. After helping market Hawley Bowlus' trailer, Byam acquired the struggling Bowlus Company. In 1936 Byam introduced the "Airstream Clipper", which was essentially a rebadged 1935 Bowlus, with the door relocated from the front to the side. The design cut down on wind resistance and thus improved fuel efficiency. It was the first of the now familiar sausage-shaped, silver aluminum Airstream trailers. Of more than 400 travel trailer builders operating in 1936, Airstream was the sole survivor of the Depression. During World War II, travel became a luxury most could not afford and non-military industries faced an acute aluminum shortage. When World War II ended, the economy boomed, and people's attention once again turned towards leisure travel. Byam's company went back into production in 1948. In July 1952 a new facility in Jackson Center, Ohio, was established. 1979 saw the last Airstreams to be manufactured in California.
driving in our airstream
we're a band on the road
with equipment, roadies, a manager
we've got a heavy load
airstream! airstream! airstream!
get out of my lane!
airstream! airstream! airstream!
on our way to your town
cause you've never seen us play
with our airstream's aerodynamic design
we should be there any day
airstream! airstream! airstream!
get out of my lane!
airstream! airstream! airstream!
airstream is so shinny
and it's made out of aluminum
you can't tell if it's a '64
or an '81
I know that it's American made
So my chest just swells with pride
Then I grab that stainless steel handle
And I pull myself inside
double insulation
diamond tuck n roll
toilet, shower, refrigerator
we're completely self contained
airstream! airstream! airstream!
get out of my lane!
airstream! airstream! airstream!
airstream is so beautiful
we can hardly keep the foxes out
when we round that final corner
we can hear them shout