At an RV show this spring I overheard a young couple debating between two similar travel trailers that they were considering. Each model had unique features, and the couple were trying to decide which one would be the better purchase. Then one of them said that it would be hard to go wrong either way, since these "new RVs" were pretty remarkable things.

While I had to agree, I wonder how many people realize that recreational vehicles aren't a new thing at all, and that they have a history that goes back more than 80 years?

The original RVs, of course, were the wagons that early settlers rode across the prairies on their way west. Serving as both transportation and living quarters, they definitely qualify. But because they weren't used recreationally, I consider the first RVs to be those vehicles which appeared shortly after the invention of the automobile at the turn of the century.

In his book Home on the Road: The Motor Home in America, author Roger White notes that motorists began adapting vehicles in the early 1920s, converting them into "house-cars" for recreational use. Commercially-produced versions were soon available to the wealthy. White describes an opulent 1915 Gypsy van, owned by Roland and Mary Conklin, as having a home-like interior "similar to their mansion, which was styled after English manor houses." Now that's something I'd like to see.

While the Great Depression and two world wars slowed the development of "house-cars" things quickly picked up again by the 1950s. The well-known Volkswagen camper van arrived in North America in 1956. Dodge introduced its own version of a motorhome in 1960, which was followed by Chevrolet and Ford van campers in 1961. Five years later, Winnebago introduced a mass-produced motorhome, and the RV industry has never looked back.

I don't know which trailer the young couple at the RV show ultimately bought, but either way I'm sure they will enjoy their purchase. Each year we hear that RV sales are on the increase - the experts say sales this year could set an all-time record - so it seems that old "house-car" idea was a good one. If nothing else, it has stood the test of time as more and more people discover just how much fun it can be to hit the open road in a recreational vehicle. And on that note, on page 44 you'll find our annual guide to more than 4,000 campgrounds across Canada. Freshly updated, its your guide to joining Canada's RV heritage. (Top)