In 2002, dull, regular mid-life all of a sudden stimulated and sparkled once again when phase left from Las Vegas got in a female of a particular age called Ruby. Here’s the story of how we got hitched up.
Life was calm and made up that March when silently there appeared in my inbox a message looking for an appraisal and possible purchaser for an old Airstream trailer. The 3 images accompanying the e-mail revealed a dirty old lady long earlier parked in the shade of a carport.
Though a bit thick around the middle, her rivets were tight and organized and kept her well gathered. Her black cast bronze deco precious jewelry happily announced AIRSTREAM on her side and throughout her complete and well-rounded back. However a glimpse at her curbside window exposed this girl had actually been around the block, and more than as soon as, to hideaways called Bryce, Zion and Death. She skyrocketed on Stone Dam then plunged to the depths of the Grand Canyon. She was even seen in (gasp) Ensenada! What sordid and storied past did this grand dame have? What luggage did she still bring with her? I was driven to learn.
I responded to the e-mail and sent them site addresses for VAC Rally Reports revealing comparable vintage trailers on display screen and for R.J Dial’s Airstream rate vs. worth site. I likewise consisted of an expression of interest by me and a deal to look after this old gal. Their prepare for her unsure, her caretakers demurred however assured to keep me in mind. Long story short, 6 months later on they accepted my deal to acquire the Airstream. Rapidly, it was off to Las Vegas to see just how much problem I had actually purchased.
I got to 9:15 p.m. when the caretakers were operating at their gambling establishment tasks. Her door was opened so I meticulously got in. In the dark I might hardly see some uninspiring upholstery that looked more like bed mattress ticking than material. However then I kept in mind: her current owner Ruby Mann matured in the slipcover generation, so I raised the bottom of the cover and found a deep abundant royal blue waffle pattern material on the side of the bedsprings. Raising even more, I might hardly see a cream and blue cushion top that was even more joyful than the dull slipcover. Urged, I went back to my truck and went to sleep, imagining aluminum sugarplums.
The next early morning I examined her in higher information in the daytime. Ruby is an extremely early Airstream Liner, which had 2 semicircular round ends up until 1950, when optional flat front ends started to appear. She is a 16′ long 1948 Wee Wind, the quickest Airstream made in the late 1940s. Her identification number 3003 informed me she was the 3rd Wee Wind developed. She remained in exceptional unrestored initial condition and was kept and preserved that method considering that brand-new, with very little repair work just as needed.
A number of her outside functions appear just on 1947 and really early 1948 design year Airstream trailers. The big, 1-inch size exposed thread jack in the front of her frame should be kept greased for smooth operation. Nevertheless, that made it a magnet for dirt, grit, and the owner’s clothing. This exposed screw jack was quickly changed in production by a Marvel jack with a confined system that kept both itself and the owner much cleaner.
Ruby still had her initial butane tank up front, marked with develop date January 8, 1948 by her producer, Butane, Ltd., 1804 South. Main Street, Los Angeles, Calif. That service lay about 35 blocks far from Airstream’s only factory at 1755 North Main St., Los Angeles, Calif. This early January develop date recommends Ruby similarly was integrated in the very first 2 months of 1948.
The hinges for the inner and external doors were little thin aluminum “C” channels throughout the doors, the earliest kind of Airstream post-war door hinge. They were quickly changed in later production by taller and more powerful flat metal straps. Ruby’s 2 roofing vents are depended upon their front ends so open just towards the back. These were quickly changed by the Hehr no-draft roofing ventilator that opens fore, aft or equally up. Black painted cast bronze AIRSTREAM name plates from prior to World War 2 include an unique deco grow to her curb side and rear end.
Her double frame rectangle-shaped side windows were typically utilized on Airstream Liners from 1947 to 1950. They were made by Air-O-Lite Window Co., 832 W. Fifth St., Los Angeles, 13, Calif., another regional producer. Ruby’s windows still have little red factory decals on the within vertical center ribs that succinctly advise the user to “open upper first/close lower very first”.
Ruby has the early center-pole frame that was utilized on 1947 and 1948 Airstream trailers. It is an enough however not robust style consisted of a 1/8 inch thick, 4-inch size smooth Shelby pipeline running front to pull back her centerline. Thin 6 inch deep “I” beams extend perpendicular off each side to support the trailer body. These early “I” beams were back-to-back “C” channels formed from.051″ thick aluminum stock and riveted together.
The low combined 1,200-pound weight of the trailer and its basic home furnishings made such a light-weight frame useful, though limited, for these early Airstreams. The 1947-48 center-pole frame was reinforced in 1949 by including an interior 3-foot long doubler pipeline inside the front 3 feet of the center pole to decrease flexing and breaking. The axle subframe side rails to which the spring wall mounts were connected was extended in 1949 to move forward of the door, reinforcing assistance for the flooring by lowering the rotational flexing that triggered flooring tiles to split along the joints of the plywood flooring. This last step supposedly treated door misalignment, a condition not suffered by Ruby, although with her the much shorter side rails the flooring tiles have actually broken from body rotation along the plywood flooring front joint.
The trim strip that twists around the bottom of Ruby’s front and rear semi-circular ends is an extremely shallow “C” channel that seems a strong strap. The rear underbelly skin still has factory workers’s chalk marks revealing where to screw the trim strip into the body side, exposing Ruby was not utilized much at all by her previous owners. Her leaf springs have no shock absorbers, which were later on included as basic devices on 1949 Airstreams. Her wheels are the exact same one-piece stamped steel 16-inch size wheels utilized on Mercury automobiles, and use four-ply 600-16 tires. One 1955 date-coded B.F. Goodrich Silvertown 600-16 tubeless tire that was still installed to Ruby’s street side wheel when I purchased her in 2002 most likely was set up that year for the Mann’s relocation from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, gone over listed below. I set up more recent 600-16 tires ever since to tow her to classic Airstream occasions in Colorado.
Ruby’s interior has actually been effectively maintained. The front single and rear double bed each have bed mattress with complete arc areas. Ruby was produced prior to shallow storage compartments were included as a basic Liner function beneath the front and rear oval Plexiglas windows.
The front 3-foot deep single bed and the rear 4-foot deep double bed each have plywood boards on the bottom, supporting their spring cushions. The beds rest upon really light aluminum horizontal stringers, and each bed can be raised to access more storage beneath. There is an aluminum storage drawer under the rear bed, however none in advance.
A two-foot large upholstered chaise sits in between the galley and front bed. Moving it towards the center of the trailer and pulling its back forward launches a catch and permits the chaise back to be decreased level with the front seat cushion. When so located, the chaise kinds an extension to the 3-foot deep front bed that quickly accommodates 2 supine individuals. It’s capability to sleep 2 in the front bed and 2 in the rear bed leads me to conclude Ruby has the un-illustrated “sleep 4” layout.
Bed mattress ticking slipcovers on the upholstery have actually kept the blue, white and yellow increased pattern seat material crisp and tidy throughout the previous 74 years. The total little secondhand condition of the interior yellow/ enthusiast paint, cabinets and galley recommends the upholstery material is initial, validated by the outdated upholstery products tags stapled to the bottom of the front cushions. Astonishingly, the chaise still maintains a button-held ribbon determining it as a “Gruda Item” made by I. Gruda Upholstery, 11844 W. Jefferson Blvd, Culver City [Calif.], phone Santa Monica 7-3404. I envision they produced numerous of Airstream’s early uphol stered furnis h ings. This upholstery tag dated 2-26-48 is stapled to the bottom of the front seat cushion.
Connected to the entry side of the little curbside chest of drawers is an aesthetically hectic Elite design unvented lp heating unit made by the Deluxe Wall Heating Unit Co. (no address provided). 3 ceramic heating inserts were discovered thoroughly covered in paper inside the rear bed drawer. Neither the wood chest of drawers nor the wood closet has any producer name plate or recognition, however they were most likely developed for Airstream by a close-by woodshop. A curbside radio antenna with a long lead-in allows a radio to be positioned and used top of the chest of drawers or closet.
The three-burner butane range top is made by Hansen Burner Products, Inglewood, Calif. It rests on 2 complete depth “P” formed brackets that leave a 4 inch area beneath the range top to save pots and pans. The sink is riveted in 4 locations to the galley top and is served by a single cold water faucet that connects to an outdoors pressurized water pipe. There is no water tank or hand pump in Ruby. There is no producer name plate or recognition on either the Monel galley counter top or the aluminum cooking area galley.
However, the sheet aluminum requirements “ANC ALOCA.032” I “ALCAD 24S-T” printed in red ink on the within the galley storage compartment door listed below the range top correspond the sheet aluminum requirements for her body panels. This highly recommends the galley base was developed internal by Airstream. The long horizontal ice box and another storage compartment live listed below the Monel metal galley top.
The overhead storage bin does not have any gadget to hold its wood door open in a raised position, so the previous owners bent a little rod that went through a hole in the ceiling and curled around the lock to achieve that essential job. A 120 volt air conditioner unbranded clear plastic light installs to the overhead storage bin above the sink, enhancing similar components at each end of the trailer. A strong hook on the bottom of the galley overhead storage bin waits for a liquid fuel lantern to offer lighting throughout remote outdoor camping far from 120 volt air conditioner electrical power.
Ruby was acquired brand-new from Airstream by Harry and Ruby Mann when they resided in the Los Angeles location. Ruby Mann frequently discussed to her nephew how happy she was that she owned the 3rd Wee Wind developed. Her hubby, Harry Mann, was a popular sportsperson of the 1940’s and 50’s. The couple hobnobbed with the abundant and well-known. Harry was an authority on and collector of classic guns. While in Los Angeles, he encouraged numerous well-known individuals, consisting of many film stars, on gun purchases and sporting matters in basic.
Harry and Ruby Mann relocated to Las Vegas in 1955, where he quickly developed the Frontier Weapon Store beside the Last Frontier Hotel. Harry was a creator and co-sponsor of Hotel Sahara’s Weapon Program, shrewdly set up mid-winter throughout the very first week of February and considered to be the very best weapon program in the nation. A 2nd Sahara weapon program was held mid-summer.
Though Ruby’s condition exposes she was not utilized frequently, the Wee Wind did sometimes roll her tires throughout the fantastic Southwest. Classic images reveal Harry and Ruby at her door in the Nevada countryside. Harry set up a trailer drawback into the back of the pipeline frame and utilized it to tow his fishing boat behind the Airstream. I utilized this rear trailer drawback to set up modern-day, brilliant, quickly removable 12 volt tail lights, turn signals, and reflectors to supplement the initial single back 6 volt S&M Light Co. tail and brake light.
Harry Mann passed away at a young age in 1960, and the Wee Wind was little utilized from that time to Ruby Mann’s death in 2001. Throughout those 40 or two years the Wee Wind invested the majority of its time under a carport on the south side of Ruby Mann’s main Las Vegas house, on a peaceful domestic street simply 8 blocks west of the “Strip”. As you might have thought by now, this unmodified gem of a Wee Wind has actually been called Ruby in honor of her initial co-owner, Ruby Mann.
In August, 2002 I purchased the Wee Wind and moved it on a flatbed trailer to her brand-new house in Denver, Colorado. Throughout the previous 19 years, Ruby the Wee Wind has actually been vigilantly maintained and enjoyably revealed at a couple of Vintage Airstream Club occasions in Colorado. The couple of who were fortunate sufficient to participate in those occasions got to see her face to face.
In Fall 2021, Ruby was obtained by Airstream’s Heritage Center Museum in Jackson Center, Ohio, where she will be on display screen as the most initial 1947-1950 Airstream travel trailer existing today. Now in her brand-new properties, she can be seen, taken pleasure in, and studied by countless Airstream lovers in the future. The next time you remain in Jackson Center, visit the brand-new Heritage Center Museum and check out Ruby face to face. You will be pleased you was familiar with her.
— Fred Coldwell, Ruby’s 2nd owner 2002-2021
Aiming to dig even further into Airstream’s long history? Find out more about the upcoming displays and classic Airstreams on display screen in the Airstream Heritage Center.
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