How Airstream Became an American Icon

Welcome to Origin Story, a series that chronicles the lesser-known histories of designs that have shaped how we live.

The instantly recognizable aluminum Airstream trailer makes a statement: Road trips can be glamorous, too! Born in the backyard of California inventor Wally Byam in 1929, the Streamline Moderne–style trailer, with its signature rounded dome, has become an emblem of the open road and 20th-century style, so much so that Airstream motels, where you can spend the night in a refurbished trailer, have popped up in recent years everywhere from Joshua Tree to the Catskills. Maybe you’ve seen a classic Airstream cruising down the highway, but did you know the first version Byam tinkered with was made of plywood? Or that the "silver bullet" exterior has undergone only a few minor changes since the 1936 Clipper model rolled off the line? Read on for more about the road trip icon that might catch you by surprise.

1929

The trailer’s creation traces back to the founder’s attempt to solve a marital problem. While Byam was a camping enthusiast, his first wife, Marion, preferred to sleep indoors. In 1929, Byam took a Ford Model T chassis and built a tentlike contrivance upon it that would allow him to satiate his passion for the outdoors and his wife to sleep shielded from the elements. Thus, the first Airstream trailer was born. (The couple eventually divorced.) Later on, Byam’s second wife, Stella, took issue with his habit of working and listening to the radio all night. In 1957, Airstream rolled out a portioned model that let couples and families have separate spaces. A true romantic, Byam had the Airstream, dubbed Stella’s Dream Trailer, clad in gold anodized aluminum.

1936

Byam became attuned to the market for travel trailers when his neighbors, taking note of his backyard project, asked for advice on how to create their own. In the 1930s, Byam published plans for a modified version of his Model T contraption—in his estimation, it could be built for $100. When the all-aluminum model went into production, the trailers cost anywhere from $1,200 to $5,200, with most of the expense being materials and camping accoutrements like kerosene stoves. Today, they can run upward of $200,000.

1954

Byam, who worked on Stanford University’s daily newspaper in college, spent a few years in advertising at the Los Angeles Times and various penny papers, so of course Airstream had its very own newspaper. Launched in 1954 and edited by Byam’s cousin Helen Byam Schwamborn, the Caravanner declared itself "a paper published by and for those with a spirit of travel-adventure." Headlines announced Airstream caravans, planned by Schwamborn, to destinations near (Canada) and far (South Africa), plus company news—"We Are on the Verge of Greatness," one front-page headline pronounced after a large international rally of "travel trailerists."

1964

Airstream caravans have a more than 70-year track record: "34 U.S. Trailers Bemuse Russians," read a 1964 New York Times one branch of the Wally Byam Caravan Club parked their trailers in the center of Moscow’s Red Square. "Is that a circus troupe?" a confused Muscovite asks another in the article. The caravan received special permission from the Soviet government to drive into the heart of the city for the purpose of photographing the trailers in front of the Kremlin. Some midcentury caravanners spent the night at the Pyramids of Giza; others met with Cuban president Fulgencio Batista.

1969

The Airstream didn’t quite go where no man had gone before, but it got pretty close. Before the 1969 moon landing, NASA scientists had concerns about the returning astronauts contracting and spreading "lunar contagions." Their solution? Seal the Apollo 11 trio in a specially outfitted Airstream for 88 hours, only setting them free once it seemed like a superspreading moon flu wasn’t going to turn real life into the plot of a science fiction movie. During the astronauts’ quarantine, they got a visit from President Nixon, who offered congratulations to the grinning group on the other side of the Airstream’s picture window.

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