The Travel Trailer: Cecil and Anna Pierce

In this post are a series of photographs about the travel trailer owned by Anna Catherine Edwards (1909-2007) and her husband Cecil Alvy Pierce (1907-1975).

The photo of Anna comes from the collection of Lisa Pierce Tilley, granddaughter of Anna and Cecil.

The location and date of the photo are not known, but Anna poses beside the travel trailer. The date of license tag on the car in the background can't be seen. But in another photo of the same car (not posted here), the car bears a license plate with a 1941 date. That tag is a different color than the one above, so it was probably from a different year, though more than likely from about the same time.

The second photo comes from my collection and shows what I believe is the same travel trailer. Standing beside the trailer is a young Kathleen Ann Pierce (b. 1931), daughter of Anna and Cecil. Note Kathleen's stylish traveling costume. She looks a lot like early airline stewardesses.

Also notice that the surroundings are very rural. The road appears to be a narrow dirt road. On the hill in the background are what appear to be farm outbuildings. It is possible that this photo was taken in Pierce Level. Cecil, Anna, Kathleen may have driven down from Ohio for a visit to Cecil's parents, Napoleon Bonaparte "Bonie" Pierce (1880-1964) and Julia Lavinia Moody (1886-1965).

Now compare the trailer in that photo with the trailer in the advertisement for the 1938 Harris Caravan Coaches. The ad comes courtesy of Kevin Hughes, "The Postcard Guy," and his blog.

The travel trailers in the two images are very similar, but they are not exactly alike. In the photo, the trailer has a set of double wheels, while the trailer in the ad has a set of single wheels. The door to the trailer in photo is in the rear rather than at the front end as in the ad. But you will notice that the lines and design of the two trailers are the same.

Clearly, the trailer in the photo is much larger than the one in the ad. So it makes sense that the doors could be in different locations and that the trailer would require more wheels.

According to Al Hesselbart's The History of the RV and Manufactured Housing Industry in and around Elkhart, Indiana, Harris Caravan Coaches were made in that town. "Caravan," by the way, is the British term for travel trailers.

In 1936, Ernie Harris had contacted Oliver Platt with hopes of investing in the growing Platt Trailer Co. When his offer was denied, he formed the Harris Caravan Co. in a plant on McDonald Street in Elkhart. Harris moved his manufacturing operation to Plymouth in 1937.

Hesselbart said Harris Caravan operated in Plymouth for only a very short time and closed in 1937. If that is correct, it makes the above ad a curiosity. Either the ad was put out in 1937 in the hope of a 1938 season, or the company continued to make the trailers past 1937.

The final photo shows Cecil's sister, Beatrice Valara Pierce (1921-1993), sitting on the bumper of his and Anna's car next to the travel trailer.

What can be learned from these photos? For one thing, Cecil and Anna came out of the Great Depression, which began in 1929, relatively well off. They owned a fairly new car and travel trailer. They could afford to travel around the country and had the leisure time to do so. The couple dressed their daughter well and fashionably.

Also we can probably assume that the photos were taken before the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and plunged the United States into World War II. Rationing began almost immediately. The government especially controlled the sale of gasoline and rubber, essential war materiel. By the end of 1942, the government had issued half of U.S cars an 'A' sticker, which allowed the driver to buy 4 gallons of fuel a week. After the war began, it would have been very hard for Cecil and Anna to travel by car the 800 miles between Akron and Mobile.

Something as simple as a photo of a travel trailer, which we might take for granted, can reveal a lot about our ancestors.