WELL WORTH THE WAIT! After a couple years of stops and starts, the Airstream Heritage Museum opened it doors to the world, and what an amazing sight it was to see and experience! The museum’s collection of mixed media incorporates vintage trailers that have traveled around the world; floor-to-ceiling murals depicting Airstream’s history and founder, Wally Byam; memorabilia collected on amazing journeys; along with film and audio from the very early days. Museum curator, Samantha Martin, did a superb job in bringing it all together and that is no small feat considering Airstream has 91 years of history!
On hand to open the museum was Airstream’s CEO, Bob Wheeler. Bob took the helm of Airstream about the same time Jim and I became passionate about the brand in 2005. Since that time major improvements have taken place in the interior appointments of our aluminum adventure pods making them as beautiful on the inside as the sleek exterior design depicts
Adjacent to the museum is the brand new 750,000 square foot Airstream factory where 100 Airstreams a week are sent out (already sold!) to Airstream dealerships across the country. This state-of-the-art facility will increase production as supplies become more readily available.
Our time spent with Dale ‘Pee Wee’ Schwamborn, Wally’s cousin once removed, was enjoyed, as always. As a youngster Pee Wee had the opportunity to travel with Wally and today shares his stories with Airstream enthusiasts. We also caught another viewing of, ‘Alumination’, the extensive film by director, Eric Bricker, which weaves together film and photos from just about every decade of Airstream’s history.
Overall we found the seminars, entertainment, food and camaraderie was simply over-the-top! We were filled (and thrilled!) with gratitude to be included in the grand opening of this one-of-a-kind museum in Jackson Center, Ohio and as the Memorial Day weekend celebration came to a close we hitched up our own little bit of Airstream history, the Silver Palace, our 2017 Classic, and gave our friends our best, “See you down the road!”
Camp Dawg 