Wally Byam, who is remembered as having been everything from a trained lawyer to an adventurer, started the company in 1931 in California. Prior to founding the company, he was involved in the magazine publishing business. Supposedly, the firm he worked for published an article about how to build a camping trailer. Readers of the piece complained that there were errors in the article. Byam tried to use the trailer plans to find out what was wrong with them. The Airstream Trailer Company was the result of Byam’s camping experiences and experiments. In 1929, he bought a Model T Ford chassis, built a platform on it and towed it by car to a campsite. There he erected a tent on the platform.  The company brochure “Airstream See More Live More Do More” says: “The effort was tiresome and unpleasant, especially when it rained.” Next, he built a permanent enclosure on his chassis and put an ice chest and kerosene stove inside. The Airstream brochure further states: 

He then published an article that ran under the headline, ‘How to Build a Trailer for One Hundred Dollars.’ Readers wrote Wally for more detailed instruction plans, which he sold at a cost of one dollar each. The response was extraordinary, earning him more that $15,000.00. After building several trailers for friends in his backyard, ‘the neighbors started complaining that I was making too much noise,’ Wally observed, ‘so I went out and rented a building.’  Airstream Trailer Company went into production in 1932, when fewer than 48 trailer manufacturers were registered for business. Five years later, nearly 400 companies squared off against each other. Today, of those 400, only Airstream remains.

Some sources say that Byam began working with Hawley Bowlus about 1935. Bowlus, of Bowlus-Teller Manufacturing, was building trailers from stressed aluminum and wanted Byam to help sell them. Unfortunately, Bowlus’ company declared bankruptcy in 1936. Byam bought some of Bowlus’ equipment and put some Bowlus-Teller Manufacturing employees back to work. One should keep in mind that the 1930s were the years of the Great Depression when personal finances were very tight - lots of people were jobless, penniless or even homeless. 

The Airstream “Clipper” trailer was introduced on January 17, 1936. It was an immediate success even though it cost $1,200 - quite a sum of money during the Depression era.

Airstream historians believe that Wally Byam played an integral role in the company success during those early years. The Airstream brochure describes him as “A visionary, genius, businessman, master promoter, and pied piper.”

For Byam, the travel trailer business wasn’t just a way to earn a living, it was a major part of his life. He and his fellow-Airstreamers traveled in caravans all over the world. The caravans started in 1951 when Byam and three friends planned a trip. A travel magazine heard of the trip and published a story about it. Readers asked if they could come along.  Byam not only welcomed them to come along; he advertised the event in the Los Angeles Times. Sixty-three owners showed up in their Airstreams for the start of the trip in El Paso, Texas. Fourteen finished the trip. At the end of that first trip, Byam said that he would not organize another caravan. Nevertheless, by the next year he had planned another trip. Eventually, Byam and/or Airstream owners caravanned worldwide - Mexico, Africa, Asia, Europe, Canada, Alaska and around the United States; they are still on the move! The Wally Byam Caravan Club was formed at a Canadian rally in 1955.  The word “International” was later added to the group name. The most famous caravan adventure is considered to be a 1959 trip from Capetown, South Africa to Cairo, Egypt.  These caravans are now, as an organization, known as the Wally Byam Caravan Club International (WBCCI). In 1993, a club formed within the WBCCI. It is known as the Vintage Airstream Club (VAC). To join the VAC, one must own an Airstream that is at least 25 years old. For a time, about three-fourths of trailer sales were to members of WBCCI. Today, they account for about twenty percent of sales. 

There are now also Airstream RV campgrounds and resorts throughout the United States; Members of the Wally Byam Caravan Club International operate several of the sites.  Airstream owners can rent, lease or purchase campsites for their use.

Airstream even has its own music. The music can be found online at www.AirstreamFM.com. The music is soft and very relaxing.

Although the company moved to Jackson Center in July 1952, operations continued in California until the late 1970s. It is thought that Byam wanted to have a manufacturing site somewhere east of the Mississippi River in order in to cut transportation costs for trailers sold in the eastern United States. He was able to lease a vacant factory in Jackson Center through an associate named Andrew Charles, who eventually served as President of Airstream of Ohio. Airstream operated almost as two separate companies. Airstream Trailers of California and Airstream Trailers of Ohio had separate boards of directors and company officers.

Byam left the company in 1961 and passed away just a few months later on July 22, 1962. Five years later, Airstream was sold to the Beatrice Company of Chicago. (The Beatrice Company was a forerunner to today’s TLC Beatrice International Holdings, Incorporated of Chicago.) Thor Industries, Inc., current owner, purchased the company in 1980.

Free tours of the Jackson Center operation are given weekdays at 2 p.m. Tour visitors are usually customers, prospective buyers and anyone who wants to see first hand how the trailers are built. Tours are conducted by retired employee Don Ambos, who makes a presentation about how each trailer is made of aluminum - a material that is lightweight but strong, how rivets add support to the trailer body, that two people are needed to place each rivet and that an astounding 66% of all Airstreams ever made are still on the highway.

In the plant area, visitors can see the trailer components being crafted and assembled.  According to Ambos, every window has safety glass, all gas lines have to be copper and it takes nine days to build a trailer and all trailers are handmade by men and women (rather than machine manufacturing). He also explains that in comparison to other brands of trailers they are easier to tow and they take less gas to tow because they weigh less than other trailers. It should be noted that Airstream also makes a vehicle to be driven - the Airstream International CCD, which is a touring coach. Trailers and touring coaches made in Jackson Center are sold at dealer locations; not at the JacksonCenter plant.

Airstream Trailer owners can have their trailers updated and refurbished at the Jackson Center plant, as well.

The Wally Byam Store at the Jackson Center Service Center sells a wide variety of products; most embossed with the Airstream name. Just about everything necessary for traveling in a trailer seems to be there. The store sells clothing, hats and even pink flamingoes to put next to the trailer. Items such as fishing lures, tape measures and an harmonica are available for purchase, too. Airstream items are also available online at www.airstream.com.

While most Airstream trailer models are towed, it should be noted that the Airstream’s International CCD is a “touring coach,” which is driven instead of being towed. 

Over the years, Airstream has had many well-known customers including NASA, Sandra Bullock and husband Jesse James and Tom Hanks. One of the most famous Airstream photographs is a 1969 picture of President Richard Nixon greeting quarantined Apollo astronauts Neil Armstrong, Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin and Michael Collins after their return from the moon.

It is said that people who own an Airstream own a piece of American history - these travel travelers are considered an American legend. Certainly, the company is an American business success story. For anyone who wants to see people who still care about making a quality product, take a drive to Jackson Center, Ohio where American legends are still being produced.

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