{"id":1327,"date":"2018-09-30T09:58:26","date_gmt":"2018-09-30T14:58:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/adamshistory.com\/?page_id=1327"},"modified":"2018-11-01T13:39:04","modified_gmt":"2018-11-01T18:39:04","slug":"friendship-vacationaire-camping-trailer","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/new.adamshistory.com\/?page_id=1327","title":{"rendered":"Friendship Vacationaire Camping Trailer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Friendship Vacationaire <\/em>Travel Trailer:<\/h2>\n

Adams County\u2019s Contribution to 1960\u2019s Travel Fad<\/h3>\n

Roberts Brothers\u2019 Short-Lived Company Built a Camper that Became a Classic<\/h4>\n

by Harry Davis<\/p>\n

Otto \u201cOttie\u201d Roberts (1914\u20132001) and his brother Alva \u201cAlvie\u201d (1910-1985) were entrepreneurs of many businesses.\u00a0 They were best known locally for building Roberts Motors into one of the largest Ford dealerships in Central Wisconsin.\u00a0 Perhaps their longest enduring legacy, however, is their venture called Friendship Mobile Homes, Inc. where they built a travel trailer called the Friendship Vacationaire.\u00a0<\/em> Fifty years after this well-designed, well-built trailer went out of business; many are still in use, still being praised by owners, and still being sought by camping people all over the country.<\/p>\n

The Roberts brothers incorporated Friendship Mobile Homes, Inc. on Christmas Eve 1956.\u00a0 The original directors were Ottie, banker Fred Veeder, attorney Don Holman and newspaper man Virgil Tobin.\u00a0 Ottie had been building travel trailers for his own family since the 1940s and had plans ready to go.\u00a0 They set up shop in a Quonset building on 2nd<\/sup> Street in Friendship and started manufacturing trailers almost immediately.\u00a0 A new 1957 Friendship Vacationaire <\/em>travel trailer made its appearance in the Friendship Centennial parade on July 25, 1957.<\/p>\n

The original small camper had two beds, one on each end; a gas stove; storage room for cooking utensils and room for fishing and hunting equiopment. \u00a0A boat trailer was also available. \u00a0Designed primarily for sleeping, this trailer was built tall enough for a six foot man to stand up in, and was very comfortable.<\/p>\n

A roomier 13.5 foot long<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>trailer was also available having \u00a0two beds in bunk style; a gas stove for cooking; a sink; and other deluxe features. \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Several design and construction features made the Vacationaire <\/em>stand out from the rest of the trailers being built at the time and contributed to the trailer\u2019s continuing popularity today.<\/p>\n

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The low height, aerodynamic Friendship Vacationaire<\/p><\/div>\n

The Vacationaire <\/em>had a \u201cstep-down\u201d floor design.\u00a0 Because of the trailer\u2019s under-slung axle and frame being higher than the interior floor, the overall height of the trailer could be lower.\u00a0 The lower height greatly improved the trailer\u2019s aerodynamics and gave the Vacationaire <\/em>its reputation for easy towing.\u00a0 The lower over all height \u2013 less than seven feet on many models \u2013 also allowed the Vacationaire<\/em> to fit under most garage doors.<\/p>\n

Construction wise, where other manufacturers used only fasteners to connect parts, Friendship Mobile Homes used glue and screws providing a durable, vibration-proof connection.\u00a0 Double floors, walls and ceilings contributed to the sturdy build.\u00a0 The sturdy construction meant that the Vacationaire <\/em>had better crash survivability than other trailers as evidenced by the difference in accident damage of Vacationaires <\/em>and competing trailers.\u00a0 The sturdy construction also is likely one of the reasons why the trailers continue to be in use today.<\/p>\n

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Vacationaire under construction.<\/p><\/div>\n

Other appointments included pre-finished birch interior, tiled floors, custom built cabinets, fiberglass insulation, gas stove and oven, custom made draperies, water and electric hook-ups, ice box or refrigerator, and other features often not found on travel trailers of the period.<\/p>\n

Employment at Friendship Mobile Homes involved a crew of usually 10 or fewer workers with many part-time, odd hours worked by people who held other jobs.\u00a0 Pay was not great but dedication to producing a quality product was high.<\/p>\n

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Clarence Petraska, Howard Hamill, Ottie Roberts and Russell Henningson at Friendship Mobile Homes plant.<\/p><\/div>\n

In addition to Ottie and Alvie, quite a few people worked at Friendship Mobile Homes over the years.\u00a0 Principle\u00a0workers included shop foreman Russell Henningson , Howard Hamill, Ed Volkening, Ed Priminau, Charles Primus, Claude Roberts and Bob Frederick.\u00a0 Bob Ebert worked at Friendship Mobile Homes from 1960 to 1966.\u00a0 High school student Eugene Peterson welded frames there for a short time and proved to be faster than older welders.\u00a0 John Lecy worked for a while after graduating from high school before he started driving trucks.\u00a0 Mert Alderman, a 115-pound jockey worked there a short time.\u00a0 Beldon Schroeder built frames for the company, as did Paul Luth.\u00a0 Ole Lund and Holman Casey both worked there some time.\u00a0 Floyd Roberts worked there summers during college installing windows.\u00a0 He also drove to Wausau to buy axles and to Elkhart, Indiana to get other needed parts.\u00a0 Ruby Hamill (Howard\u2019s wife) worked there as a bookkeeper\/secretary.\u00a0 Maxine Elkington succeeded Ruby in the job.<\/p>\n

The late 1950s and early 60s was an ideal time for the travel trailer industry.\u00a0 The camper travel boom that continued into the 21st century was just starting and the market was wide open. Demand for the Vacationaire <\/em>rose quickly.\u00a0 The firm outgrew the Quonset building and Roberts\u2019s built an adjoining building to the south.\u00a0 They also may have built trailers in the former Picus Furniture Store building on Main Street east of the Quonset.<\/p>\n

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Friendship Mobile Homes buildings from the northwest with the Quonset in the center, the additional building to the right and the rear of the former Picus Furniture building on the left.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Friendship Mobile Home building from the east.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Vacationaire <\/em>owners clubs soon started to form and annual rallies brought over 100 trailers to Castle Rock County Park.\"\"
\n<\/a><\/p>\n

The success and popularity of the Vacationaire<\/em> likely made the company an attractive target for investors.\u00a0 Perhaps the offers were too good to pass up, \u00a0or maybe marketing the trailers became a bigger job than the brothers wished to take on.\u00a0 For whatever reason, in late 1965 they sold Friendship Mobile Homes, Inc.\u00a0 Herbert Sueoka became the new company president, Grover Batton the general manager, and Phil C. Hardy the sales manager.\u00a0 Russell Henningson stayed on as plant manager and most of the original crew stayed as well.<\/p>\n

The new owners expanded production, embarked on a big sales campaign and expanded the line to include four Vacationaire <\/em>models: two higher riding Pioneer <\/em>models and a 20.6-foot-long Town and Country<\/em> model.\u00a0 They expanded the manufacturing space by 10,000 square feet in 1966 but could not build trailers as fast as dealers could sell them.<\/p>\n

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The new owner’s 1967 sales campaign featured the new “Town and Country”<\/p><\/div>\n

In 1967 the owners moved the operation to the former Regal Boat plant on South Main Street in Adams.\u00a0 The new location was much larger than in Friendship and facilitated assembly better.\u00a0 The owners predicted an eight-fold increase in output for 1967.\u00a0 It didn\u2019t happen.\u00a0 Soon, financial problems mounted as the high cost of the expansion was not answered by sales receipts.\u00a0 Employees often discovered that their paychecks were no good.\u00a0 At one point, workers arrived at the plant to find everything there red tagged by creditors so nothing could be taken out.\u00a0 Somehow the owners were able to make good that time, but not for long.\u00a0 They appealed to the Adams County Development Corporation to help finance a recovery.\u00a0 When the Development Corp. turned them down, they moved the operation to Waupaca.\u00a0 By 1970 they were out of business.<\/p>\n

Today, you can still check on the web almost any time and find a Friendship Vacationaire <\/em>or two listed for sale.\u00a0 Or look in your neighbor\u2019s back yard.\u00a0 The trailer that was built to last has lasted.<\/p>\n

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The Friendship Vacationaire spirit.<\/p><\/div>\n

______________________________________<\/p>\n

This article first appeared in the Fall 2009 edition of\u00a0The Quatrefoil\u00a0<\/em>newsletter of the Adams County Historical Society.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Friendship Vacationaire Travel Trailer: Adams County\u2019s Contribution to 1960\u2019s Travel Fad Roberts Brothers\u2019 Short-Lived Company Built a Camper that Became a Classic by Harry Davis Otto \u201cOttie\u201d Roberts (1914\u20132001) and … Continue reading »<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":809,"featured_media":0,"parent":1323,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1327","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.adamshistory.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1327","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.adamshistory.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.adamshistory.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.adamshistory.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/809"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.adamshistory.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1327"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/new.adamshistory.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1327\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1516,"href":"https:\/\/new.adamshistory.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1327\/revisions\/1516"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.adamshistory.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1323"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.adamshistory.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}