We think our trailer is the Pony Express model.
Howard Irwin was the founder of The Westerner.
This is our 1957 Westerner Canned Ham Travel Trailer: Miss Daisy Valentine. We believe she is the "Pony Express" model built by Westfield in Azusa, CA. It was one of the few travel trailers that came with a theme. She still has her original Americana curtains and yellow Naugahyde dinette seats which are embossed with branding iron symbols. This blog documents our restoration of this great little trailer.
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Vintage Advertisements for The Westerner
Here are some advertisements we found on the Internet for our trailer.
Friday, May 25, 2012
Trail Along to Pismo Rally
We took Daisy to the 2011 rally at Pismo Beach. There were about 250 vintage trailers of all different makes, models and years at this rally. We also took our 100 year old small pot bellied stove with us. This is how we decorated the trailer for the rally. 
Air conditioner and wood repair
Installed a small air conditioner under the bed while we were working on the bad wood.
Replaced all the bad wood in the back with new paneling, reinforced the frame and installed the air conditioner.
End of a long but very productive day working on the trailer. Also put in the new mattress we purchased on-line.
Varnished the wood with several coats of amber shellac to seal and protect the wood. Installed rope lights to add light to the dark bed area.
Sure looks pretty at night. Very cozy.
Uh oh! Power tools!
Not afraid of a little hard work.
More work on the trailer
Took off the screen door, sanded it with a hand sander then applied amber shellac. Chris sanded the tongue and painted it with Rustoleum red paint to match the wheels.
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Our second camping trip to Prado
Beautiful view. We found most of the decorative items for the trailer from the GoodWill, antique stores and thrift stores. We tried to get as much period correct appliances and such as we could find. Also, the trailer is a western theme so much of our stuff relates to that. We found a stuffed rooster and bring him along when we camp. People get a kick out of him because they think he's real.
Los Alamitos swap meet
We attended a swap meet to sell car parts and other items and took the trailer to sleep in the night before and had it set up during the swap meet. Lots of people loved the trailer and we gave many tours of it that day. Even in the condition it was in we had offers from people to purchase it. We were even told to keep it just the way it was as it has much character and patina.
Camping At Prado.
Once we cleared out all the bad wood Daisy became camp ready. We bought her on 2-13-10 and she was ready to go by July 2010. We like to camp at Prado Recreational Park in Chino, CA. It's a great park with a lake and a really nice camp area with full hook ups and lots of space between camp sites.
 |
| So happy! |
 |
| Relaxin' |
Check out all of the details!
Mr. Handsome
Miss Daisy
How we decided to decorate her.
Warm and welcoming. Glows like a pumpkin.
Chris's '53 Ford
Worn out from all this camping!
Beginning the restoration
This is the good side. It's sitting pretty low here.
Previous owner began stripping the paint on this side.
Chris is so happy here - he's been talking about getting a little canned ham for a while.
Turning the axle so that the trailer will sit higher off of the ground. This was a lot of work but Chris made it work.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)