Vintage Mobile Scout stickers coming soon!

Some time ago I recreated the Mobile Scout logo as seen in the advertising materials I'd found, including a bumper sticker. I've shared that graphic file with people freely, but am almost always asked, "Don't you just have a sticker I could buy?"

Well the answer to that very soon will be, "Yes." I am having vinyl stickers printed and cut as we speak! They will be available very soon, and I'll post how to get your very own on the blog when they are in my hot little hands.

The sticker is designed to give props to this blog, THE place for Mobile Scout information. But, if you don't want that, it's also designed so you can quickly snip off the tag that has the blog URL. But please don't. But I won't stop you. ;-)

The stickers are 4" wide.

I hope you're as excited as I am.

Also coming soon will be another logo version, as submitted by a reader!

Another vintage Mobile Scout logo.

Another vintage Mobile Scout owner and I have been discussing logos. I'm going to recreate this one, which is a version of the other one I found and recreated. Note the patriotic colors -- red, white, blue. It looks almost like an interstate sign... just imagine, the interstate system was not even completed when many of our late 50's and early 60's vintage Mobile Scouts were produced! It was a new and wild invention, reliable roads that stretched across states! Bet you take it for granted, don't you?

I would appreciate any photos you have of Mobile Scout vintage ephemera -- the logos and stickers on the camper, the wiring diagram found inside the upper cabinet doors on some models, the paperwork that came with the camper... if you have ANY of this, send me a high quality digital pic. Or, if you have it and don't want it, send it to me in postal mail, just PM me and I'll give you my address, and I'll pay your postage for sure!

The history of Mobile Scout revealed!

Wow! My queries for information were answered! A big thanks to Elvie J. Frey, Sr. who is President of Winnebago Industries for putting all the pieces together for me!

Mobile Scout was indeed a company that built travel trailers years ago. I will give you an update as I know the history. In the late 70s William Dozer Thornton who owned the company sold it to an investor group. It was bankrupted by the new owners in the early 80s. W. D. Thornton received the right to the name in the bankruptcy in exchange for the money that they still owed him.

In 1992 several of us that were involved in the RV industry started a new venture, SunnyBrook RV, Inc, with Tom Thornton being one of the partners. W.D. Thornton was Tom’s father and Tom owned several RV dealerships in Texas at the time. When we started producing units Tom wanted his units built with the Mobile Scout name on them instead of SunnyBrook. Then several other Texas dealers also expressed interest in having their units built with the Mobile Scout Name. So we acquired the right to use the name and have been building units with the Mobile Scout name on them ever since.

In December of 2010 SunnyBrook was acquired by Winnebago Industries.

[...]

Elvie J. Frey, Sr.
President, Winnebago Industries

Tracing the Mobile Scout History

From documents I've found, we know that Mobile Scout Manufacturing Corp. was building Mobile Scout campers in various lengths and configurations from the late 50's through the 60's. Camper building back in that day was a bit different from manufacturing today; given the variety of interiors and structural details, they appear to have been built with whatever resources were on hand -- the framing in ours, which we exposed when we took the skin of and the interior out in order to replace some rot -- was clearly whatever wood they had around, some clearly recycled. I've never been able to pinpoint how many of these vintage models were produced.

A postcard does suggest that they were booming; an ad-postcard for Mobile Scout Manfacturing Corp notes their Arlington, Texas address and the opening of a new plant in Pennsylvania (circa mid 60's?).

The old logo is confirmed in a bumper sticker that is for Mobile Scout Manufacturing Corp in Arlington, Texas. Ads in vintage camping magazines show a variety of lengths and configurations.

The trail goes somewhat cold, until SunnyBrook RV starts making travel trailers in 1992 under the SunnyBrook and Mobile RV names. A Google Image Search also finds some 90's campers that have the vintage Mobile Scout logo with "by SunnyBrook" beneath it.

I've not been able to ID what happened or when. Letters to SunnyBrook seeking someone in the business office who might be a vintage camper buff have so far been unfruitful. Finding someone in Arlington, TX who is from the era gets increasingly less likely by the day.

If you have any history information, please get in touch with me. I'd love to find out more.

Today we were stalkers. Camper stalkers.

While out and about today, my husband and I spotted a canned ham style camper a few cars in front of us. We both yelped with delight as it turned the corner and we saw the traditional Mobile Scout graphics and details on the side. Crossing our fingers that the driver would head to a gas station for a break, we followed him. And... we followed him for quite a while. We were stalking, for sure. Off the main road. Into neighborhoods. Turn left, left, left... then back onto the main road we were originally on.

Was he trying to shake us?

Then off the main road again, just one block further than before. This time he wove back around to a Wal-Mart. We pulled up beside him and chatted for a bit. He showed us his camper, and we learned about Rollin' Oldies Vintage Campers, a group in the area that had just had a camping weekend with 40 campers in attendance.

We're going to get in touch and try to get connected with some others!

Beauty restored, coming up!

Found this post about a project in the making with a beautiful new old Mobile Scout. :)

http://repairingyesterdaystrailers.yuku.com/topic/2665#.TvE8GWD7ZxU

You know, it takes someone very, very special to see THIS... 

... and to look past all that decay, rot, and damage and see the beauty she can be! Can't wait to see the finished results.

Mobile Scouts in Sisters on the Fly

Christi shares the story of how she came to have her Mobile Scout, "Dream Catcher."

We drove to a vintage car swap meet and nearby stopped in a town to get some oil for our vintage VW....and she was parked in a used RV lot for sale.. It was meant to be! The man had traded her in for a newer bigger model (his loss) and our gain! I'm a Sister on the Fly member and this is my sister trailer - http://www.sistersonthefly.com.

Serial number? What? Where?

As far as we know, Mobile Scouts all have a serial number stamped on the metal tongue or trailer base somewhere. It starts with the two digit year, has a letter, and then a two digit number representing the length, then a four digit number which is unique to that series.

Ours is UNDER the camper. This one shown is stamped on top of the tongue.

Remember that back in the day, millions of these were not rolling off the line. They made hundreds, for sure, but nothing like the production of an RV company today.

The serial can also be found on a paper glued to the inside of the upper cabinet doors IF you have the original cabinets and IF someone has not removed that.

Or, thrown it away during the revamp, as we did. I KNEW I should have taken that door off and squirreled it away when I thought about it, before the hammers started flying. But I said I'd get it later. Don't put things off, kids!

Too good to be free...

Since my request, people have been sharing their tales of getting/rehabing/enjoying their Mobile Scouts.

Kevin from Texas says:

My '65 was given to me free! The plates finally expired, so I had to get with the previous owner to get a replacement title. I just had to write him a check for $300.00 because I have enjoyed my camper so much, and It was the right thing to do.

Way to go, Kevin!

What's in a number?

The vintage Mobile Scouts all seem to have the serial number welded into the underside of the frame. The number may look something like this: 

64M154359

This unit would be a 1964. The first two numbers denote the year. We know this because our unit had a sheet glued to the inside of the upper cabinet that had a diagram of the camper and some basic information. It appeared to have come from the factory. The year marked there matched the first two numbers in our serial number on the underside. 

I'm afraid I don't know what, if anything, the rest of it means. And so far, I haven't found anyone else that does, either. If you happened to work at the factory building Mobile Scouts back in the 1950's and 1960's, you'd make my day if you got in touch with me! I have a blue-billion questions to ask you. 

So grab a flashlight, and get on your back under your unit and see what you can find! And if you have a photo of your serial number, send it in so I can show people what to look for and where!