Once you own an Airstream, you may join the Wally Byam Caravan Club International (WBCCI). A yacht club for Airstreams (a land-yacht club?). When you pay your annual fees, your membership includes numbered stickers to put on your trailer. Bessie has what are known as "ghost numbers", which means the adhesive residue from the worn stickers still remains, allowing us to see what her membership number used to be. Her number was 2574.
If you know your number, you can sift through membership archives to discover if your trailer was present during some of the early caravans or rallies. From what I can tell, this is the difference:
(1) a caravan meets and travels together to a destination
(2) a rally occurs at a destination where everyone meets
Many famous caravans occurred in the late 50s and early 60s as Airstream began selling more trailers and promoted itself by example. Some caravans were international, traveling much farther than neighboring Canada or Mexico; Europe, Africa, India, and South America are all international rallies I've read about, and I'm sure there are more.
We asked the historians if Bessie had record of attendance at any early rallies or caravans, and were surprised at the results. A very kind man on the Airforums (.com!) dug up the WBCCI membership archives for the number 2574 and this is what he found...
"#2574 was first assigned in 1959, so the number is probably original to your trailer. (The duct tape - not original to your trailer.)
In my 1960 WBCCI Membership Directory, which reflects membership at the end of 1960, #2574 is assigned to Clarence and Gertrude Inman of Fresno, CA. The Inmans are last listed in the 1970 Directory (membership at the end of 1969). They are listed as having participated on the following caravans:
27 - Kentucky Derby - Indianapolis - Summer 1961
31 - Western Mexico - Fall 1962
33 - Eastern Canada - Summer 1963.
We cannot be totally sure your trailer belonged to the Inmans without seeing a 1959 Directory, but it's likely they owned it. If so, it is not certain that your trailer was on these caravans without other evidence, but it certainly is possible. In the 1971 Directory, #2574 has been reassigned to Hubert and Ella Mund of Cathay's Valley, CA. The Munds are last listed in the 1975 Directory. They are not listed as having participated on any numbered caravans.
It is possible, but not certain that the Munds also owned your trailer. I suggest this for two reasons. First both the Inmans and the Munds lived in California, so a sale from one to the other is possible. Second, there were no years that #2574 was unassigned between them.
Typically when a member does not renew, the number was left unassigned for a couple of years in case they later decided to rejoin. Immediate reassignment suggests that the Inmans told the club it was OK to reassign the number, possibly because they sold their trailer. #2574 was then unassigned until 1980, at which time it was assigned to Marshall & Beulah Thomas of San Angelo, TX. It is much more improbable that the Thomas' owned your trailer given the different state they lived in. The Thomas' are last listed in the 1989 Directory and are not listed as having participated on any numbered caravans.
Since then #2574 has been assigned to a couple from Virginia and then a couple from Iowa, each for a few years. I doubt they owned your trailer."
Executive Summary: The Inmans of California owned Bessie for a decade (1959-1970) sold it to the Munds of California (1970-1975) who retained membership until the year I was born (1976!) and then the trail goes cold.
The fact that Bessie still has her original 1959 California license plates also suggests she never left California to be registered in another state, so I agree with the historian who thinks the Texans and Iowans didn't own Bessie.
Using the information given to me by the previous owner, I can piece together another 11 years of history:
I purchased Bessie in 2010. The Californians who sold her to me had her in Oregon for two years prior to the sale, and bought it from a man who lived in her as a trailer park manager for 9 years in California, which puts her in Cali from 1999-2008.
What happened to her from 1976 thru 1999 is a mystery that will likely remain, although I'm certain she stayed in California for that spell. She was seventeen when she disappeared from the historical record, and forty when she reappeared. That's an interesting time in a woman's life. What secrets she keeps are mysteries that simply add to her allure.
