Wednesday, May 20, 2015

After a hearty ACA breakfast, we took in a seminar given by RV historian, AL Hesselbart, on the history of RVs.  I learned the term Motorhome was not used until 1958 when someone objected to the name house car.  The Hunt housecar that we had just seen at the RV/MH Hall of Fame Museum in Elkhart made it into the presentation as well as an RV built in a helicopter.  The helicopter had to provide an unmatched level of mobility - just think of the places you could camp if roads were no limitation.

The 1937 Hunt Housecar had an interesting history.  It is famed for having the first working RV shower.

In the 1970s, the Itasca Division of Winnebago Industries actually built, certified, and sold the flying and floating Heli-Camper.  They were priced in the $300,000 range ($1,829,373.71 in 2015 dollars)

People volunteered to show off their homes in a parade of American Coaches through the years.  The oldest was a well cared for 1994 Eagle and the newest was a 2016 Eagle with all of the bells and whistles.  What a contrast!

Dinner was a "Taste of Italy".  It included lasagna but I think maybe all I should say is we did not leave hungry.

Country music singer-songwriter, Daisy Mallory (Kevin Mallory's niece) provided the entertainment for the evening.  I expect to hear a lot more from this extremely talented young lady.  She sang a lot of her own music and some from her favorite artists.  It all sounded great and I noticed most people stayed until the last song (a lot of us old folks tend to turn in early which usually means leaving before the show is over).  The band consisted of a Dobro, a bass and a guy pounding on a box (?), but they sure had a great sound backing up Daisy. 

The box is called a Cajon.  It would certainly be easier to transport than a drum set.