Tearjerkersclassics teardrops

Don’t Shed Any Tears for These Folks—They’re Having a Great Time!

By Allison Mowatt

“Life moves a little slower when you’re on Teardrop Time.” The slogan says it all. A group ofpeople from all walks of life called the Tearjerkers is a fun bunch who love camping, talking,traveling, and the general camaraderie owning a teardrop trailer can bring.

Gatherings are times of fellowship and friendship, andeven non-members can attend them. The Tearjerkers main-tain that if you enjoy the great outdoors and fellowshipwith others, the campsite will always be open. This iswhen people meet other travel trailer enthusiasts andbecome friends for life. Gatherings often consist of bonfiresand pot luck suppers with cast iron Dutch ovens and a cof-fee pot in a central location. This is a popular area whereTearjerkers hang out to talk about camping, campers, oranything else that comes to mind.

One local Tearjerker’s interest in teardrop campers wassparked after seeing a segment on campers featured on TheTravel Channel about RVs. “I liked the idea of a small, lightcamper that could be pulled with my Honda Element,” saidJohn Weidner. “The idea was to build a camper fromscratch, but my wife, Lynn, and I found a vintage 1978Sunline Sunspot, which is just what we wanted. Weattended our first Gathering with the Tearjerker’s LibertyBell Chapter and had a great time,” he said.

The Tearjerkers are not limited to just teardrop campers.Now people are obtaining small campers, which are biggerin size than a teardrop with room to stand up inside. Theterm for these campers is “canned hams.” A new or differ-ent camper at a Gathering is always a center of attractionand an ideal conversation starter.

There are currently about twenty-seven chapters of theTearjerkers in the United States. They started out on theEast Coast of the United States and have expanded toinclude members from Great Britain, Australia, NewZealand, Finland, Sweden, Canada, and The Netherlands.Each chapter has a Director who plans the locations for thecamping trips, with some suggestions from the chaptermembers.

Teardrop trailer enthusiasts should get their trailers readybecause this month, the Tearjerkers are hosting a largeNorth East Tri-Chapter Gathering called Tearstock 2010,which takes place May 14th, 15th and 16th in Phoenicia,New York. It will be three days of peace and camping.

For more information, visit www.tearjerkers.net, www.teardrops.net orwww.mikenchell.com.

What is a teardrop trailer? It looks small enough to be aseparate compartment for pets or camping equipment but isactually a comfortable, convenient, and compact campingtrailer for people. There is room for two people to sleepcomfortably inside, and there is an area for cooking outsideunder the rear “hatch” or “galley lid.” They are referred toas teardrop trailers for their unique tear shape, especiallythe original types from the 1930s, 40s, and early 50s. Theyare typically 4’ wide, 4’ high and 8’-10’ long with some asbig as 6’ wide, 5’ high and nearly 12’ long. Most have thewheels and tires outside the body covered by fenders, whilelarger types often have them inside the body.

It’s a unique way to camp, and research indicates thatpeople have been teardrop traveling as early as the 1930s,when these off-beat camping trailers first took to theAmerican roads, but it wasn’t until a decade later that theteardrop trailer craze hit its peak for their compact size, sim-plicity, and affordability. In the years after World War II,these trailers were everywhere as a result of the returningsoldiers’ desire to get out and travel the new national high-way system and the boom in automobiles and children.From then on until about 1975, teardrop trailers were pro-duced and marketed with varying degrees of success. Do-it-yourself magazines even offered instructions on how tobuild your very own teardrop trailer.

Vacationing with the family car towing the teardrop trail-ers behind them was and still is a convenient and economicway to experience the country. Any car can tow a teardroptrailer, including Jeeps, Corvettes, classic cars, pickups, hotrods, and family mini-vans. These little gems are still popu-lar today because they’re easy to tow, stylish, and fun.

These trailers are so admired that in late 1997, a groupcalled the Tearjerkers was formed by Todd Brunengraberwith assistance from Grant and Lisa Whipp of Tales andTrails/Teardrop Times. Members include owners, homebuilders, manufacturers, restorers, parts suppliers, and cre-ative craftsmen that build their own from scratch. TheTearjerkers is an informal group who bond over their sharedlove of small vintage travel trailers and vintage vehiclesthrough discussions and camping trips known asGatherings.

14 connections magazine [ www.connections-magazine.com ]