When people post on the face book Vintage Camper pages about purchasing a new old scrappy  trailer . Members are all excited for you 
Like : Congratulations!!  ENJOY .. Whoo HOO !!  Congrats !! LOL
 Like you just gave birth to a 1200 pound 1960 Shasta Travel Trailer. The excitement is comparable to a 7th grade basketball cheerleader chanting through braces and acne.
"Open the barn door
 Kick out the hay
Yeah for your Shasta
Hip Hip Hooray"
Gotta love the canned ham die hards !


Enjoy your dirty day !

"If people concentrated on the really important things in life, there'd be a shortage of fishing poles."

 

My grandma Ducille fishing in 1920

 

Bought another one !!

Found this little 10 foot gem on Craigslist for $300 couldn't pass it up . We had to haul it about 50 miles. ((~*50 horrible stressful miles*~)) We were told the tires were cracked , so we decided to haul it home on a trailer .  NOTE : most of these campers look WAY better on Craigslist than in person. Just saying got to this farm and saw a pile of shit on the lawn . The ole farmer smirks and says "there's your beauty!" I really just wanted it for parts but I wanted all the parts not falling apart.
Got it up on the trailer NOTE  the rounded front of this little gem.
We only got about 3 miles down the back country road when my husband yelled " We just lost part of the door !!" UUGGH . Pulled into a gas station. Wanted to buy a tall boy colt 45 because I felt like trailer trash but bought a slim Jim and Duct tape instead. OK and a candy bar .. SHUT UP I was stressed ! The Slim Jim was for my hubby's nerves and the Duct tape was for the door. We had to punch a hole in the cabinet with an old copper wire, wrap it around the frame in hopes we wouldn't lose anymore pieces off  of this DAMN little Gem !

 

 Macgyvered

 

 

Our view from the truck was so dang scary . Look how the wind was bending the front of the camper in.  The camper was actually breathing. you could see it going in and out in and out .. Thought for sure this DAMN LITTLE GEM was going to end up all over interstate 55.

Made it to the shop and the first thing my hubby did was grab a beer.

I grabbed a tool and started to dismantle my treasure. Got some great parts for Jimmy and now my hubby has a trailer to haul more shit for me when I find it.

I was sad to see one of these vintage campers end up in a  metal pile but this one was too far gone to save.

I got a great little turquoise stove top and sink. Not sure if I will use it in Jimmy or if I will resell it.

 

 

The moral of this story is "Do what your wife tells you, always carry duct tape and you will be rewarded with beer in the end!"

 

Enjoy your dirty day !

 

That's me "Shortcake" in 1970 standing next to my grandpas little "canned ham". Years & Years ago ! The plaid poncho would be so Hip & Jiggy With It now days ... am I right? 

Some families went to exotic locations like Mexico, Hawaii or Canada my family went to a lake. Any lake. We camped, we fished mostly for bullheads (more ugly than cat shit in a sandbox) not to be confused with the pretty Missouri River catfish. The adults got the campers and the kids got the tents. Flashlights, mosquito bites and peeing near the closest tree. aaahhhh I love camping ! I have done the tent thing for 46 years now. done done done can't wait to take my "Jimmy" to Montauk State Park to hook some pretty rainbow trout.

Did a little more (like I'm ever done) shopping today at an antique store. Something *POPPED* out at me that I couldn't resist ! Don't know what the heck I'm gonna do with it but it was screaming

 BUY ME!!  BUY ME !!

so I pulled out $2 in change for the little gem. The lady gave me a weird look as I thanked her and giggled out the door.

Maybe the brass belt buckle will hold up my waders the next time I lose my balance in the stream.

Enjoy your dirty day !

*L@@K*

The vintage camper isn't ready to decorate stock pile.

 

Several weeks, several antique stores and one worlds largest garage sale in Illinois.
I'm finding so many cute ideas on the world wide web that I'm sitting on my butt and not getting the camper sanded and painted. NEED TO GET DIRTY ! Too many cars in the driveway was my excuse tonight. Why must Mondays come in and ruin everything that me and the weekend had together ?
Enjoy your dirty day !

WOW I thought Jimmy was old and grey but turns out with hours and hours of scrubbing and polishing, his upper half will be like a mirror. Hey maybe I should rub that Mothers on my old grey man.
I can NOT focus.
I went to Lowe's to buy wood trim for the interior and the door frame. Forgot the nails . I was distracted by the shiny lights. Which I didn't buy because my husband says I'm getting WAY ahead of myself. "Fix the inside before you fix the outside" just like the Kardashians trying to fix Rob at therapy. Oh the poor poor pretty people.

anyhoo started to pull off old trim around the door and found a MAJOR problem.  I have to go mix a drink and survey this problem. As you can see in the photo a board I thought was small and easy to replace actually runs 5 feet the length of the underside of Jimmy.  Measured and need to get on that.
Also the counter is bowed in the center. It needs to be raised up higher than my drink . uuggh. Shim shim shim . It appears the previous owner had a leaking water cooler. COLD BEER PEOPLE PRIORITIES DUH ! I would have noticed that immediatly !
So far today I have shopped at an RV store (Ralph was very helpful) shopped at Lowe's, shopped at Auto Zone. Ripped off about 10 minutes of wood veneer .Which is just another way of saying fancy plywood. So not much work done today. Whew I'm tired and ready for a bourbon coke in Jimmy. I think I will sit back and survey the plantation. Fiddle Dee Dee I'll think about it tomorrow.
Enjoy your dirty day !

(we are NOT having human beings for supper son, we are having ham & beans .. gosh get a Q-tip)

Sat in Jimmy and made a list of what we needed and what was important. List got long really fast. Cushion covers, new counter tops, paint, new ventilation system, NEW ventilation System. UUGH New eeuuewww Ventilation SYSTEM ! Eatin Ham & beans for dinner should NEVER I mean EVER be followed with sitting in a small 60 year old metal box with broken window braces. Poor little jimmy :(
Enjoy your dirty day !
(dirty air day is more like it)

Hey somebdy from Germany read my blog .  Guten Tag long lost relative across the ocean wide. Here's to you *clink* doppelbock ! Can't wait for Octoberfest !

Well Jimmy has some damage As you can see from the photos, so I will have to replace the front doors of the bottom cabinet. Looks like an old ice box leaked and caused some water damage. I totally ripped off the baby poop colored carpet on the wheel hubs.

 Just will not match my ... ANYTHING ..

I was really surprised after ripping up some old carpet and scrubbing 30 years of dirt off the floor to see this original splatter pastel flooring., I LOVE IT, My daughter HATES IT. Every time I say somethings cute she says its ugly. Generation gap ? or just 2 sassy girls who want things done their way ?

Like how I said sassy and not bitchy.

Hubby worked for 2 hours trying to cut free the old water tank... I'm used to dirt but that thing was nasty. pitch and buy new.

Shopped today for 2 hours found NOTHING to buy . I tried to stay away from my messy house as long as I could.

Why the heck doesn't anyone else do the dishes. Can't they see I'm shopping on Ebay.

 So rude.

Enjoy your dirty day !

Cleaned out enough mouse poop and acorns to fill the whole shop vac today. This little camper smells of 60 years of eeuuww .  Did find 2 quarters 1 nickle  and 1 dime sooooo I really only spent $899.35 on this little gem.  Pulled out the stove.. yes I will put it back . I need a stove I get the munchies while camping. There is very little damage to the wood . Most around the door frame. I'm sure young hot guys have been prying at the frame trying to get the beautiful ladies who have owned this camper. Curse continues ! I must make sure the door lock is broken.

♫ Let's get it started in here ♪♫♪

Ok to start my blog I will tell you a little about myself. I love old things LOVE LOVE LOVE . I grew up in the country corn fields of little town Iowa. Cruzin' gravels, pitching beer bottles at stop signs and Friday nights at the races. This does not define me however it did make me who I am. We were poor so I always found a way to reinvent items. One of my first memories as a collector of the "DIRT" was going to the junk yard with my dad . About 8 years old and armed with the attitude "they threw it away so it's mine". I have had this attitude for 40+ years now. I'd picked up old books and dishes to decorate my little 8x8 bedroom.  Old pictures to cover the holes in the plastered walls, old rugs to cover the shitty linoleum floors and anything I could find to put a candle in. (secret pyromaniac ) . Burned MANY things as a child including a wheat pasture in mid August .. uugh that is a whole other story I won't get into  ( got my butt whipped).
Married young, have 3 beautiful kids. Two are collectors but I am starting to think the oldest is a hoarder. Moved her a couple of times now,  No one needs 20 used butter dishes, NO ONE. "Oh No Zombie apocalypse thank goodness I have this Parkay warfare to save my skinny butt!"
Like I was saying I tend to collect a lot of old items so I can live in the past.
My latest "Dirty Find" is a 1958 Aloha camper trailer. I am going to show my progress of RESTORATION  ( spoken in a very hootie tootie voice ) on this new little blog.
Found it on EBay and only had to drive 2 hours from St Louis to pick it up (GO BLUES !).
It's a pretty solid little piece of crap. Problems getting a title so I must drink Jim Beam heavily the first day it's in my driveway. Not sure how long it can stay in the driveway due to the old bitty across the court who has the subdivision board on speed dial... rules rules rules, not a breaker but I am a bender.
 posting a few pitchers " that's how I say it grammar snobs" don't even get me started on the word wash (warsh). 
Enjoy your dirty day !