Where the Vintage Trailer Fanatics Are

There’s nothing Johnny Agnew doesn’t like about vintage campers. As cofounder of Funky Junk Farms, a group of Americana aficionados with a passion for mobile homes, Agnew estimates he’s owned "at least" 100, including four that sit behind his Los Angeles area home right now. Though he says he’s not "outdoorsy," per se, he was drawn to trailer life after going on camping trips with his family as a kid and picking up his first trailer, a teardrop, when he was just 14. Forty-odd years later, Agnew has been recognized by his peers as a "pioneer" in the hobby, an honor he received while rolling deep with eight or nine other Funky Junk team members to the 2024 Modernism Week Vintage Trailer Show in Palm Springs, California. "Trailer people are like a family," he says. "And there’s something for everyone in this hobby depending on what your tastes are, from a teardrop to an Airstream to a Shasta."

All of those styles were represented in spades at the Vintage Trailer Show last weekend, as were other, less common brands, like Silver Streak, Serro Scotty, Zimmer, and Aloha. Made, mostly, between World War II and 1970, the 54 trailers on display were all driven to Palm Springs by their owners, who then opened their respective screen doors to ticket holders for tours. Now in its second decade, the show—which is typically held at the end of Modernism Week—drew about 2,000 people over two days, all of whom were welcome to check out everything from a beautifully restored wood-and-aluminum 1949 Spartan Royal Mansion to a tiny Airstream whose owners had modded it out to be used as a hangout during wedding receptions and live events. Trailer owners perched outside their campers in lawn chairs to chat with visitors and fellow enthusiasts, and visitors stopped at a camper canteen at the back of the lot to pick up a glass of lemonade, or a little Ball Jar full of cold, delicious pudding.

While vintage trailer rallies happen all over the country, the Palm Springs Modernism Week event is notable for its curation. Potential exhibitors have to apply and are selected by organizers Brad and Susan Taylor of Shiny Shacks, a vintage trailer business in Salem, Oregon. Only the best and most interesting submissions make the cut.

Exhibitors don’t just flaunt their hard work at the show, either: They also get to mix and mingle, both on-site and at Palm Springs’s Vagabond Motor Hotel, where they’re all lodged during the event. (The downtown Palm Springs lot where the event takes place isn’t exactly camper friendly, with no available water lines, toilets, or hookups. There is power for the event, but it’s run off a giant generator with cords that run behind each row of campers.) Each year, attendees and exhibitors select their festival favorites, which are honored at an awards show and cocktail party on Saturday night.

"This show draws a wonderful mix of people that are really engaged," says Brandon Williams, owner of both an outdoor fireplace company and a 1970 Airstream Ambassador. "You get to see all these one of a kind rarities, and a lot of the attendees are craftsmen who are really at the top of their game. It feels good to pick their brains, just to see what they create and how, because each person has a little bit of a different style or a way to do what they do."