How many of you have marveled at all of those Airstream company caravans that started back in the early fifties?
Surely you’ve seen videos or clips from the Capetown to Cairo caravan?
How many of you have ever wondered what it must have been like back in the early days of the Airstream Company itself? The energy and excitement that existed when Airstreams instilled dreams and desires for the masses to hit the road, to see America, to see the world?
The Airstream phenomenon is simply a U.S. iconic success story. Wally Byam was the founder and chief designer of Airstream and he not only believed in his product, he took it on the road to prove to people that this was the way to see the U.S., to see the world!
When a product owner’s club first started to form it was Wally Byam himself that recruited his cousin, Helen Byam Schwamborn to run it. Helen Byam Schwamborn was in charge of the Wally Byam Caravan Club from it’s inception in 1955 through its last year of consecutive growth, the biggest membership numbers the WBCCI has ever seen, back in 1979.
Dale “Pee Wee” Schwamborn is Helen’s son. Dale has been involved with Airstream travel since he was 12 years old. He and his mother shared the #2 Airstream on Wally Byam’s Caravans (Wally of course was #1).
Dale grew up around the Airstream company, attended many of these months long caravans and was even an advanced scout on the Capetown to Cairo caravan, literally paving the way for caravanners to follow.
Dale has agreed to come out from Arizona and spend the weekend with us at AirPocono. He’ll give us a presentation on Friday night that covers all of those early days and events. Dale will be camping with us all weekend long and be happy to get to know you and share his wealth of knowledge on Wally, Helen, and the Airstream company that only he possesses.
Dale’s true Airstream adventures started at the age of 12. In 1951 Dale was camping with Wally Byam in the High Sierras. As Dale was the smallest in the group Wally referred to him as “Pee Wee” and it stuck. Just a month or two after that camping experience Wally asked Dale’s parents if “Pee Wee” could accompany him on Wally Byam’s first caravan.
Dale in 1960 on the Capetown to Cairo Caravan
Here are just some of Dale’s Airstreaming experiences you might be interested in:
Caravans:
1951 1st Mexico & Central America
1955 Eastern Canadian
1956 European
1957 Eastern Canadian
1959 African Caravan
1961 Eastern Canadian (Pre-Caravan Scout for the actual caravan)
International Rallies:
1960 Colorado Springs
1961 Hershey, PA
1964 Princeton, NJ
1966 Cadillac, MI
2005 Springfield, MO
2008 Bozeman, MT
2009 Madison, WI
Honors:
1st Caravanner and Charter Member of the WBCCI
Airstream Company:
Summer Employment 1961 and 1962
Full-time employment 1964 to 1969.
Rallies:
Numerous rallies in the beginning and many since 2005 including the dedication of the Club in Nova Scotia in 2005.
Close relationships with Art Costello, Andy Charles, Chuck Manchester and many other of the early executives at Airstream.
Dale just returned from the Baker Heritage Museum in Baker, CA, Wally Byam’s hometown. The Baker Heritage Museum just introduced a permanent display on Wally Byam and Dale spoke at the induction ceremony. You can see Dale’s photo collection from that day here: Baker Heritage Museum Wally Byam Exhibit.
Dave Morrison & Jane Layman are hauling in a second Airstream for Dale to stay in at AirPocono. We did not include the necessary funds in our rally fees to cover Dale’s attendance. We believed that most Airstream owners would love the opportunity to camp with Pee Wee for a weekend and we’re hoping you will step up and help sponsor Dale’s attendance. We believe this will be a once in a lifetime opportunity for many Airstreamers to camp with Pee Wee, we’re hoping you will agree.
If you can see and appreciate the value of having Dale at AirPocono, we’re hoping you will consider pledging $25 or more to help us with this effort. As a sponsor we’ll make sure that Dale is aware of your personal contribution. If you’re a corporate sponsor we’ll add a banner and hyperlink in the right hand column of this website. You can write with your pledge to NortheastAO@gmail.com. Thanks!
