1964 Shasta SC-16

Owner: Craig Monson

Location: St. Louis, MO

The 1964 Shasta 16-SC (for "self-contained") was the first of my vintage trailers. I found it in Quincy, IL in 2002. It was very complete and original, down to the ironing board still in the closet. I did have to replace one ceiling panel and the paneling under the front side windows (which also required some reframing), but otherwise it was structurally unproblematic. I stripped the worn original white paint and had it professionally repainted. The dinette seats had long served as mouse urinals and were beyond redemption, so I made new cushions for the front, as well as for the couch/bed along the curb side at the back. I'm very fond of this couch design, which gives the 16-SC a very open feel. I removed the porcelain toilet from the "bathroom"/closet and replaced it with a portapotty--which we never used, so it was replaced, in turn, by a dorm-size electric fridge. Since the trailer had no heater, we retrofitted a small forced air unit on the kitchen side, displacing 2 of the drawers. I also added a second 15 amp circuit and a 12-volt system of lighting. The black and white flooring is just cheap sheet vinyl from a low-end home improvement chain--I simply laid it (loose) over the old flooring, stapled it at the edges, and added quarter-round molding. Other work had to be done, of course, such as getting the brakes and tail lights (not original) to work, replacing some glass and hundreds of screws, redoing some water and propane lines, etc. I've never managed to get the propane fridge to work, but that hasn't seemed urgent. I modified the framing around the cargo door under the bed to accommodate a small a/c unit, which I can stick in as needed (otherwise it rides in the back of the tow vehicle). With a narrow window fan in the cabinet opening under the bed, to boost air flow, this solution to cooling works fine.

I've dragged the Shasta close to 10,000 miles since '02, and have stayed in it for extended periods in temperatures between 15 degrees and 98 degrees. It is still the most convenient of the various rigs that have followed it. It feels more spacious and comfortable than the similarly sized 1946 Traveleze, which I completely rebuilt in '03-'04, only to have it totaled by an incompetent driver of a modern trailer coming toward me on its maiden voyage. The Shasta may be less spacious and "luxurious" than the '49 Spartan Manor, which I "refreshed" in '04-'05, but it makes a great "guest house" when parked next to the Spartan, and is certainly a lot easier to drag around. My '63 Apache Eagle tent camper can go places the Shasta can't go--when I took the Shasta over the "road" to Chaco Canyon, the front cupboard had come loose by the time I arrived there! The very funky and idiosyncratic mid-'30s home-built trailer I've been working on since February is hard to compare with anything else! If I don't get my vintage traileritis under control soon the Shasta may have to be sold to make way for others.

A little on me: I've been teaching music history for 30 years, first at Yale, and for the last 20 years at Washington University in St Louis. Before getting the trailer bug I had restored an (award winning) 1840s Greek Revival house in New Haven, CT and an 1870s late Federal style house in Lafayette Square, St Louis's historic district. Before that I had built a harpsichord or two. All the hands-on activity nicely balances the cerebral business of my day job.