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Remembering the 1946 Higgins Camp Trailer, the Lightweight Family-Sized Pop-Up RV

Sometimes less really is more, and this is one of those times. In the troubled post-WWII context and financial crisis, Andrew Jackson Higgins tried to create the perfect, all-purpose, and all-year RV that delivered the feeling of home in the most compact package possible.
The short-lived Higgins Camp Trailer was the perfect blend of convenience, comfort and affordability 14 photos
Photo: TinCanTourists/ebay.ca (Composite)
The short-lived Higgins Camp Trailer was the perfect blend of convenience, comfort and affordabilityThe short-lived Higgins Camp Trailer was the perfect blend of convenience, comfort and affordabilityThe short-lived Higgins Camp Trailer was the perfect blend of convenience, comfort and affordabilityThe short-lived Higgins Camp Trailer was the perfect blend of convenience, comfort and affordabilityThe short-lived Higgins Camp Trailer was the perfect blend of convenience, comfort and affordabilityThe short-lived Higgins Camp Trailer was the perfect blend of convenience, comfort and affordabilityThe short-lived Higgins Camp Trailer was the perfect blend of convenience, comfort and affordabilityThe short-lived Higgins Camp Trailer was the perfect blend of convenience, comfort and affordabilityThe short-lived Higgins Camp Trailer was the perfect blend of convenience, comfort and affordabilityThe short-lived Higgins Camp Trailer was the perfect blend of convenience, comfort and affordabilityThe short-lived Higgins Camp Trailer was the perfect blend of convenience, comfort and affordabilityThe short-lived Higgins Camp Trailer was the perfect blend of convenience, comfort and affordabilityThe short-lived Higgins Camp Trailer was the perfect blend of convenience, comfort and affordability
He called it the Higgins Camp Trailer. It might not seem like much today, but by those days' standards, it was almost luxurious – or, better said, it strove to be so while still being affordable. It was an all-you-can-eat version of an RV: a place that only charges a small amount of money but offers delicious food in return. But on wheels.

The Higgins Camp Trailer is an obscure towable today, though not because its inventor lacked aspirations or because it was a limited-edition product. It's obscure today because production was short-lived: it officially lasted between 1946 and 1948, but the last unit rolled off the production line in late 1947. This makes it a very rare collectible, one that's very hard to come by, let alone in a decent condition.

If the name Higgins rings a bell, it must be because Higgins Inc., the company that built this RV, also made the Higgins boats. The company was founded in 1946 in New Orleans as a commercial boat builder, but it became one of the most significant contributors to the war effort during WWII.

The short\-lived Higgins Camp Trailer was the perfect blend of convenience, comfort and affordability
Photo: TinCanTourists.com
Among the 60+ products it built for the war effort was the Higgins boat, an amphibious landing craft known as LCVP (Landing Craft, Vehicles, Personnel) used extensively in the Invasion of Normandy. Eisenhower would later say that it effectively helped the Allies win the war. Higgins also built helicopters.

With the end of WWII, the company strove to expand onto the booming market of RVs, and the Camp Trailer was the materialization of that ambition. Billed as the perfect blend of convenience and affordability, with incredible ease of use and almost luxurious, home-like features, the Camp Trailer stood out from the competition through its very compact form factor, lightweight, and easy assembly at camp.

It was a true pocket rocket in this regard, which also made it suitable for various purposes and outings, be they fishing or hunting expeditions or short vacations with the entire family – as long as the family didn't count more than four members. It wasn't even close to luxurious in the sense we understand the term today, but it was for those times, if only for the reason that it provided a compact, lightweight platform for the entire family to escape the city for a short while.

The short\-lived Higgins Camp Trailer was the perfect blend of convenience, comfort and affordability
Photo: TinCanTourists.com
The trailer was made entirely from aluminum and weighed only 829 lbs (376 kg). It featured fold-down sides that doubled as extensions to the livable area and a system of collapsible tent poles for the upper part of the frame. Thick canvas spread out over the poles completed the habitat, with a side awning that generously expanded available space outside, windows with netting, and the option to open them completely.

Though it's a Higgins product, the Camp Trailer was actually the invention of John Morris Poche for Higgins Inc. Poche filed for a patent with the U.S. Patent Office in 1946, and it was granted to him in March 1950.

When it hit the market, the Camp Trailer boasted of setting "a new standard in convenience and economy" with a $395 price tag (approximately $6,500 in today's money) while being "lightweight and drudgery-free," the kind of towable that's ready to go at a moment’s notice. When not in use, it could be stored on its side in the home garage, so long-term storage was no longer an issue.

"Handsome in appearance and sturdily built for all-year service and rugged wear," the Camp Trailer offered sleeping for as many as four people on provided air mattresses: two adults on the floor and two kids on the wing extensions. The central part of the Trailer had near-standing height and an impressive amount of storage options. Higgins offered a bunch of other camping-essential accessories "at moderate costs," and one brochure notes that a refrigerator compartment was a standard feature.

The short\-lived Higgins Camp Trailer was the perfect blend of convenience, comfort and affordability
Photo: Facebook / Higgins tent/camp trailer.
No figures are available for the number of production units during that short 2-year production span, but the Camp Trailer was quite the celebrity in that window. The August 1947 issue of Popular Science showed off its high versatility by putting it on inflatable pontoons and adding a small outboard motor for propulsion on the water. "Trailer becomes pleasure boat," the piece boasted, praising the Higgins invention for being such a neat RV on both land and water.

Today, the Higgins Camp Trailer remains the most unusual and ambitious Higgins invention, a rarity and an awesome collectible that's worth the time and effort it inevitably takes to bring it back to its former glory whenever chance allows for one item to come out on the specialized market. The Higgins Camp Trailer also serves to remind RV-ers that less can be more. It's a cliché, but it's also a reality we tend to overlook way too often.

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 Download: 1946 Higgins Camp Trailer patent (PDF)

About the author: Elena Gorgan
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Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends.
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