Airstream’s headquarters sit on a quiet country backroad in rural Jackson Center. But, inside, the buzz of power tools blend together in a cacophony of creation.
Dan Maul, visitor experience coordinator, guides tours through the 750,000 square foot facility every week – explaining how employees create the iconic camper inside and out. Inside the factory, they fabricate doors and windows, sand down cabinets and, of course, rivet together the travel trailer’s distinctly shiny exterior.
“We’re gonna go through the shell build, the chassis build. We’ll put those two together and make it a complete travel trailer: your iconic American Airstream,” Maul said.
As he walks groups across the sprawling factory floor in western Ohio, he makes sure to highlight some of the impressive machinery, like the room that pours ten thousand gallons of liquid on the vehicles to check they’re waterproof (the “best part”, according to Maul).
But much of the work is done by hand by the thousand-plus people employed here. They transform a blank frame into the recognizable retro ‘silver bullet’, invented by Wally Byam.
The ‘nomadic spirit’
Byam opened the first Airstream factory in 1931 in Culver City, Calif. He explained the allure during a 1954 radio interview.
“Oh my goodness, it's the finest way in the world to travel,” he said. “You see, with a trailer you have all your things with you. There’s my long-distance radio and there’s my record player and we have wonderful beds, and we have a good shower, toilet and bath.”
The all-encompassing trailers took off, especially when travel boomed after World War II. Byam looked to expand. When the world traveler stopped for gas in Jackson Center, he noticed a defunct bazooka munitions plant that was spacious and for sale. Maul said it was a fateful match.
“So we have kind of a centralized area to ship stuff out to the Midwest and East Coast, and that way we can ship stuff out all over,” Maul said. “A lot of the farmers from this area also needed secondary work and benefits over time. So it kind of fit both needs and we’ve been here ever since, for over 70 years.”
Eventually, the California plant closed, making Jackson Center the origin of all Airstream adventures.
The rural town has helped create trailers that have caravaned around the world and been used as a mobile office for John F. Kennedy, a part of atomic bomb testing and even a space to quarantine Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins after they returned from the moon during the Apollo 11 missions.
“A lot of firsts for Airstream and a lot of firsts for the travel trailer industry. And it's amazing to be able to take all of this history and it's all right here in Ohio to kind of showcase,” Maul said.
Celebrating small town Ohio
While the Jackson Center facility has sent campers across the globe, it also brings people back to the Buckeye State. Last weekend, the city of Logan hosted an Airstream festival. Hundreds of travel trailers parked along the downtown area and hosted a “Pimp your Blimp” decorating contest.
Michigan native Kirk MacKellar has organized the annual event for the last six years. He said it’s less about the trailers, and more about where they take travelers – to small towns like Logan. To that end, all the festivals’ proceeds go to local charities.
“And they're going to leave a lot of money behind in the shops and the restaurants. The charities are going to do well as the result of our business,” MacKellar said.
Airstreamers often host these kinds of “rallies”, in rural off-the-grid towns. Not only are these events an economic boost, Maul said showcasing small town America is a part of the brand’s ethos.
“Everybody goes to the big cities for vacation and staying. We want to go to places that you don't normally see, those weird tourist attractions that few people go to a year. We want to go support those people because that's where the real adventure is,” Maul said.
Maul said the company hopes to encourage more people to embrace the spirit of exploration: to hit the road and find the unfamiliar.
But, as for its Ohio home, Maul said that’s the one place it’s proud to put down roots.
