MotorHome Magazine Celebrates 50th Birthday

[ArdraF]

I've been catching up on my magazine reading.  The January 2018 issue of Motorhome was it's 50th birthday issue.  Many of you long-time RVers will remember that Art Rouse had a vision of a magazine catering to a new and growing industry called motorhomes.  The first issue was MotorHome Life and that's the title to which we originally subscribed.  Eventually it became just plain MotorHome in 1982.  It was an annual publication until 1983 when it became monthly.  The first issue in January 1968 had 88 motorhome models listed in a buyers-guide format.  I laughed when I saw the articles that issue contained because things haven't changed all that much in the intervening 50 years - motorhome testing, working while traveling in a motorhome, full-time motorhome living, and motorhome trips out of the U.S.  Best of all was a funny ad with a product meant to help motorhomers dump their holding tanks.  The guy in the ad had on a gas mask and other protective attire.  Yes, in retrospect, Art Rouse really was "on to" something big!

ArdraF

 

[ziplock]

I just started getting  this magazine in February.  I have a 2 year subscription.

The last magazine  I subscribed to was Organic  Gardening Magazine.  Gardening is  my  only hobby.

Now that Hubby and  I  have left tent camping  behind and bought the Motorhome, this mag  is perfect.

I read all the advertisements also,  as  they all  interest me,  just  like  I  used  to read  all the garden  advertisements in the  garden magazine.

The May issue chats about HOW to put a  Cover  on your Motorhome.  We have one, but  never put it on  this winter.  That chat interested me.

I also like the 50 years ago part.  There is a segment in each issue so far.  I guess there will be all year. 

I am enjoying the magazine after not having any magazines in quite a few years.

 

[camperAL]

Hi Ardra,

My folks use to subscribe to that. My Dad would clip out articles and put them in his file. I have the files and have went over a number of articles and it is as you say, a lot of the topics are still pretty much the same topics back then. The more things change, the more things stay the same when RV'n. Prices back then (70's - 80's) were about $4 or $5 for camping. I enjoyed looking in the articles from the magazine to see what all had changed, and found that we discuss things here that are just about the same.

Thanks for the post!!

 

[ArdraF]

CamperAl, prices and gadgets are the biggest change.  Our 1972 18-ft Eldorado Class C cost about $8,500 NEW!  It was a great motorhome and we put a lot of miles on it.  Of course, we had no TV, no microwave, nothing fancy.  We did have a CB, but that was the extent of the technology back then.  The electronic gadgets simply weren't invented or on the RV market back then.  When we got our 22-footer we carried a small portable TV that ran on DC and was stored in a closet when traveling.  That one also had a "swamp cooler" -  no A/C then.  By the time we got the 30-footer it had a swamp cooler, a permanently installed TV and a microwave.  Such modernizing!  Finally got air conditioning and more gadgets like VCRs when we moved up to the 34' Windsor in 1998.  People buying their first RV today probably don't realize how far we've come!

ArdraF

 

[Lou Schneider]

Just to keep Ardra's costs in context, the government's CPI Inflation Calculator shows $8500 in 1972 is worth the same as $51,000 today.  That's not too far from the current price of a new entry-level Class C.

In 1972 I was making $800 a month at my first real job (not counting newspaper routes).  That's the same as $4800 a month now.

Likewise, $4 per gallon gas today is the same as 66 cents per gallon in 1972.

 

[camperAL]

Hi Lou and ArdraF,

That's .44 9/10 where I live.  ;D  Some of the long time (notice I didn't say old timers) RV people on here have no doubt seen much change over the years. Things might have been cheaper but motorhomes and I assume trailers were much more basic. I know my folks coach didn't have a TV. It was shorter too, with two beds in back side by side and the kitchen table made into a bed. Sort of had a gaudy yellow color on the upholstery surrounding the dinning table. Had a genny, nice tub in the bathroom and a nice kitchen.

Today's coaches have the the extra room from the slide outs, are longer and generally much nicer, say for the fixes when new. As you say ArdraF, so many changes for the better and it's been a long road to get to this point. Makes you wonder what is in stock for the future. Perhaps todays articles in Motorhome Mag. will be view by future RV'rs and have equal changes for the better.