"Tiny Tears" Teardrop Camping Trailers
Scans of the Old How-to-Build Teardrop Plans and Magazine Articles
15 May 2006
Here you can purchace the link to the scans of many of the old how-to-build a teardrop trailer plans and magazine articles. There are a number of different teardrop trailers here to give you an idea of how to design your own teardrop trailer. Or, just build one of these. Many of the articles are complete plans and very easy to build from. You can also buy a full size building pattern for many of them from "Tiny Tears" if you don't feel confident in drawing the full size shape. You can find a listing of the patterns at Patterns
All of the articles have been scanned from magazines that have been purchased by "Tiny Tears" and are in the "Tiny Tears" library. None of the files have been taken from other websites or CDs sold on eBay. The fee to buy the link is to cover the cost of the maintenance of the page and to buy additional magazines as they are found. "Tiny Tears" wants to share the information with as many interested teardrop people as possible to help promote the teardropping lifestyle.
Once you get to the "Scans of Old Magazines" page it will look very similar to this page. The difference will be that when you click on the picture or title of the article it will upload to your screen. However, you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader 6.0 or newer to read these files. They are quite large files and my take some time to load. Be patient, think of how long and expensive it is to *buy* the article from eBay. It is nearly free here. Besides, most of the CDs sold on ebay have been downloaded from this website anyway.
If you do not have Adobe Acrobat Reader 6.0 you can download it free by clicking on the adobe logo below.
Previews of the Old How-to-Build Teardrop Plans and Magazine Articles
Clicking on the picture will show the first page of the article. Clicking on the title will take
you to the "Buy it Now" button.
This article is from the April 1936 Popular Science Monthly. It talks about the history of travel trailers from a 1936 perspective.
Build a Teardrop Sleepr Trailer
This article is from the December 1936 Mechanics and Handicrafts Magazine. This is one of the first
articles about building a teardrop trailer. It starts out by saying, "For the summer acationist or motoring enthusiest who enjoys
frequent outing, but who cannot afford frequent hotel bills or expensive camping equipment,
a "teardrop trailer, which comfortably accommodates two persons, will prove just the thing
for many pleasant week-end trips."
Here a small trailer, teardrop shaped, with one wheel. Is touted as "Hauls Sportsmen's Equipment". From the Sportsmen's Manual, 1937 Edition.
Runlite - A Compact Traveling Bedroom
Here is a canvas roofed teardrop trailer from the 1938 Modern Mechanix How-to-Build-It edition. The bowed roof gives it a distinct look. This article is very detailed and shows a unique construction method. If you want a challenging build project then this one is for you. You can get a full size pattern for this trailer at "Tiny Tears" Full Size Patterns
From the March-April 1939 Popular Home Craft issue and is one of three Hi Sibley teardrop trailer articles. This trailer was "Built With Dimes, Total Cost $60." The builder saved his dimes from every time he broke a dollar bill and apparently when there was enough money to build the teardrop trailer he got married and used the teardrop trailer for his honeymoon. Life was simpler then. You can get a full size pattern for this trailer at "Tiny Tears" Full Size Patterns
This isn't actually a teardrop camping trailer. It is teardrop shaped, is small and has an opening hatch in the back but it was designed to haul model airplanes to the flight field. It was included here because it is interesting to see some of the other places the teardrop trailer design was used. The article is from the October 1940 issue of Mechanix Illustrated.
Again, not a teardrop but from an author that you will see again, and who will be writing about teardrop trailers. This is the first part of a two part article on how to build a small camping trailer the makes a great weekend camper. This article comes from the March 1946 Popular Science Issue, the issue that reached 1,000,000 readers for the first time.
This is the second part to the previous article. With the two articles you can build the trailer. This article comes from the April 1946 Popular Science Issue.
Here is another non-teardrop camping trailer but it is small and fits into the small homebuilt trailer theme. The article reads, "In this six-by-six "Kamp-ous" we have all the necessities for two people to cook, eat and sleep in perfect comfort. Equipped and provisioned for the road, it weighs well under 1,000 pounds." The article is from the December 1946 issue of Popular Homecraft.
Here we have Hi Sibley again. This is one of his more popular articles about a teardrop trailer used for "Getting away from it all." This article is from Mechanix Illustrated, September 1947, and hass very detailed construction drawings. It is often sited as the article that started the teardrop trailer craze. You can get a full size pattern for this trailer at "Tiny Tears" Full Size Patterns
Another author that wrote more than one article about teardrop trailers is John Gartner. In this Popular Home Craft February 1951 article he writes about a small camping trailer that has a teardrop shape but is not a teardrop trailer by definition. It seems around this time that people wanted a bit more space and there seems to be a trend to build just a little bit bigger. That is why this article, and the next few, are included. They are not about teardrop trailers specifically but are in the spirit of the design.
Keeping with the trend of larger trailers and popular authors here is clinton R. Hull in the March 1951 issue of Mechanix Illustrated. This author wrote oodles of articles about building many things. In this article he provides a very complete manual on how to build a small camping trailer. Again, it is not a teardrop trailer but it can be linked by the philosophy of simplicity.
Here is another larger camping trailer that is considered by many to be a teadrop trailer. It does look like a teardrop trailer and you can enter from the side. However, the back hatch lifts up to create a walk-in kitchen and the trailer is 11' overall, without the hitch. This design is also thought to be the start of the commercially produced Kampmaster trailer. The article is from the April 1953 Popular Mechanics issue. You can get a full size pattern for this trailer at "Tiny Tears" Full Size Patterns
This isn't even a trailer, but, it is a good supplement for your teardrop trailer if you want to bring the kids along. From the May 1954 Popular Science is the "Folding Bedroom". This a cartop camper that unfolds into a large sleeping area. Included in the article are two bonuses - A Carside Cabanna and a Backseat Playtable.
Ok, your decision, many people would say this is not a teardrop trailer because the back isn't rounded, it is squared off. Only by coincidence, it looks almost identical to the "Tiny Tears" Boxter. With this August 1956 Mechanix Illustrated design we are back to a traditional size teardrop trailer. This teardrop trailer was built so that a man could take his family camping on the weekends in an easy and economical way. Does this sound familiar? You can get a full size pattern for this trailer at "Tiny Tears" Full Size Patterns
Again, not a teardrop trailer but a small homebuilt. This may be the first popup trailer ever built. If you want a bit more space than a teardrop trailer this may be the one for you. From the March 1962 issue Mechanix Illustrated.
This is a modern article about the resurgence of teardrop trailers. If you want to read about what's going on now in the teardrop world then this article is a good read.
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