This rootless way of life was immensely appealing to many, suggesting as it did an adventurous frontier lifestyle and freedom from work and responsibility. Early trailer manufacturers often tried to suggest frontier America with brand names such as Covered Wagon and Prairie Schooner. 16
But trailers caused concern and resentment from more sedentary citizens. There were problems for the municipalities where the trailers passed through and where they came to rest. Many merchants welcomed the influx of dollars of the well-heeled (wheeled?!) retirees but there was rising disquiet among many town and city officials about the health problems associated with trailers such as the proper disposal of waste and truancy issues in the schooling of the children of migratory workers or itinerant job seekers. There was also growing resentment about trailer owners not paying their fair share of taxes.' 17 By 1937 problems associated with trailers were regularly addressed in such periodicals as The American City. Trailer owners and manufacturers were becoming a larger and more powerful voice on the American scene and they began to push for improvements in roads and in trailer services. Trailer Topics magazine waged a successful campaign to have filling stations provide what was termed "dumping stations." These stations allowed trailer travelers to dispose of waste in a common receptacle maintained by the filling station. This additional service assured that people with trailers would stop at their station for gas and oi1. 18
The rising use of trailers by vacation travelers and the migrating retired population not only boosted flagging local economies with tourist dollars, it also created a need for more trailers and for parks in which to put them. Municipal parks were formed in the mid-1930s to address some of the problems trailers posed for cities. Sanitary waste disposal, and clean milk were some of the concerns of health officials as they attempted to deal with large influxes of trailers. 19 Communal bathrooms, showers and laundry facilities were provided in most parks and the larger ones boasted electricity, telephones and individual sewer hookups.
There was also some boosterism at work in providing these parks. Tourists meant money and these parks helped towns and cities to capture customers. Trailer travelers could use many of the parks at little or no charge, though there was often a limit on the amount of time a trailer could remain in the park to guard against the less desirable element (as the cities viewed them) of trailer dwellers. As early as 1934, Sarasota, Florida had a seasonal trailer camp which swelled to 1,200 trailers during the winter months. Most of the residents were retired and parks such as Sarasota catered to them with recreational programs, and a municipally paid dance orchestra all at $4.00 per month rental. 20
As municipal parks began to charge rental fees, private enterprise saw a golden opportunity and privately owned parks soon appeared. But the production and demand for trailers outpaced the growth of the parks even then. Lack of adequate park space is a problem which continues to plague both the mobile home industry and the mobile home dwellers.
In 1938, the Committee on City Planning and Zoning of the National Fire Protection Association began to establish zoning ordinances to regulate trailers and to establish standards for trailer parks. 2l
At the time many of these provisions were adopted, trailer use was still primarily camping or migratory in nature. Because the land on which the trailers would park was considered akin to a parking garage, the early trailer parks were zoned as commercial areas, a trend which often continues today. Burlington now zones mobile home parks as commercial property. 22 Such zoning requirements often affect where mobile home parks are located, relegating them to commercial strips near highways or adjacent to industrial sites.
It is interesting to note that even in the early days of the trailer industry, some members of the design community were suggesting that trailers could be used for affordable housing to relocate slum dwellers. Designs for permanent trailer communities were offered.23
Ernestine Evans, writing in Architectural Record, was enthused about the potential of trailers in the work of architects. She suggested that several trailer cities be designed for Long Island in conjunction with the 1939 World's Fair:
Despite her enthusiasm, most design professionals and municipalities maintained an uneasy truce with the trailer and industrial housing.