The mobile home has been around longer than America has been a country and then after it became a small country, the mobile home was used to explore and eventually expand the boundaries coast to coast of what was to become, “the greatest nation on Earth,” the United States of America. The first mobile home I can recall was the Native American Tee-Pee. The Native Americans would setup seasonal camps for hunting and farming and then as game migrated and fertile grounds demanded it, moved on to as they say, “greener pastures.” Then, when America went to settle the mid-west and eventually the west, the covered wagon became the home of choice mobilized by a single horse power or two. So the manufactured home is as unique to Americans as apple pie and baseball.

  

       

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

        The underlying reason behind what actually spurred the creation of the first mobile home is kind of silly. Can you believe a very wealthy man wanted his pillows fluffed a certain way and his clothes neat and pressed along with his assortment of hats protected? Back in the day, in the turn of the 20th century when railroads, steel and other industries were beginning to boom, wealthy men needed to travel from state to state to open new enterprises. When they arrived at small town hall meetings to pitch their business ideas, potential jobs they would create and stipulations they demanded from the towns, it was very important they be well rested and look like the powerful millionaires they were. The wealthy had to “look the look” and “walk the walk” in order to command the moment from the town folks. The problem was the shortage of hotels and conveniences they were used to and the businessmen had to come up with a solution. At the time, the most successful of the wealthy was Commodore Vanderbilt, the railroad tycoon that had come up with a solution by converting a railroad car into a little apartment. His clothes were pressed in a closet, his assortment of hats were boxed and protected and he slept like a baby on his fluffed up pillows when he arrived at the end of a RR line to begin negotiations for expansion. Not only did he gain more wealth in his endeavors from town to town, but he also attained more power and respect. However, other up and coming Tycoons, such as Andrew Carnegie of the Steel Industry didn’t have RR cars and had to come up with his own solution to rival that of his nemesis Commodore Vanderbilt. It’s unclear who was the first, but this is why and the approximate time frame when the trailer/mobile/manufactured home began, to arrive in style. This caught on with more and more influential business people that if they opened their perspective businesses in a town the town would have jobs that led city governments to develop elaborate trailer parks for them. With these trailer parks in place as good stopping points for wealthy business men on their way to say, Detroit and the trailer park is say, in Cleveland would allow local entrepreneurs and city leaders a chance to wine and dine them with the hopes of convincing them to build a factory in their towns. This approach showed much success and because of such more and more towns opened trailer parks for the same reason. After a while, with the advancement and mass production of the automobile and railroads, visiting most major cities around the country became easier and more comfortable with hotels springing up in towns with train stops. As a result, the need for trailer parks began to fade away and cities sold them off to the highest bidder. However, because they were there and usually in good locations, the new owners wanted them filled up and began back-yard trailer building and sold them to commoners. Before long, mass produced trailers were built often and used to house temporary construction workers. Similar to today, many of the construction workers accept a job with the new company that they just helped build and move their families in with them. Before long this caught on and became what we now call the mobile home industry. As demand rose, it caught the attention of other entrepreneurs that built manufacturing facilities and the manufactured home business exploded.