Collection context
Summary
- Title:
- Omar Suttles papers
- Dates:
- 1927-1981, bulk 1950-1979
- Abstract:
- Omar Suttles (1893-1980) was the founder of the Airfloat Coach Manufacturing Company and manufactured one of the earliest travel trailers built specifically for recreation. He co-founded the Trailer Coach Association (TCA), presently known as Manufactured Housing Institute, and wrote a long-running column for Trailer Life magazine. The collection consists primarily of Suttles' scrapbooks, photographs, reminiscences, correspondence, memorabilia, brochures, and other printed materials, ranging from approximately 1927 to 1981, with Suttles posthumously receiving correspondence and honorary mentions in serials.
- Extent:
- 3.2 Linear Feet (8 boxes)
- Language:
- English .
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], Omar Suttles papers (Collection 1292). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
The collection consists primarily of Suttles' scrapbooks, photographs, reminiscences, correspondence, memorabilia, brochures, and other printed materials, ranging from approximately 1927 to 1981, with Suttles posthumously receiving correspondence and honorary mentions in serials. The bulk of the content originates mostly from the period of the 1950s to 1970s, reflecting the later years of the Suttles' ownership of the Airfloat firm and their travel lifestyle. The bulk of the material relates to travel.
- Biographical / historical:
-
Omar Suttles (1893-1980) was the founder of Airfloat, a Southern California trailer manufacturer. Born in 1893 in Arkansas, Suttles eventually moved to San Diego, where he not only worked for the Chrysler car company, but also had a short career as an automobile racer.
In 1927, Suttles moved to Los Angeles, where he met his wife, Ruth. They married in 1928. At this time, Suttles started his Chrysler repair shop business, where he would eventually manufacture one of the earliest travel trailers built specifically for recreation. By 1931, he had established the Airfloat Coach Manufacturing Company. His wife became an integral part of the firm's operations, particularly with regard to the trailers' interior design.
In 1936, Suttles became a founding member of the Trailer Manufacturers Association, later known as the Trailer Coach Association (TCA). The TCA, in 1975, merged with other similar organizations to form what is today called the Manufactured Housing Institute. In addition to being a membership-based organization, the TCA also published Trailer Life magazine, previously known as Western Trailer Life. Suttles wrote a running column in the 1970s, detailing the early years of trailer travel and the trailer manufacturing industry.
Airfloat contributed to the military effort of World War II, as the U.S. federal government commissioned thousands of trailers for its armed forces. The company hit its peak in the post-war period and contributed to the popularity of American cross-country tourism from the late 1940s to the 1950s. In 1955, the firm celebrated its 25th anniversary. During Suttles' 26-year ownership of the Airfloat company, he was able to patent several trailer design features.
By 1956, Suttles and his wife sold the business, acquired their own Airfloat trailer, and, in their retirement, reveled in the recreation past Airfloat customers had enjoyed for decades.
When Omar Suttles passed away in 1980, his wife Ruth donated his papers to UCLA shortly after in 1981.
- Processing information:
-
Processed by Annie Tang with assistance from Jasmine Jones in the Center for Primary Research and Training (CFPRT), February 2014. Initially processed at collection level to facilitate access and has now been processed at folder level.
Collections are processed to a variety of levels depending on the work necessary to make them usable, their perceived user interest and research value, availability of staff and resources, and competing priorities. Library Special Collections provides a standard level of preservation and access for all collections and, when time and resources permit, conducts more intensive processing. These materials have been arranged and described according to national and local standards and best practices.
We are committed to providing ethical, inclusive, and anti-racist description of the materials we steward, and to remediating existing description of our materials that contains language that may be offensive or cause harm. We invite you to submit feedback about how our collections are described, and how they could be described more accurately, by filling out the form located on our website: Report Potentially Offensive Description in Library Special Collections.
- Arrangement:
-
This collection has been arranged in the following series:
- Series 1: History of Airfloat, circa 1927-1981
- Series 2: Travel, 1936-1981
Except for Series 1: History of Airfloat, no consistent original order exists. The Suttles's categorical notes and labels within the collection influenced the arrangement and description.
- Physical location:
- Stored off-site. All requests to access special collections material must be made in advance using the request button located on this page.
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Indexed terms
About this collection guide
- Date Encoded:
- This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2022-08-24 13:43:32 -0700 .
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
Open for research. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in advance using the request button located on this page.
- Terms of access:
-
Property rights to the physical objects belong to UCLA Library Special Collections. All other rights, including copyright, are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], Omar Suttles papers (Collection 1292). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
- Location of this collection:
-
A1713 Charles E. Young Research LibraryBox 951575Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575, US
- Contact:
- (310) 825-4988