Self-built trailers were highly popular in the US during the 1930s and travel trailers featured in a number of Hollywood movies including Mickey's Trailer (1938). There was likewise a travel trailer boom in the US in the 1930s as automobile production-line manufacturing techniques were used in travel trailer manufacturing to meet growing demand from recreational users and those seeking low-cost housing during The Great Depression. During the 1920s and 1930s, caravans (travel trailers) became the dominant form of RV in the UK due to their low cost, weather-resistance and flexibility. The 'one box' RV was not seen in large numbers until the small, lightweight Volkswagen Kombi of 1950.

Early motorhomes ('house cars' in the US) were usually converted goods trucks and were heavy, noisy, inflexible and expensive, restricting their use to the wealthy or self-builders. In the early twentieth century RV builders in the UK (Navarac, Piggott Bros, Eccles, Bertram Hutchings), the US (Detroit Trailer Company, Welch, Graham Brothers, Pierce-Arrow) and France ( De Dietrich, Cadel) experimented with a wide range of RV types including caravans and trailers, motorhomes, touring limousines, tent trailers and fifth wheelers. The first known, recreational fifth wheeler was the Auto Salon Deluxe built in Belgium for Baron Crawhez by Auto-Mixte Pescatore in 1913. The first US RV club, the Tin Can Tourists, was formed in 1919. At the other end of the price scale, luxury touring limousines, developed in France by De Dietrich in 1904, were built in small numbers in the US by Welch (1909) and Pierce Arrow (1910). Lightweight tent trailers were especially popular in the US from 1911, thanks to improved roads, new national parks and the affordability of tow vehicles such as the Ford Model T. The first recorded powered motorhomes in America were the 'camp cars' of Roy Faye and Freeman Young of 1904–06 (a 1904 Rambler, 1905 Thomas Flyer and 1906 Matheson). The first steam-driven motorhome was the Quo Vadis (France,1900) and the first gasoline-driven motorhome was the Passe Partout (France, 1902). The first powered RVs were steam-drawn trailers from France including the Grande Diligence of Prince Oldenburg (1896) and the De Dion Bouton trailer of Monsieur Rénodier (1898). Horse-drawn RV use declined after the First World War as many horses were killed during the war and automobiles became cheaper, more powerful and more widely available. The most widely reported of these were those of Morgan Lasley and his family. Camping-vehicle In the 1890s, US RV pioneers self-built timber 'houses on wheels' for health, leisure and hunting purposes. The Wanderer was closely followed by the McMaster Camping Car (US,1889). Stables was a pioneer of the UK's Gentlemen Gypsy movement (1885–1914) which promoted the restorative benefits of horse-drawn leisure caravanning and inspired the formation of the world's first RV club, The Caravan Club (UK), in 1907. The first, currently-known, purpose-built RV was the horse-drawn Wanderer (UK), commissioned from the Bristol Wagon Works Company by Dr. They evolved during the second half of the nineteenth century as adaptations of vehicles used for other purposes, including public transport caravans (UK, also known as stage wagons), gypsy vardos (Europe), living vans (UK), ambulance wagons (US) and sheep herders wagons (US). The first recreational vehicles were horse-drawn. ( March 2018) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section. This section needs additional citations for verification. Typically built on cutaway pickup or van chassis with bunk over cab area Typically built on heavy-duty truck or bus chassis

With collapsable sides that are stowed during towing Uses fifth-wheel coupling centered above rear axle of towing vehicle Uses tow hitch attached to rear frame of towing vehicle To allow a more compact size while in transit, larger RVs often have expandable sides (called slide-outs) or canopies that are deployed when stationary. Most RVs are single-deck however, double-deck RVs also exist. RVs can either be trailers (which are towed behind motor vehicles) or self-propelled vehicles. Main article: List of recreational vehicles

Truck camper boondocking images