Our old Number showing as ghost image was 3667. The club had re issued to someone else. Does anyone have an idea of ownership and membership of our 22 foot 1958 Flying Cloud? WBCCI issued us 4346 in 2009.
Dick and Judy Deam
Boise ID

Greetings Dick & Judy,
Here is what I can tell you about #3667.

3667 was first assigned in 1959 as the highest # in the 1959 WBCCI Directory is only 3215, which represents membership as of 12/31/58. The highest number in the 1960 Directory is 4349, which represents membership as of 12/31/59. This makes 3667 the 452nd new number assigned in 1959 and suggests a join date approximately in May 1959 if we assume members joined at a steady rate throughout the year.

In my 1966 Directory 3667 is assigned to "Delacy" in the numerical section, but there is no "Delacy" in the alphabetic section so I cannot tell you anything more. Maybe the Delacy's were members in 1964 (1965 Directory), but did not renew for 1965 (1966 Directory). Who knows why the listing is inconsistent.

In my 1975 Directory 3667 is assigned to Glen and Madge Lord of Clearwater, FLA. They were members of Unit 152 - Northeast Florida. They are not listed as having participated on any Caravans.

My 1981 Directory does not have any listing for 3667.

My 1988 through 1994 Directories have 3667 assigned to F.E. and Judy Bennett of Cumming, GA. They were members of Unit 023 - Georgia, but no caravans.

My 1995, 2001, & 2004-2006 Directories do not have any listing for 3667.

My 2007-2009 Directories have 3667 listed for Salvatore and Carol Hoyos of Bellingham, WA, Members-at-Large, but no caravans.

As you can see I only have a few directories from the early years, so it is hard to tell the complete story. If the numbers are old and faded, your '58 Flying Cloud may have originally belonged to the Delacy's or perhaps even someone else before them. It may or may not have ever belonged to the Lord's and Bennett's. Doubtful it was ever owned by the Hoyos'. And who knows if those numbers were ever assigned to someone else in the years I do not have directories for.

Sorry, but that's the best I can do.

Hi--We have an old membership book from 1967 and it lists that number 3667 to Airstream--In the book it says many numbers are being held for the original assignee when the trailer was sold or for someone who has made a request for a certain number--Also stating that many of the lower numbers with the name Airstream are reserved for Airstream personel--Hope this helps--Deb

Thanks for pointing that out. You learn something new every day. It is a fact that currently in 2009 the numbers 1 through 100 are reserved for the Airstream Company to assign as they see fit. It is also current practice to reserve a number for two years after a member does not renew, in case they later change their mind (that is unless they tell HQ to go ahead and reassign the number).

What I did not know was how far back these practices went. After reading the above post, I went back and looked through my 1966 Directory again and found the following information at the beginning of the "numerical" WALLY BYAM TRAILER NUMBERS section:
I have highlighted the most interesting paragraph above for emphasis. I would guess that the Delacy's either were a late renew for 1965 or they were a late reassign to the number 3667.

It's also interesting to note that the 1966 Directory has numbers as high as 143 reserved for "Airstream, Inc."

Hi Joe and Lorrie--Congrates on the Vac History Job--Im hoping maybe you can help us on our question,-- For years--Our earliest membership book I have is 68 copyrite--67 members--419 was assigned to Garber--My next copy is 77--When we found our 1954 she had numbers 419.-- BUT the numbers were in Blue--My parents-- life members for years thought maybe this was because it might have been owned by past president or V.P.S.--When we tried to keep the previous number 419--They said no.--So WBBC was able to give us 1419.--Trying to keep her number--Do you know if they were ever in blue or able to track our number--Thanks DEb

Hi Deb,
Number 419 is listed as Harvey & Fern Allen of Seattle, WA in the 1955 Directory. It is listed as Garber in my 1966 Directory and is not listed at all in my 1975 Directory. If you need more information, there is a full set of Directories at the WBCCI HQ in Jackson Center.

Currently, all numbers below 1000 are reserved for Airstream company assignment (1-99), International and Region Officers and Caravan Leaders (100-899), and future use (900-999), so you cannot request those numbers.

To my knowledge the club has never used blue numbers to signify Leadership, but I will admit to having never been asked this question before. Maybe there are some long time members we can track down to help determine that answer. I have always assumed that all WBCCI numbers have been red since the inception of the club.

I will note that there were other clubs that also issued numbers and sometimes vintage Airstreams are seen with two sets of number on them (our '63 Ambassador is one such trailer as it has a second number for the Michigan Travel Trailer Club, #308 if memory serves). Typically WBCCI numbers are above the front and rear windows and other club numbers are to one side or the other of the front and rear windows. Depending upon where these blue numbers are could help determine if they were assigned by WBCCI or another club. I will note, however, that in the vary early caravans (probably pre-WBCCI), the numbers were often placed on the front curbside corner near the front window, rather than over that window. A number as early as 419 (which predates WBCCI as there was a caravan of 500+ trailer before the club was formed) might be early enough to have been in that position.

Good luck with the mystery.