This is Craig Miller Sr and his granddaughter Brook. Craig Miller Sr has been a part of RedCamper’s success from day one, 8 years ago when we set out on the path of tote making. He and his team at American National Manufacturing worked with RedCamper to create something that had never been done before, a purse made of 35mm slides. Not just slide sheets sewn together, but a custom made, radio frequency welded, durable, panel set made of two types of transparents created from custom tools and dies and an ingenious air pump system made to create cozy little air filled pockets to protect our precious cargo. It was a feat of engineering brilliance. Or maybe just plain awesome for us.  Our totes have never been a big business for him, but he has always been nothing less than amazing to us. He and his son are at the center of keeping American manufacturing alive with pride, and we are so thankful there are still people like them in this world. Thank you, Craig Miller Sr., for all the years.

Good Monday Morning!

RedCampers roots are in the back of a 1978 Blue ford with a Red Camper on the back, but we love cars. Fast cars, big cars with lots of seats, small cars, round cars, square cars, and cars that only go 40mph, but oh do we have a soft spot for those big, loud, fast muscle cars of the day. Which is why we were originally inspired to make our laptop bag line out of vintage car upholstery that was found in the way back of a warehouse in the heart of the desert. The Skylark (now discontinued), the Chevelle, the Charger and the Dart are our current homages to these lovely beasts. Here is a sweet ad for the Chevelle, and here is our own sweet Chevelle, and it’s older sister the Chevelle LTD. Limited Quantities available at Etsy.

RedCamper headquarters is on the lookout for a vintage stuffed jackalope. Let us know if you see any while you are out and about. They are a mysterious lot..but they are out there. Watch your step.

RedCamper roadtrips often happen right here in the heart of our beloved Denver. We are estate sale junkies. Simply, there is no better place to find true vintage souvenirs, and this one is a GEM. Honestly, I’ve been looking for a cactus lamp for YEARS and this one was forlornly still sitting on a mid century modern credenza on the last hour of the last day of the sale. Better yet..the actual owner, Chuck, was sitting RIGHT THERE ON THE COUCH to tell the story of buying that lamp on a family trip to Yellowstone in 1961. He followed this story with a story of getting his first camera on this trip, a little Brownie, and happily snapping photos of his adverntures. Unfortunately those adventures were left on the table in a restaurant somewhere along the way. Sigh…someone has those photos though, I guarantee it. We might actually..let me go look now….anyway, thank you Chuck for the newest addition to our studio.

A gorgeous low budget video shot by Oliver Wilkins featuring the Quoddy company based in Maine. Yes, there are still companies, old companies, based in the United States, making stunningly handcrafted goods. Watch this gent hand sew up a shoe and your heart might skip a beat. Ours did at least. Need a pair of those moccasins. Oh yes we do.

Quoddy Workshop – Lewiston, Maine from Oliver Wilkins on Vimeo.

So, obviously we have a soft spot for typewriters. You just can’t beat the sounds of old school keys. Yes, we know..we still haven’t posted any of our traveling correspondents musings from our big road trip to NYC like we promised, truth is, turns out he was writing some pretty seriously top secret information that probably shouldn’t be spilt.

When we found this song though, we fell in love. True love. Sallie Ford, please come visit us in Denver.