My parents, Howard and Esther Votaw, operated Ideal Trailer Sales in Decatur, Illinois from 1958 (I believe) until my father's death in December of 1981.  Dad worked full time as a lineman at Illinois Bell Telephone Company, but the trailer sales were his love.  He would come home from work and spend every evening and weekend in the shop working on trailer jobs.  My mom ran the sales lot during the day and often worked with him in the evenings.  We of course spent every vacation camping and have traveled all over the United States in Scotty trailers.  As my mom told it, I was only 11 days old when I first went Scotty camping. 

 

During the mid-sixties my dad was one of the top 10 Scotty salesmen in the nation.  I believe it was in 1966 and 1967.  As a child I remember seeing the certificates on his office wall.  We once made a special trip to Georgia so that he could say he had bought Scotty trailers from all 3 Scotty plants (PA, OK, and GA).  At the time he did that, he was the only dealer in the nation to have done so.  He and friends or family members would often leave Decatur when he got off work at 5:00 on a Friday night to drive to OK or PA and bring back trailers.  They would usually drive one vehicle and tow another so they could bring two trailers home.  In later years he bought an old car hauler that he could haul 3 Scotties on at a time.  When I was old enough to drive, I went on a couple of those trips with him. 

 

I have on my desk a paperweight with a picture of Scottyland in it.  Next to the flagpole is a large tan statue of a man and at his feet is an object that I believe is supposed to be a rock with my dad's name on it.  I think it was something given to him at one of the Scotty awards dinners.  We made many trips to Scottyland and I was happy to see that it still exists.  My son is now a student in Blairsville, PA.  In the information rack at the motel where we stayed there, I found Scottyland pamphlets.  That is what inspired me to look up Scotty on the internet and eventually led me to the NSSO website.

 

This is a 1972 picture of my dad and mom, Howard and Esther Votaw, standing in front of a concession type trailer that my dad built for the local trailer shows at the Macon County Fairgrounds every May.  It was filled with camping supplies and accessories that he was able to sell on the spot to the show customers.  The silver sign that you see on the front of the trailer he made himself by cutting it out of plywood with a jigsaw.

 

The second picture was taken at the same show in May of 1979.  My sister made Scotty blue vests for my parents to wear at the shows.  This is my dad, Howard, sitting by his Scottys and waiting for the next person to come along for a little chat.  My parents were both very social people and I think they enjoyed the shows as just another opportunity to talk to people as well as show off their prize trailers.

 

The third picture was taken in July of 1979.  In the spring of 1979 my dad knew that due to his health it was time to downsize the business.  So, he sold the big building that had housed his shop and built a smaller building to use on a more limited basis.  Although, I do not believe this is a Scotty in the picture, it is the first wiring job he did in his new building.

 

The fourth picture I believe was taken in 1977.  This is 3 of Howard and Esther's 11 grandchildren.  As you can see, there is a Scotty in the background.  Since the trailer sales was adjacent to our home, trailers appear in most of our family pictures.

 

The last picture was taken in July of 1961.  This is my brother Bob Votaw holding me while standing in front of a new delivery of Scottys.  I was 10 months old and Bob was 15.  He grew up in the business and tried to continue it after our father died.  But, Ideal Trailer Sales was never the same without Howard.

 

Jackie Votaw Brown