2017 Wrapped Up

Playing catch up here. This post wraps up 2017 and takes in the last of the Bolers and other little fibreglass trailers Team BIGDoer chronicled staring late summer and into fall and winter of that year. There’s a nice assortment here, random finds mostly, captured as we explored our wonderful world, with no real attempts at making something artsy. It’s all fun and games. And now we’re only like a year behind in posting. Woohoo!

1) This Boler belongs to a neighbour who probably isn’t even aware of our little obsession – we don’t announce it outside this website much. People will give a funny look you know. A couple times each summer it shows up on a weekend here and there and then is not seen again till the following year.

2) Getaway High Speed Two, a favourite pin-game from the 1990s. The local arcade owner’s kid was put through college as a result of my infatuation with this game. Got good at it over time although it’s been so long that when playing this one, I crashed and burned. What does this have to do with Bolers? We saw one some minutes before but didn’t have the camera ready and in a heartbeat it was gone. But we have the memories. NW Calgary.

3) On my way to get a Slurpee on a hot day not far from BIGDoer HQ, a chance Boler find. Check off another one.

4) In the bedroom community of Okotoks, this here “Neonex” Boler, made in Calgary, on 16th Ave NE, the factory still there but now a furniture store (see: Holy Ground). Neonex mostly made 17 foot Bolers, but nearly everyone from the firm, 13 foot ones included, carried this same tan with stripes paint job (or gel coat job as we’re often reminded); where as 13 footers from other factories, and Boler contracted out to many, were never done this way. Neonex production was circa late 1970s/early 1980s.

5) The “Poopster’s”, a small silver bullet found at a campground in Oyen Alberta. Some research shows it attended the Boler 50th Anniversary celebrated in the summer of 2018. It shows up on a list of participants. We so wanted to go but couldn’t. This one’s from 1974.

6) As I was saying about that paint job, here’s a 17 foot model found while cruising back alleys in Calgary’s Inglewood neighbourhood (a hot spot). Hunting for them this way is surprisingly productive.

7) An old sidewalk date stamp and in back, there’s another notch in the belt. Calgary Inglewood.

8) Inglewood again, a back alley again, a 17 footer again, here’s one with AC. I don’t believe it was ever a factory option. Anyone?

9) And not far away, this one. The two tone grey/white was a popular option for some reason.

10) Bigfoot’s been spotted! Not that elusive big hairy beast of the deep woods, but a trailer. This trailer. Odd, in years past, a Boler used to sit here. Bigfoot is still in business.

11) A heartbreaking photo, a Honey Boler (alternately Honey Bee Boler) wrecked in the disastrous spring 2013 floods. This one is out near Deadman’s Flat’s Alberta. Thanks to Gillean Daffern for use of the pic here. We’ve come across Honey (Bee) Bolers before but are as yet unsure what made them different, other than in name that is.

12) Here’s a Surfside, an uncommon find when compared to all the Bolers out there. They were made in the 1970s in Manitoba by the Triple E firm, a who’s still in business today but making van conversion campers. We usually see one or two Surfsides per season verses typically some fifty or so Bolers in that same time (and maybe a hundred Trilliums, the most common type). For this one we forgot to write down where we found it but think it’s Calgary. Surfside can easily be confused with Trilliums, of which they look similar too. We’ve done it!

13) It’s not quite a Boler, but it’s got that small trailer vibe and we like it. Found at a Xmas craft fair and a fixture on our tree for a few years now. Happy Holidays!

Random awesomeness…
Crazy Times in Coach, on Via’s Canadian.
Shoulder Season @ Dino Provincial Park.
Goin’ Waydowntown.

Boler: A small cute-as-a-bug fibreglass travel trailer made in Canada in the 1970s and 80s. We make a fun game spotting them on road trips and adventures. We also include other similar trailers here, those from other manufacturers who are close in appearance or configuration to Bolers.

If you need more information, by all means contact us!

1) Our neighbourhood Boler.

2) Now how’d this get here?

3) And a few blocks from BIGDoer HQ.

4) This paint job tells us it’s Neonex.

5) The “Poopster’s”!

6) Back alley cruising.

7) Look for it.

8) Older neighbourhoods are often a gold mine.

9) Look over there!

10) Bigfoot’s been spotted!

11) Noooooo!

12) A somewhat uncommon Surfside.

13) Merry Christmas!