Americans spend millions each year on campers and recreational vehicles (RVs). While some still prefer primitive accommodations, the trend toward “glamping” over camping is on the rise. Believe it or not, campers and RVs are not new—a group of industrious travelers essentially created the camping lifestyle after World War I, becoming known as Tin Can Tourists.
Florida was a tourist destination long before the Tin Can Tourists rumbled down the South’s rough roads. Northern tourists—whether asthmatic or adventurous—discovered Florida in the 1870s. By the early 1900s, Henry Flagler’s and Henry Plant’s railroads connected Florida’s coasts to the North and Midwest, catering mostly to wealthier tourists limited to railroad access.
Following World War I, a new generation of tourists discovered Florida. Taking advantage of the revolution in automobile manufacturing—and the consequent expansion of quality roadways—these new travelers hit the road behind the wheel of Ford Model Ts, Buicks and Oldsmobiles and headed south. This new crop of tourists was seasonal, coming to Florida during the winter. However, unlike earlier tourists, they mostly avoided hotels in favor of more humble housing.
At first, these new tourists used tents and camped in large public parks, often bringing canned goods to save money. Within a season or two, they arrived in cars converted into homes – the forerunner to modern campers and RVs. They camped all over the state, from Tallahassee and Gainesville down to Miami, Fort Myers and the Florida Keys. Central Florida saw the highest concentration of Tin Canners. Tampa became the winter home of their organization, the Tin Can Tourists of the World (TCT), in 1919.
In Tampa, they favored DeSoto Park near Ybor City and a park along the Hillsborough River in West Tampa. Their presence wasn’t always cause for celebration among locals, as Tin Canners were notoriously frugal. A derisive observation from the time related that Tin Canners arrived in Florida with one shirt and a $5 bill —and changed neither the entire time they were here. Despite that, the Tin Can Tourists returned to Florida every year, leaving a legacy that we can see in campsites across the state and around the country.
Rodney Kite-Powell is a Tampa-born author, the official historian of Hillsborough County and the director of the Touchton Map Library at the Tampa Bay History Center, where he has worked since 1995.
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