Camping in that old Dodge van was fun, but by the mid-1980’s we were ready for a camper with stand up room, a kitchen, and a bathroom. Still, I loved the Dodge camper van I built and I wanted to continue to use it for our camping trips. So, we started to talk about upgrading to a small lightweight camper trailer that the our van could tow with its 318 engine.
I had some family camping experience with a pop-up tent camper trailer in the 1960’s. Pop-ups are OK, but after 10 years of travel with our van camper, we were in the mood for something a little more plush, with a bathroom, that I wouldn’t have to set up and take down at each camping stop. So that lightweight camper option was quickly dismissed. Few other seriously lightweight options available in the mid-1980’s were appealing to us.
Dorrie heard about an ultra lightweight fiberglass camper manufacturer called Casita that had recently started operations in Kerens, Texas in 1983. Kerens is less than a one hour drive south from our home just north of Dallas, so Dorrie called Casita and made an appointment for us to go check out the factory and their camper model. The original Kerens Casita production line was modest.
We liked the Casita 16’ Liberty model, but we decided to research Casita and fiberglass campers in general before committing. There was no commercial Internet, websites or Google back then, so it took some time for us to do the old fashioned research to establish that the company was reputable and that their fiberglass shell trailers were safe and serviceable.
By the mid-1980’s, fiberglass campers had been around for a while, but the early choices were limited and somewhat regional (mostly Canada) in availability. The boler travel trailer camper had been manufactured in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, from 1968. Approximately 10,000 boler units had been sold by the mid-1980’s, when we first started to research fiberglass campers.
The boler (purposely not capitalized by its creator) trailer was invented by Ray Olecko and the master fiberglass moulds were created by Sandor Dusa. Ray Olecko was born in Lamont, Alberta in 1930. After finishing the 8th grade he ran away to join the circus where one of his jobs was as a carnival barker, for which he wore a bowler hat. After Ray spent three years in the Canadian Air Force in Ontario, Quebec and Labrador between 1954 and 1957, he move his family to Winnipeg in 1962. It was in Winnipeg that Ray began to work in the fibreglass industry and began learning how to work the fiberglass material.
While Ray was camping with his family, after he had gain experience working with fiberglass, the idea of a light-weight camper trailer made from fiberglass struck him. The family used to go camping in an old canvas tent. Many nights they were rained or snowed out.
Olecko was seemingly aware of the existence of similar looking lightweight fiberglass egg shaped camper trailers already being built in Europe, Great Britain, South Africa, Australia, and even Minnesota as early as 1961. The early bolers are strikingly similar to the 1961 Karosa W4 Dingo manufactured in Czechoslovakia, the U.S. Cloud camper trailer built in Minnesota from 1961 and the Willerby Caravan manufactured in the UK in the 1950's.
Ray spent countless hours working out a small fiberglass camper design, planning sizes for the table conversion to bed, bunk beds, countertop for icebox/fridge, propane heater, storage under bunks and a closet. He knew that building the shell and interior out of fiberglass would yield a lightweight and affordable camper that could be towed behind a car. Plexiglass was used on the front and rear of the trailer to withstand gravel roads as well as being lighter than glass. He meticulously labored over graph paper designs with measurements for fitting everything into the camper’s interior space. The bed-and-two bunks configuration was specifically designed for Ray’s family of four. With Dusa’s help, they made wooden mock-ups for the trailer, from which they then created their fiberglass molds.
The Winnipeg Free Press published an article at the time about Ray’s new fiberglass camper trailer invention writing it “is practically unbreakable, leak-proof and, because it’s fabricated as a single unit, will not loosen up. … Layers of fibreglass are molded together with plastic resin in a large bathtub-shaped mold. During this process the trailer’s exterior paint job is built into the fibreglass. Fibreglass, says Ray Olecko, has four times the strength of steel of the same weight. After about four hours the fibreglass is lifted from the mold to form the top half of the trailer. A similarly-shaped mold, with the addition of wheel wells, is made for the bottom half. The two halves are bonded together and the door and window areas cut out. The cabin of the trailer is placed on a steel chassis and the interior fitted out.”
Olecko told the Winnipeg Free Press, “When we’d completed the first trailer, I saw that we had a unique unit which would appeal to the small family. At this point we decided to go into production.” Ray and Dusa scraped together some startup capital and began producing the first boler trailers in an old Winnipeg warehouse in 1968.
About about 100 Bolers were built in 1968 as they worked out their manufacturing process. During the second year of operations 150 boler trailers were produced in 1969, and another 400-500 were manufactured in 1970.
In 1971, Olecko sold boler Canadian production franchises with his fiberglass mold designs to Glass-Fab Industries Ltd., located in Peace River, Alberta, and to Earlton Manufacturing, located in Earlton, Ontario. Earlton Manufacturing then started its boler trailer production under the business name of Advanced Fiberglass, located in Midhurst Ontario, where production continued until 1988 when it ceased boler trailer production.
Trillium campers are very similar in design and styling to Olecko’s fiberglass boler campers, but do not seem to be one of Oleck's franchises. Trillium Industries started operations in 1969 in Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada to manufacture 13 and 15 gelcoat fiberglass camper trailers. In 1973 Trillium expanded operations with a new 40,000 sq.ft. factory and showroom in Markham, Ontario. Trillium added another 20,000 sq. ft. to the Markham factory in 1976. Trillium did not survive long into the 1980’s.
Olecko also sold boler production franchises with the fiberglass molds to U.S. companies in 1971. Those U.S. franchises would eventually give rise to several companies that used boler fiberglass molds to found their camper trailer production lines. Those companies include Scamp, located in Backus, Minnisota; Casita, now located in Rice, Texas; ECO Featherlite by Century Mfg., located in Aurora, Nebraska (ECO is derived from the first names of the three brothers who founded the company, Eugene, Cal, and Owen); and Perris Pacer, located in San Jacito, California. Eco Featherlite trailers were produced during the 1970's and Perris Pacer camper trailers were produced from 1974 to 1990.
In 1973, Ray Olecko sold his Manitoba-base company to Jim Pattison (Neonex), and his involvement with the camper industry mostly came to an end. Pattison continued to manufacture Bolers in Canada at least into the late 1970’s, and other Canadian companies that obtained their franchises from Olecko continued to manufacture Bolers into the 1980's with the last franchised production line ending in about 1988.
Neither Canadian nor American patent databases contain a patent for the boler trailer concept or design. It appears that Olecko and Dusa did not file patent papers. Ray Olecko’s fiberglass mold designs of that time, which do not appear to have been protected by a patent, seeded the fiberglass camper industry that today includes multiple companies, including Casita.
It is probable Olecko never patented Boler trailer because too many of its design elements and manufacturing practices were already widely used by other fiberglass shell camper trailer manufacturers around the world. The fiberglass camper trailer manufacturing process of making two fibreglass shell halves, top and bottom, and placing them together to form a trailer body was already widely used by manufacturers around the world from the very early sixties, long before Olecko designed and built the first boler in 1968.
Casita was realized as an inspiration of the original boler trailer mold designs. In July of 1971, in Minnesota, Duane Eveland operated Eveland’s Inc. Duane’s business was remodeling damaged mobile homes. A factory representative from “boler American” stopped by his shop to ask Duane if he would like to manufacture trailers for boler American under a franchise agreement. In the early 1970’s, boler American was a company attempting to develop the U.S. market for the boler camper.
Duane was interested and together with his brother Gerald Eveland and sister Gladys Coffland, they negotiated a contract with the U.S. franchise holder Elenor International, to which boler had sold all U.S. manufacturing rights, and Elenor International’s subsidiary, boler American, to have Eveland’s Inc. manufacture trailers using boler’s fiberglass mold designs. Boler American would market the boler campers manufactured by Eveland. Unfortunately, boler American, which seems to have not been well capitalized or well managed, went out of business late by 1972, and Elenor International apparently lost interest in the camper venture.
This left Eveland’s Inc. with the boler fiberglass mold designs, but no company to market their product. By 1978, Duane, Gerald and Gladys managed to establish a company to build and market a trailer derived from the boler fiberglass mold designs. They first named their camper the Acorn, but by their second year of operations in 1979, they adopted the name Scamp, which survives as the camper trailer’s name today.
The story is a bit murky on how it happened, and why, but by 1980-81 Duane’s, Gerald’s and Gladys’ brother Don Eveland had left the family fold to manufacture his own travel trailer he named Casita in Backus, Minnesota. Don’s Casita camper was also based on the Boler mold designs, whether acquired from his brother’s franchise deal, or other franchise source. After the first Casitas were built and sold in Minnesota in 1980-81, the manufacturing business was moved to Texas.
As the Casita folklore goes, Don Eveland wasn’t able to establish his Texas transplant Casita manufacturing business and he filed for bankruptcy. The primary assets of the bankrupt business were presumably the fiberglass molds that trace back to the original Boler fiberglass mold designs.
In 1983, John and Connie Lang acquired the original Casita company’s assets and started Casita Enterprises manufacturing plant in Kerens, Texas, a little town of less than 500 people. The new Casita Enterprises company initially produced a few trailers a week with less than 30 employees.
- Business View Magazine article about Casita Enterprises with quotes from Timothy Lang, son of John and Connie Lang, who took over company management from his parents.
We traveled in our 1991 Casita Liberty until the early 2000’s. The one thing we liked about the Liberty was the king size bed configuration, which provided plenty of room for us and our dogs to sleep. The one negative thing about the Liberty was there was no comfortable place to sit inside and no table space without reconfiguring the bed space into table and sitting space. That negative finally persuaded us to sell our Casita and up-size to a 30’ stick-frame camper trailer with a big slide-out.
While the big stick frame camper gave us - and our dogs and two cats - all the space we wanted, which was enjoyable, we found the overall “big trailer” experience wasn’t for us. Among the negatives, the towing road hours of the big rig were more tiring to drive; our rig was too long to fit into many of our favorite park and forest campground sites; and the roof and wall panel seams had constant rain leaks no RV service shop could manage to permanently stop. Finally, after some years of those rain leaks, during a week of particularly strong North Texas storms - that included tornadoes, heavy downpour rains, hail, and gale force winds - that blew through our RV storage lot, so much rainwater was forced into the roof and walls of the stick frame camper that our insurance company declared the camper a total loss. The insurance company cashed out the loss for almost the same money we paid for it new.
After visiting many - many - RV shows and giving long consideration on our next RV purchase, we realized our old 1991 Casita gave us our most enjoyable travel and camping experiences - and it never had a single rain leak. So, we visited the Casita factory — which had relocated from Kerens, Texas, to Rice, Texas, since we picked up our 1991 Casita — and quickly decided on a 17’ Freedom Deluxe model to order.
The Freedom model would give us the comfortable inside sitting space our ‘91 Liberty lacked, and several other positives. While our 1991 Casita was nice, we were pleased to find the company had made so many improvements and upgrades to their basic design and options over the 17 years since we placed the order for our first Casita in 1990. (I compiled Casita’s product evolution after talking with a long time Casita employee during our factory visits and formalizing the file of research and Casita product information we collected over the years from 1985 - see list below.)
We found that as Casita sales steadily grew through the 1990’s, Casita Enterprises relocated from Kerens, Texas — where we picked up our 1991 Liberty — to a larger production facility in the nearby larger town of Rice, Texas. The company today operates with over 100 employees and produces 14 to 19 units a week, averaging 700 units per year. John and Connie Lang's son, Timothy, manages the business today.
Old marketing flyers for early bolers and Casitas manufactured in Backus, MN, in 1980-81 show the shells were cast from identical molds. The old 13’ Casita photos below, taken in March 2018, show one of the first three Casitas built in Backus, MN, in 1980-81, still on the road.
Read more here, About Molded-Fiberglass Camper Travel Trailers.
From the early to mid 1990’s the Casita factory began to evolve their shell designs and product feature set beyond founding boler camper trailer concepts. Here is a scrolling table with some of the more recent Casita upgrades and changes.
| Standard and Optional Product Changes by Year |
| 2021 |
| All 16' models retired from order list as of October 2020 |
| Due to Suburban Water Heater supply chain problems during this pandemic year the Casita factory installed the Dometic WH-6GEA water heater in place standard Suburban SW6DE. The Dometic water heater has an aluminium tank and so does not have an anode rod. Suburbans have a steel tank and so require an anode rod to prevent corrosion of the tank interior. |
| Changed A/C unit back to high profile Coleman Mach 3. Again, supply chain problems |
| Changed rear bumper sewer hose carrier to heavier guage steel. Slightly smaller dimensions. |
| Outside shower option changed to quick disconnect type faucet / hose connection. |
| 2020 |
| New Lighted bath fan |
| Keyless/key deadbolt door lock |
| Water filter for hose |
| New entry door clear tinted window with integrated shades |
| 7-way plug cord keeper, tongue-mounted |
| Bath door hooks, two inside (no more towel bars) |
| Seafoam green cushions (no charge option) |
| Roller shades (option) |
| Folding kitchen shelf (option) |
| Casita rivet kit (including riveter) (option) |
| Quick disconnect outside shower (option) |
| Leveling blocks (option) |
| Surge protector (option) |
| 2019 |
| Changed lower outside refrigerator vent to match top vent |
| Progressive Dynamics PD4060KV Inteli-Power with Charge Wizard DC 12V 60A Converter (mid 2019) — Units manufactured to mid year with the WFCO WF 8955PEC power center. |
| Auto reset breaker on line to battery changed to 40A to accommodate high output DC 12V converter (mid 2019) |
| Start scissor stabilizers on rear |
| New grey slate color cabinet and bathroom doors (mid 2019) |
| New dark wood look vinyl floor (mid 2019) |
| Carpeted floors discontinued (mid 2019) |
| Battery Cutoff Switch (option) |
| Screen door push bar (17' models only) |
| New cabinet push button latches with right sized bezels |
| New plexi cutting board / sink cover |
| Black range cover |
| Bug screens for refrigerator, furnace and water heater vents |
| Metal lock tab for water heater door |
| 12V TV outlet updated with two USB ports |
| Exterior Portable Solar Panel plug-in port - Only for panels with built-in controller (option) |
| Coleman Mach 9430-33 72 Digital Heat/Cool Thermostat |
| Awning strap |
| Upgraded sewer hose |
| Tethered coiled break away cable |
| 12V Battery Monitor (plug in type) |
| 230W Portable Suitcase-Style Solar Panel (option) |
| Aluminum Wheels (option) |
| Changed black and grey tank roof vents to heavier UV resistant type |
| 2018 |
| Water pressure regulator standard |
| Mach 1 AC unit discontinued (mid year) |
| 13 foot Patriot models retired from order list |
| 2017 |
| Solar panel ready pre-wire (option) |
| AGM Group 31 battery (option) |
| Changed to Airxcel MaxxAir 00-07000K w/remote roof fan standard (January) |
| Casita cover option |
| ST205/75R15 Goodyear Marathon Load Range D tires with Hi-Lift axle option |
| Changed to vertical LED tail lights mounted higher up (mid 2017) |
| Changed the drain valve to two (2) 3" valves with the eccentric offset adapter (mid year) |
| Coleman Mach 8 PLUS standard (mid 2017) |
| 2016 |
| Propane Detector / Carbon Monoxide Alarm (mid 2016 update) |
| Coleman Mach 1 A/C Unit in place of Coleman Mach 8 (option) |
| Optional LED HDTV + DVD now brand GPX - Model TDE 1982B |
| Started Wesco Model FIC-3500-2 optional electric jack |
| Changed to Parallax 7100 Series 55 (7155) power center (this model's converter board lower compartment will accomodate most standard replacement boards) |
| 2015 |
| Started push button bezel latches in cabinets (February) |
| Added HepVo valve to shower drain (February) |
| Outside shower available on all models (option) |
| 2014 |
| Changed to Parallax 7155RVP power center (this power center's lower converter compartment WILL NOT accomodate most standard converter replacement boards) |
| Coby LED TV as the option |
| 2013 |
| LED lighting (option) |
| Phoenix Hi-Arc high rise kitchen faucet option (SD and FD) |
| Start Advent built-in microwave Model MW912BWDK with PMTRIM Kit (black only) (option) |
| Entrance door updated with outer aluminum skin and flat plexiglass screen slider with slider knob to open screen door |
| New Independence model introduced (April) |
| New style bathroom and closet on all 17' Deluxe models (May) |
| Coleman Mach 8 air conditioner standard (Late 2013) |
| Suburban NT-16SEQ Quiet Furnace (option) |
| Changed vent hood to JR Products "Endura Range Vent" |
| Metal valve stems in wheels standard |
| Bubble Levels on front and side |
| Blow Out Plug standard |
| Hitch Lock standard |
| Fresh (Potable) Water Hose standard |
| Water Pressure Regulator standard |
| 2011 |
| Reinforced upper aft cabinet to support TV and 120v outlet, antenna amplifier and 12 volt outlet for entertainment package |
| Bargman exterior lights returned |
| Suburban Electronic Direct Spark Ignition (DSI) water heater now standard |
| Fantastic Fan standard |
| Durable vinyl flooring |
| 15" HD LCD TV with DVD player, TV Antenna and Cable Ready (option) |
| 2010 |
| 15" Goodyear ST Load range "C" tires standard |
| Screen door now has see-thru clear plastic sliding insert instead of solid black one (mid-year change) |
| Gustafson Interior Light Fixture #L8014 (June 2010) |
| Discontinue Fiamma F45i awnings and start Fiamma F45s awnings |
| 14" wheels and tires discontinued |
| 2009 |
| ST225/75R15 Goodyear Marathon Load Range D tires/wheels (only with 17' high-lift option) |
| Suburban cooktop cover (option) |
| Discontinue Bargman exterior lights and start Optronics RVPL3C lights |
| Refrigerator 12V DC switch |
| Propane tanks repositioned forward |
| Awning oprion - Fiamma F45Ti |
Thanks for sharing the info. A friend has a Scamp. We order a 2021 Liberty Deluxe
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