Winnebago Industries Inc., , is a manufacturer of motor homes

Motorhome

A motorhome is a type of self-propelled recreational vehicle or RV which offers living accommodation combined with a vehicle engine. The term motorhome is most commonly used in the UK, US, and Canada.-Features:...

, a type of recreational vehicle

Recreational vehicle

Recreational vehicle or RV is, in North America, the usual term for a Motor vehicle or trailer equipped with living space and amenities found in a home.-Features:...

 or RV, in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. It is based in Forest City, Iowa

Forest City, Iowa

Forest City is a city in Hancock and Winnebago Counties in the U.S. state of Iowa, and the county seat of Winnebago County. The population was 4,151 in the 2010 census, a decline from the 4,362 population in the 2000 census....

.

Corporate history

The company was founded by Forest City

Forest City, Iowa

Forest City is a city in Hancock and Winnebago Counties in the U.S. state of Iowa, and the county seat of Winnebago County. The population was 4,151 in the 2010 census, a decline from the 4,362 population in the 2000 census....

 businessman John K. Hanson in February 1958. At the time, the town, located in Winnebago County, Iowa

Winnebago County, Iowa

-2010 census:The 2010 census recorded a population of 10,866 in the county, with a population density of . There were 5,194 housing units, of which 4,597 were occupied.-2000 census:...

, was undergoing an economic downturn, so Hanson and a group of community leaders convinced a California firm, Modernistic Industries, to open a travel trailer

Travel trailer

A travel trailer or caravan is towed behind a road vehicle to provide a place to sleep which is more comfortable and protected than a tent . It provides the means for people to have their own home on a journey or a vacation, without relying on a motel or hotel, and enables them to stay in places...

 factory in a bid to revive the local economy.

Surviving a rough beginning, the entire operation was purchased by five Midwesterners, with Hanson serving as president. In 1960 the name of the company was changed to Winnebago Industries. To improve quality, Winnebago Industries manufactured furniture and other components designed specifically for its travel trailers. One such innovation was the "Thermo-Panel," which was a strong, lightweight sidewall that was a characteristic of Winnebago products.

In 1966 the first motor home rolled off the Winnebago Industries assembly lines. These motor homes were sold at a price approximately half of what was being charged for competitors’ models, which led to its ubiquity and popularity in the RV community. The brand name has become synonymous with "motor home" and is commonly used as a genericized trademark

Genericized trademark

A genericized trademark is a trademark or brand name that has become the colloquial or generic description for, or synonymous with, a general class of product or service, rather than as an indicator of source or affiliation as intended by the trademark's holder...

 for such vehicles, whether they were produced by the company or not.

Through the 70s and into the 80s model names were influenced by the Native American tribe of the same name and included the Brave, Chief Black Hawk, the Indian, the Chieftain, and the Warrior. Older Winnebago RVs are often recognizable by the painted "w" (also called the "flying W") on the side of the vehicle, with a stripe that connects the front and back of the camper.

In 1973, the company introduced a new model, the Minnie Winnie, built on the Dodge B-series van chassis. It was about 19-1/2 feet (5.9 m) long (despite the name, longer than the shortest contemporary Brave model). Longer models were added through the years. This model continued (using Chevrolet or Ford chassis after 1980) until the name was retired after the 2006 model year, when at 30 feet (9.1 m), it was not exactly "minnie" anymore. As gas prices went up over time, the company made smaller models available, such as the "Winnie Wagon", with a low profile and pop-top.

The company also developed a line of smaller units slightly larger than a passenger van built using various bodies and powerplants from two European automobile and truck manufacturers. The "LeSharo" used Renault parts, and the "Rialta" has a VW T-4 (a.k.a. "EuroVan") cab, the 2.5 liter 5-cylinder motor, and the 2.8 liter VR6 motor. Distinct from the "Rialta", Volkswagen contracted to have the camper conversions of the T-4 to be done by Winnebago Industries, a radical departure from using the Germany-based Westfalia company that had become famous for building the VW Type 2 campmobile models since the 1950s (through 1991). This tradition continues today with Winnebago's use of the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter

Mercedes-Benz Sprinter

The Mercedes-Benz Sprinter is a light and heavy commercial vehicle, built by Daimler AG of Stuttgart, Germany as a van, chassis cab and minibus, and sold as a Mercedes model, except in the U.S. where it is built from complete knock down kits and was sold by Freightliner until 2010 when Mercedes...

 chassis.

The Winnebago Industries Charles City, Iowa manufacturing plant was closed on August 1, 2008. About 270 people were employed at the plant when production ended. According to a news release from the company, the Charles City, Iowa manufacturing plant was closed because of dramatic changes in the market since its opening in 2004. Winnebago officials credit the declining U.S. economy, higher fuel prices, decreasing consumer confidence and difficulties getting loans have contributed to a decrease in overall motor home demand. Retail sales have declined by double-digit percentages for seven of the last eight months for the industry. Yet, in 2009, a hardwoods department and "B-Van" department both reopened and now employ around 150 employees.

In popular culture

Winnebago products have appeared in various works of film, television and music. For example, the 1975 film Escape to Witch Mountain

Escape to Witch Mountain

Escape to Witch Mountain is a science fiction novel written by Alexander Key in 1968. It was adapted into a film of the same name by Walt Disney Productions in 1975, directed by John Hough. A remake directed by Peter Rader was released in 1995...

, features a 1974 Minnie Winnie, which is made to fly in a memorable sequence. A spacecraft made from a 1986 Winnebago Chieftain appears in the Mel Brooks

Mel Brooks

Mel Brooks is an American film director, screenwriter, composer, lyricist, comedian, actor and producer. He is best known as a creator of broad film farces and comic parodies. He began his career as a stand-up comic and as a writer for the early TV variety show Your Show of Shows...

 spoof Spaceballs

Spaceballs

Spaceballs is a 1987 American science fiction comedy parody film co-written by, directed by, Mel Brooks and starring Bill Pullman, John Candy, Mel Brooks & Rick Moranis. It also features, Daphne Zuniga, Dick Van Patten, and the voice of Joan Rivers. The film was released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer on...

. Other examples include the 1980 film The Blues Brothers

The Blues Brothers (film)

The Blues Brothers is a 1980 musical comedy film directed by John Landis and starring John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd as "Joliet" Jake and Elwood Blues, characters developed from a musical sketch on the NBC variety series Saturday Night Live. It features musical numbers by R&B and soul singers James...

, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, the Frasier

Frasier

Frasier is an American sitcom that was broadcast on NBC for eleven seasons, from September 16, 1993, to May 13, 2004. The program was created and produced by David Angell, Peter Casey, and David Lee in association with Grammnet and Paramount Network Television.A spin-off of Cheers, Frasier stars...

episode "RDWRER", MTV's reality television

Reality television

Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...

 series Road Rules

Road Rules

Road Rules was an MTV reality show that debuted on July 19, 1995. The series, which was MTV's second reality show after The Real World followed six strangers between the ages of 18 and 24 after stripping them of their money and putting them on an RV traveling from location to location only guided...

, Family Guy

Family Guy

Family Guy is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their children Meg, Chris, and Stewie; and their anthropomorphic pet dog Brian...

, Robert De Niro's character has one in the comedy Meet the Fockers

Meet the Fockers

Meet the Fockers is a 2004 American comedy film directed by Jay Roach and the sequel to Meet the Parents. The film stars Robert De Niro, Ben Stiller, Dustin Hoffman, Barbra Streisand, Blythe Danner and Teri Polo. It was followed up by a sequel, Little Fockers, in 2010.-Plot:Nurse Gaylord "Greg"...

, and the title character's (Jack Nicholson

Jack Nicholson

John Joseph "Jack" Nicholson is an American actor, film director, producer and writer. He is renowned for his often dark portrayals of neurotic characters. Nicholson has been nominated for an Academy Award twelve times, and has won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice: for One Flew Over the...

) Winnebago Adventurer in About Schmidt

About Schmidt

About Schmidt is a 2002 American comedy-drama film directed by Alexander Payne, starring Jack Nicholson in the title role. It is loosely based on the 1996 novel of the same title by Louis Begley. Many of the scenes were filmed on location, especially in Omaha, Nebraska and Denver, Colorado...

.
A popular hunting show on VERSUS GUNT IT (Benny Spies)Benny travels the countryside in his 1973 Winnebago hunting with friends, family, strangers, & well, just about anyone who enjoys the outdoors.

Punk rock

Punk rock

Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...

 band the Dead Kennedys

Dead Kennedys

Dead Kennedys are an American punk rock band formed in San Francisco, California in 1978. The band became part of the American hardcore punk movement of the early 1980s. They gained a large underground fanbase in the international punk music scene....

 have a song on their 1982 LP, Plastic Surgery Disasters

Plastic Surgery Disasters

Plastic Surgery Disasters is the second album released by the Dead Kennedys. It has been reissued with the EP In God We Trust, Inc., which are the last eight tracks on the CD. The cover photo is "Hands" by photographer Michael Wells. The same photo was used by other San Francisco based punk band...

entitled "Winnebago Warrior", which mocks the habits and self-perception of stereotypical RV owners with lines such as "Winnebago warrior, brave as old John Wayne; Winnebago warrior, a true Yankee pioneer". In the US animated series The Venture Bros.

The Venture Bros.

The Venture Bros. is an American animated television series that premiered on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim on February 16, 2003. The series mixes action and comedy together while it chronicles the adventures of the Venture family: well-meaning but incompetent teenagers Hank and Dean Venture; their...

, Brock Samson, the hulking bodyguard of the Venture family, is described as "one-half Swedish, one-quarter Polish

Poles

thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...

, one-quarter Winnebago

Winnebago

Winnebago can refer to:* The former name of the Ho-Chunk tribe of Native Americans with reservations in Nebraska, Iowa, and Wisconsin*A popular brand of recreational vehicles, manufactured by Winnebago Industries, of Forest City, Iowa...

". The 2009 stop-animation cartoon Glenn Martin, DDS

Glenn Martin, DDS

Glenn Martin, DDS is an American stop-motion-animated television series that premiered on Nick at Nite on August 17, 2009. The series is produced by Tornante Animation in association with Cuppa Coffee Studio...

is based on a dentist driving a Winnebago around the country. Winnebago Man

Winnebago Man

Winnebago Man is a 2009 American documentary feature film directed by Ben Steinbauer that follows the Internet phenomenon created by a series of twenty-year-old outtakes from a Winnebago sales video featuring profane outbursts from the salesperson, Jack Rebney...

is a 2010 documentary feature film about Jack Rebney, an RV salesman, whose profane outtakes from a 1989 Itasca Sunflyer sales video circulated underground on VHS tape, until Internet users turned the clip into a viral sensation.