Vintage charm on wheels: Betty Byrd brings timeless treasures to Park City

Photo: Betty Byrd Vintage and Gifts // Amber Howe

PARK CITY, Utah — This summer, a 1966 Serro Scotsman camper has become a familiar sight at the Park City Farmer’s Market. Filled with thoughtfully curated vintage glassware and other treasures, this is Betty Byrd Vintage & Gifts, created and owned by Park City resident Amber Howe.

The shiny silver camper, known as Betty, has not always been a mobile vintage shop – her beginning years were spent exploring the West, with Howe and her family.

After a challenging tent camping trip in the Southern Utah desert, Howe and her husband decided to upgrade their camping style. Betty, a shiny silver camper, stood out among the generic RVs in the classifieds. They quickly hit the road in their 13-foot cottage on wheels, spending eight weeks exploring that summer and embarking on countless adventures over the next few years.

When their first son joined their camping trips in 2016, it became clear that Betty’s minimal square footage was insufficient for their growing family. Unwilling to part with Betty’s charm, they put her into storage, knowing their story together wasn’t over.

In December 2023, Howe launched Betty Byrd Vintage & Gifts with a two-day Christmas pop-up event. Friends, family, neighbors, and strangers shared holiday nostalgia, perused vintage decor and housewares, sipped mulled wine, and laughed around a firepit. Thus, Betty’s next chapter began.

Howe finds joy in creating these special moments and memories. “I’ve always just been a really nostalgic person. I take all the pictures. I love the history of things. I love learning about the story of where things came from or how it was used before,” she said.

Captivated by stories of the past and how a trinket, song, or scent can evoke a feeling or recollection, Howe explained, “I’ll take the little grandma’s candy dish and make a candle out of it so it turns into this repurposed, beautiful thing.”

Howe often explores second-hand shops, imagining the previous lives of dusty items and filling her shelves with these irreplaceable treasures. “I love going to a thrift store. I love kind of picking around on marketplace. I’ll go on eBay, I go on Etsy, and just find things that speak to me, that I would like. And sometimes you find those amazing things,” she said.

Howe’s next pop-up—a mid-century cocktail party market—is scheduled for Aug. 8 & 9 at her home. Her Instagram followers can DM her for details. There will be cocktails as well as glassware, platters, candles, plants, mugs, and other vintage treasures available for purchase.

“I just feel that what we have around us says so much about who we are, as a person, as a family, as a community, our time period,” Howe said.

You can find Betty Byrd Vintage & Gifts on Instagram, eBay, and Etsy.