This photo was featured in the September 24th, 1943, issue of the Sugar House Bulletin (SLC, UT).
Features Research Archives
1944 Opinion Piece: A Future For The Jeep?
Originally appearing in the Christian Science Monitor, this opinion piece was published in the Milford News, a newspaper out of Utah, on August 31, 1944. I think this piece is right on in terms of honestly evaluating consumer desires vs. the new jeep, hence part of the struggle Willys-Overland encountered at the turn of 1950.
Jeep Patches **SOLD**
UPDATE: **SOLD** Was on eBay.
Maury spotted these three jeep-related patches on eBay. I suspect they were removed from a jacket, as they look to have been sewn onto something.
August 1954 Ad For Jeeps as Versatile Vehicles
This ad was published in the August 1954 issue of Fortune Magazine. When Kaiser bought Willys, one of the early advertising decisions was to use the KW logo on various marketing documents. I suspect this was an attempt to brand across the jeep and Willys Aero lines. This strategy was dropped by 1955, followed shortly with the dropping of the Aero vehicles.
Happy New Year, 2020!!!
Happy New Year everyone!
The biggest event for me in 2019 was Dad’s passing; he had a good run. Last year at this time he was pretty sick; so, we knew what would happen, just not when. Now, this time, it’s Ann’s mother who is in that same situation. We know what’s going to happen, but not when. It’s just that time of life for us.
EWILLYS:
I mentioned last year that eWillys, as we know it, might change in April of 2020. I have pushed that date back to January 2021. My goal with those changes is to free up more of my time for other projects. Moreover, during this last year, it feels like prices have really skyrocketed on 1940s-1960s jeeps of all types; the variety of jeeps feels like it has declined as well. Deals are less frequent, which means providing daily content has become more difficult.
On top of that, it’s getting more of a challenge to find new content for ‘feature’ posts. I’ve built a pretty substantial collection of brochures/magazines/books/misc and, from that, have been able to generate new content over the years. But, there are fewer and fewer items on eBay that I don’t already have, so locating rare items takes more time and money. For example, I know there are other mid-1950 Willys News magazines that remained undocumented and more than twelve mid-1950 Globetrotter magazines (maybe as many as twenty of them) that would be of interest to everyone. But, I’ll keep at it.
Currently, there are 53,726 posts on eWillys. While I will add approximately another 4000 posts this year, I also plan to be cutting much of the dead weight throughout the year; these are posts that provide no useful insights, modifications, or other aspects that might be interesting to me or readers.
2019 TRAVEL:
For the first time in seven years, we didn’t take an eWillys trip that lasted longer than a month. Dad’s illness (and frequent trips to Seattle) combined with tight finances kept us around home. On the positive side, the summer in Pasco was perfect temp wise––like Goldilocks porridge, not too hot and not too cold––so I spent a good deal of time pouring through Ernie Pyle’s old columns next to our garden-pond area (Ann’s flowers and plants were beautiful this year).
I found Ernie’s account of pre-WWII America fascinating (he traveled all over the US between 1935-1941). Then, when he finally got the chance, he traveled with troops from the frontest of the front lines to the most removed troops far in the rear performing critical, but often forgotten, roles. I believe his columns provide a comprehensive, perhaps unequaled look at why the behind-the-scenes military operations are so important to fighting conflicts.
The one major two-week trip Ann and I did manage to accomplish was a fast trip to Pennsylvania and back during early July, to deliver Rusty the DJ-3A to its new owner. We were very lucky to leave after the rains finally subsided in the Midwest, but before the heat arrived on the East Coast. It was a wonderful to be on the road again, even if it only lasted two weeks.
LOST BISCUIT: As for work on Biscuit, that’s come to a halt again. Time is proving difficult to find, and will so for at least the next year. So, I plan to sell Biscuit (and all the trimmings); I just hate to see it sit there. Meanwhile, I’ll keep Patterson and fix some of his small issues. Then, in two years, I’ll have the money to buy another flattie. Continue reading
100 Year-Old WWII Vet
Our own Joe-in-Mesa had a chance to drive a WWII vet to his 100th birthday party. I bet he enjoyed that! Great work Joe!
This is Why I Don’t Connect My Phone to Vehicles
This year, 2020, it is estimated that 75 percent of new vehicles sold globally can be linked to the internet. I’ve discussed this issue before, but I thought this article https://www.dailywire.com/news/washington-post-hacks-into-chevy-to-show-how-much-cars-are-spying-on-owners does a good, short summation of how much data is downloaded by new vehicles when phones are connected to them (the full WP article is here).
Of course, even if you don’t pair your phone, your new vehicle still provides a variety of metrics to automakers. Why do automakers want that data? For a wide range of reasons, as this report points out: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/carmakers-are-collecting-your-data-and-selling-it/ . Though automakers will shout “safety and convenience” every time when cornered on the topic, it seems much more about increasing revenue outside of vehicle sales.
Worse, some new vehicles are arriving to showrooms equipped with cameras to monitor driver behavior, such as warning drivers when they appear to be distracted or monitoring their eye-lids to detect fatigue: https://www.consumerreports.org/automotive-technology/who-owns-the-data-your-car-collects/
My personal belief is that, in the end, it will become very difficult to avoid being monitored by both corporations and the government, the former possibly being even more insidious and impactful than the latter. Perhaps the best hope for anonymity is not to try to escape it, but try to make it worthless by flooding it with disinformation (for example, a disinformation app that produces false location geo tags). A simple example of this was how Miami police were falsely reporting their positions to Waze to prevent drivers from knowing their true locations.
Good luck out there in 2020!
Champion Post Hole Digger from Southwest Equip. Co.
This 1948 brochure indicates the Champion post hole digger (aka an Earth Auger) was manufactured by the Southwest Equipment Company out of Los Angeles, California. According to a 1948 filing, the company was operated by Kenneth J. Browne.
1947 New Truck Ad
This December 12, 1947, ad was published in the Sullivan Daily Times by the Citizens Garage out of Indiana.
1944 Pennzoil Ad from Time Magazine
American Central Manufacturing (ACM) Ad
Mario posted on Facebook this great ad for American Central Manufacturing.
1944 Photo of Jeep Stuck in New Guinea
Certainly it isn’t the first jeep to be stuck in New Guinea! This photo included a February 25, 1944, article from the Healdsburg Tribune that updated on New Guinea operations.
Fairchild Gardens Jeep Train Postcard on eBay
UPDATE: Still available.
(05/20/2019) This jeep-train carried visitors through Fairchild Gardens.
View all the information on eBay
“Postcard Florida CJ-5 Rambler Jeep Fairchild Tropical Garden”
1962 Photo of Men Who Completed Hemet Run
This April 20, 1962, article in the La Habra Star highlighted Sam Winner, Frances Hughes, and Cruz Gomez, who had recently completed the two-day, 300 mile Hemet Run and camp-out. The planned to followed that up with the Indio Jeep Run in May.
1943 Photo of Jeep & Grumman aboard Carrier
Good photo of a stripped(?) jeep maneuvering a Hellcat aboard an aircraft carrier.
View all the information on ebay
“1943 Press Photo Jeep toying US Navy Hellcat aboard an aircraft carrier. This is an original press photo. Autos – Jeeps – Somewhere off Wake Island – They say there’s nothing new under the sun, but here’s a picture of a Jeep, familiar to all as one of the most useful of the many instruments used in this war to date, at a novel task – that of jockeying a “Hellcat” aboard a carrier. This was one of the “flat tops” used to pummel the Japanese on Wake Island, October 5-6. Note two other similar ships in the distance Photo measures 8.5 x 6.5 inches. Photo is dated 10-15-1943.”
Yellow Fleet, Black Bear Pass, CJ-6 Postcard on eBay
I wonder if all the Yellow Fleet rental jeeps were painted light yellow like this one? I’m guessing the color of the photo might be off a little, which gives the CJ-6 a bit of a green tint. This was taken by Bob Petley.
View all the information on eBay
“Colorado Jeep Trail Telluride Ouray CO Tomboy Road Jeep Rentals Advertising Black Bear Jeep Road Vintage Postcard”
Black Bear Pass, CJ-6 Postcard on eBay
This image was taken by Bob Petley also, perhaps on the same trip as the image above.
CJ-7 Pulling a Trolley in Delaware
This trolley used to be towed by a CJ-7 along Rehoboth Beach, North Shores, and Dewey Beach in Delaware.
Jeep Parts Themed Toy Wagon
Maury and I thought this jeep bank was interesting. It is a Willys-Motors-parts-department-themed wagon that is listed as a ‘1953’. It was sold on eBay and now documented at WorthPoint. Anyone seen others of these?
https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/liberty-classics-1953-jeep-willys-491185253
1994 Le Journal de Spirou Christmas Cover
TJ shared this wonderful illustration shared by the French company of Jeepstock.
Willys/Jeep Logos, Badges & Slogans Between 1941-1953
Maury suggested we organize and go through the various Willys-Overland and Willys Motors logos, badges and slogans seen in brochures and ads during the years between 1941-1963. I thought that a good idea as well, so here’s what we found for the pre-Kaiser period between 1941-1953.
Before we begin, when is a slogan ‘a slogan’ and when not? It is totally arbitrary on our part, but we think we’ve covered quite a few (and welcome other suggestions). Much of Part I is a synopsis of advertising-related posts published over the last year. We hope to publish part II in the next few days.
1941-1945: (A deeper dive into the ads of this time period can be found here).
As a 1951 advertising review noted, the challenge facing Willys-Overland, once winning the jeep contract, was to convince consumers that the jeep was a Willys product (even though, as Ford argued, it was a joint project). To this end. Willys-Overland’s very first ad in December of 1941 emphasized WILLYS.
Willys-Overland continued this theme with their famous war-time color ads, a list of which you can view here (1942-1946). In the Hell Bent ad, the first of the war-time ads, Willys-Overland continued to emphasize WILLYS. The company also added “JEEPS” as a third category of vehicles for the first time.
In 1943, while emphasizing WILLYS, the company introduced a new badge, “The Sun Never Sets on the Fighting Jeep”
The “Fighting Jeep” phrase lasted through May of 1943. Then, was left off of a few ads, before returning on July of 1943 with the replacement of Fighting with Mighty: THE SUN NEVER SETS ON THE MIGHTY JEEP.
Willys-Overland continued to emphasize WILLYS until February of 1944, when the company abruptly switched the emphasis to JEEPS.
1947 Twas the Night Before Christmas Card
A Few Presents
Thanks to a couple readers who sent me some surprise presents! Both were a big surprise and much appreciated.
This Scrambler Christmas ornament arrived in the mail on Monday, sent by Blaine . We only have two ornaments on the tree this year and this Scrambler is one of them (we are having a very low-key Christmas this year).
Chris sent me these five post cards and, amazingly, I don’t have any of them! I’ll do some better scans of them in the near future.
1952 Carter Products Ad
This Carter Products Ad appeared in the January 19, 1952, issue of the Saturday Evening Post. It’s an interesting throwback ad to the WWII concept of the jeep (arguably, it’s a Ford GPish illustration).
Jeep Cooperative Advertising Radio Spots Record
Maury spotted this Jeep Radio Ad record on Worthpoint. It turns out that the CJ-3B page has published some of the recordings from the record. So, on this Christmas morning, you can test out the sound of your new computer/tablet/phone/Internet-of-thing.