The Statesville Record and Landmark newspaper out of Statesville, North Carolina, described in the December 29, 1955, issue how up to eight jeeps are used to make sure rural customers received their newspapers, summer or winter, through rain, snow, or sleet.
Old Images Research Archives
1965 Article on Jeeping in Colorado
A CJ-V35/U landed on the front page of the Leisuretime Magazine, published by the Gazette Telegraph out of Colorado Springs, Colorado, on August 07, 1965. It looks like the jeep has been modified with a taller radiator (and perhaps another engine), which apparently led to the lack of a hood.
For the story, the writer spent some time with the Mountain Airs Citizen Band Radio Club (not the catchiest of names). I didn’t realize that CB clubs were a ‘thing’, but there was even a magazine dedicated to that group of folks called S9. Here’s an example from 1966 (one in which the Mountain Airs’ name appears somewhere): https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-CB-Radio/S9-Magazine/S9-1966-05.pdf.
Below is the Gazette Telegraph article:
1951 Photo of MacArthur in Jeep on eBay
It’s a good situation when you have people to remove your jeep’s chains….
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“1951 Press Photo Korea, soldiers remove tow chains from Gen. MacArthur’s jeep. This is an original press photo. Central Korean front — Gen. MacArthur flew to the Korean Central front today on his 13th visit since the war. Marines are pictured here removing chains from MacArthur’s jeep after it was towed from Hongchon R. when it stalled while fording river. Gen. Ridgway is in rear of jeep (back to camera).Photo measures 9 x 7inches. Photo is dated 03-20-1951.”
1949 Article Sedan Delivery Wagons as Patrol Jeeps
This April 16, 1949, article in the Portland Press Herald highlighted critic complaints about several new sedan delivery wagons purchased for use as police vehicles. There was some concern that these new patrol vehicles would be unable to catch modern hot rods. In response, the police chief reminded his critics that this was an experiment.
You will note that there is a black blotch covering a small portion of the second part of the article, but I don’t think anything important is lost with it there.
1946 Plans for Electric Jeep in Mechanix Illustrated
UPDATE: I wonder if this electric jeep pictured in the November 05, 1943, issue of the Arizona Republic newspaper was the inspiration for the Jeep for Junior published in 1946?
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The post originally ran in 2014: These plans for an “Electric Jeep for Junior” come from a September 1946 Issue of Mechanix Illustrated Magazine.
Search ebay for original issues of the September 1946 issue of Mechanix Illustrated
1965 Salem Jeep Club Article
This article from the May 24, 1965, issue of the Capital Journal, Salem, Oregon, follows the Salem Jeep Club’s trip with the Yakima Mountaineer’s Jeep Club (I’m not familiar with that club name) into the Cascade Mountains, specially the Ahtanum area west of Yakima.
January 1950 Pop Mechanics Sky-High Painter
Gayland spotted this unusual setup for painting tall places from a jeep. This was published on page 114 of the January 1950 issue of Popular Mechanics. Just hope it isn’t a windy day!
The is a better look at the rigging:
And a close up of the jeep:
1943 Photo of Sioux City’s North Junior’s Jeep Purchases
This April 02, 1943, photo highlighted Sioux City’s North Junior School’s purchase of not one, but two jeeps as part of the “buy a jeep” bond campaign. They were the first school to buy one (and the first to buy two) jeeps. The Secretary of the United States Treasury presented the school with an award for its efforts.
Photo of Soldiers and Landing Craft w/ Jeep on eBay
The photo is dated May 5, 1985, probably because it was placed into a newspaper on that day. In my opinion it looks like a staged photo, given all the decorations on the jeep and the way the soldiers exit the landing craft, yet still provide the photographer a great look at the jeep. No description provided.
1953 Photo of a CJ-3A from the Antelope Valley Sheriff’s Posse
UPDATE: Ooops. It turns out I had forgotten that I’d already posted this photo last year …
This photo can be found within the Los Angeles Public Library Photo Collection. It depicts a CJ-3A owned by the Antelope Valley Sheriff’s Posse. There are other jeep-oriented photos as well held by the library.
FJ-3s Make Their Arrival
The arrival of the FJ-3s made the newspapers in a variety of states. This first article appeared in the February 02, 1961, issue of the Bridgeport Post out of Connecticut:
This next article appeared in the October 04, 1961, issue of the Owensboro, Kentucky, Messenger and Inquirer.
The Mitchell, South Dakota, Post Office may have only purchased one FJ, but it still made the paper:
Here’s an add for the followup model, the FJ-3A .It appeared in The Lawton Constitution out of Oklahoma on January 07, 1962.
This is the more common version of the FJ-3A ad published across the country:
Oregon Dealers in the News
These two Oregon Dealers landed in the news, eleven years apart.
In the first photo from July 01, 1951, Medford Mail Tribune, The Medford Corporation purchases a fleet of eight jeeps for its logging operations from William Leever of the Leever Motor company.
The second photo and caption are from nine years later and 15 miles north of Roseburg in Umpqua, Oregon. The February 26, 1962, issue of The News-Review published this Umpqua Tractor ad for tractors and jeeps. You’ll note the rare site of an FJ-3A on display along side an FC.
June 1946 Photo of Merced’s Abatement Jeeps
This June 20, 1946, photo and caption on the Gustine Standard shows six jeeps purchased by the city of Merced for Mosquito Abatement. I didn’t realize jeeps were used so early for anti-mosquito work in California.
1960 Photo of Jeep w/Odd Top
This August 21, 1960, article in the Ogden Standard Examiner out of Utah includes a photo of a CJ-2A with a home made, odd hardtop.
1954 Article w/ the Longview Trailbreakers Jeep Club
This October 09, 1954, article form the Longview Daily News puts the launch of the Trailerbreakers Jeep Club in April of 1954. That’s one view of Mount St. Helens that no longer exists!
Photo of DJ-3A Dispatcher in Indonesia(?) on eBay
UPDATE: This is back up for sale. Note that this is a column shift. As Carl noted, this is the correct orientation for the image, because if reversed the “WILLYS” would be backwards.
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August 1960 Article Noting the Formation of the PNWJA
This August 1960 article in the Longview Daily News out of Longview, Washington, notes that the Armstrongs, members of the Trailbreakers Jeep Club, chaired the two-day convention that resulted in the formation of the Pacific Northwest Jeep Association (Iater changed in 1965 to the present-day PNW4WDA — Pacific Northwest 4-Wheel Drive Association). Note that the article refers to the association as the “Pacific Northwest Jeep Club Association”, but a decision must have been made to drop the word “Club” from the name. (some historical PNW4WDA info on the Webfooters page).
The Trailbreakers still exist and were one of six charter clubs in the Association. In order of formation (or incorporation), I believe the six charter clubs were the (1) Yakima Ridge Runners, (2) Vancouver Four Wheelers, (3) Longview Trailerbreakers, (4) Brush Busters (?), (5) Tacoma Webfooters, (6) Seattle Jeep Club. (The Brush Busters out of Portland were formed in early 1958, but I haven’t confirmed they were at the convention, so please correct if I’m wrong).
The Tacoma Webfooters have a particularly unusual name. The story goes as follows: “It was time to name the 4th jeep club [ed. note I guess they didn’t know about the Brush Busters]. Who’s got any ideas? Burt Severeid said, “How about the Tacoma Webfooters Jeep Club? Oh, the complaints poured in about how silly that name was, but no one else came up with anything else, so it stuck!! The 4th jeep club in the northwest was to be called, “The Tacoma Webfooters” , with Bruce Cole as the first president.”
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Original Post from 2016: This is a great photo from the very first Pacific Northwest Jeep Association Summer Convention, prior to being renamed the PNW4WDA.
May 1952 Willys Dealers
This May 9, 1952, ad for Aero Willys highlights dealers across the US, but especially in the Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho area. To hit 35mpg these cars had to have been traveling down hill!
1943 Photo of Ford GPA at Schenectady Depot on eBay
This photo was on eBay, but will be sold by Monday morning. Still, a neat early look at the Ford GPA.
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“1943 Press Photo Amphibious Jeep at Schenectady Quartermaster Depot. This is an original press photo. Schenectady Quartermaster Depot – Amphibious JeepPhoto measures 9 x 7.25inches. Photo is dated 04-05-1943.”
1951 Slide of CJ-3A from Venezuela on eBay
This is a great early photo of a CJ-3A out of Venezuela.
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“1 Original slide as shown. K5 013 Amazing old car JEEP WILLYS Caripito Monagas Venezuela 1951 Red Border Kodachrome”
1991 ‘The First 50 Years’ Jeep Press Packet
Thanks to Maury, I was able to get this 1991 press packet off ebay and shipped for under $10. That’s a good day. It wasn’t clear to me all that was inside, but it turned out to be a heck of a deal. The three-page tri-fold stores photos, old press releases, histories, and a few miscellaneous items.
Here’s the front of the packet:
These are the materials that are stored inside. There are four press releases, fourteen reproduction 8×10 photos, a 40-page AMC/Chrysler history, a jeep history that’s attached to the binder (see upper right corner), one March 1963 Jeep News front-page reproduction and a late 1940s wagon ad reproduction. Just the reproduction of the Willys Quad photo was worth the cost of this package (I’d never gotten around to getting one).
I haven’t read this history just yet, but wasn’t in a hurry as I’ve already read this book on AMC’s history:
Here’s how the binder looks when opened. The jeep history starts at the page in the middle.
Under the last page of the jeep history is a holder for all the photos and other documents:
Here are two 1990s press releases (I only took photos of the front pages):
These are two 1980s press releases:
The press release on the left is from early 1942 and covers the changing situation with America’s entry into WWII, while the one on the right is from 1965:
The Jeep News reproduction page from March 1963 is shown on the left. It includes a report on the name change from Willys Motors to Kaiser Jeep and the Willys-Overland Export Corp. to Kaiser Jeep International Corp. The reproduction wagon ad on the right is from 1948 and includes details on which magazine and dates it appeared (I wish I had that database of information!).
1956 DJ-3A Press Photo on eBay
Great DJ-3A press photo.
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“This is an original press photo. Autos-Willy’s. Willys Jeep Dispatcher, above, designed for light delivery work particularly in congested traffic areas, is now being introduced by Willy’s Motors, Incorporated. Highly maneuverable and economical to operate, the Dispatcher is offered in a hardtop model (illustrated) a convertible canvas soft-top, and a basic open model. All models are powered by the Jeep four-cylinder 60 horsepower engine.Photo measures 10 x 8.25inches. Photo is dated 6-3-1956.”
Pat Brady, Dale Evans & NellyBelle Slide on eBay
UPDATE: Thanks to Colin for the corrections
Great photo of Roy Rogers Pat Brady at the helm of NellyBelle with Dale Evans beside him.
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“For sale is this original and vintage slide, Roy Rogers in Nelly Belle Willys Jeep in early 1950’s
The first number in the listing title is the year the slide is from.
Slide Brand: red border Kodachrome from the early 1950’s”
1960s Lockeed Mavericks 4WD Club Sticker on eBay
This is an original 8″ diameter sticker from the Lockeed Employees Recreation Club (LERC), located in Burbank, California. I don’t know how many jeep clubs were formed out of Lockeed, but there were several Seattle area jeep clubs with members from Boeing (the Wandering Willys Jeep Club was one).
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“ONE 8” VINTAGE “MAVERICKS” 4WD CLUB VEHICLE
STICKER – LOCKHEED, BURBANK, CA – Circa 1968
★ 52 Year Old Never-Used Ephemera ~ Outdoor Sticker for Vehicle Front Quarter Panel ★
• Very, very rare collectible Lockheed, Burbank, CA ephemera! In fact, this is probably the only one left in the world!
• One (1) VINTAGE ORIGINAL “MAVERICKS” FOUR WHEEL DRIVE CLUB 8″ VEHICLE EMBLEM STICKER from the Lockheed Employees’ Recreational Club (L.E.R.C.) in Burbank, CA circa 1968. Never used. Still has it’s original kraft paper backing (for peel-&-stick) in very nice condition.
Age:
About 52 Years Old (although it has never been used, the adhesive is not guaranteed due to item’s age).
Original Use:
Typically these were placed on the 4WD vehicle’s front quarter panel to identify club membership.
L.E.R.C. = “Lockheed Employees’ Recreational Club” originally on Empire Road, Burbank, CA in the 1970’s.
Size:
About 8″ in diameter (see photo with measuring tape).
Note:
The ink on this decal is very heavy, almost with a brush texture (see photo #11), to be robust for outdoor use back in the day.
Details:
Has been stored in a file cabinet for about 40 years.
This is the ONLY one on eBay.
Very rare collectible Lockheed, Burbank, CA ephemera!
• Quote from the January 1968 Mavericks BULLHORN newsletter, the description of a four wheel drive club —”A bunch of damn fools driving out across the desert in a wide variety of corrupted vehicles looking for a place they can’t go so they can.” From back in the days when Joe Mokracek & Doug Carter were club presidents.
Spokane’s Sandifur Motors Willys Distributor
UPDATE: Additional content has been added about Sandifur Motors.
Originally established in 1937, the Sandifur Motor Company out of Spokane, Washington, was operated by Charles and C. Paul Sandifur. Brothers and business partners, by 1938 the two men were involved in taxi cabs, used cars, life Insurance, and other business pursuits in the Spokane region.
The Sandifurs became a Willys distributor in the autumn of 1945 soon after the launch of the CJ-2A. An ad in the October 21, 1945, issue of the Spokesman Review confirms this.
As best as I understand it, being a distributor meant Sandifur Motors could both sell jeeps and signup other dealers.
The company seems to have followed the standard line of advertising, as this 1947 farming ad shows:
As we’ll see in a moment, Sandifur was successful at selling jeeps, but I can’t imagine CJ-2A was very practical for farming in the Spokane region, in part due to the size of the farms. For example, my maternal grandparents obtained a 160 acre farm 35 miles southeast of Spokane on the small banks of Fighting Creek, Idaho, a place they won in a lottery around 1910, then secured by homesteading. In the 1920s they founded the local Fighting Creek store and operated one of the first phones in the area (we still have some of the books that documented the calls). They also made money logging the local forest and, after WWII, electrifying the area. Had they thought a jeep was practical, I believe they could have afforded to purchase one. Instead, they preferred to use tractors.
My family’s decision to abstain from buying a jeep did little to slow the success of Sandifur Motors. It’s possible the company was doing better selling wagons and trucks versus CJ-2As. I could imagine four wheel drive versions of the trucks and wagons being very handy navigating the endless forests and deserts of the Inland Empire area. This may also explain why both long-wheel base CJ-2As (likely the CJ-2Ls) and CJ-2As with 6ft extended beds were available for sale from both Spokane and Montana dealers (more on this in an upcoming post).
Here’s a 1949 ad promoting the wagon:
Whatever the company was selling, it was selling enough of them to justify new digs. In early 1951, the Willys dealer moved from its original location at W419 3rd Avenue, to W228 2nd Avenue in downtown Spokane: