Old Images Research Archives

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Kid’s Jeep in Old Photo

• CATEGORIES: Features, Old Images This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

Blaine shared this photo that includes this toy jeep. It was included in a thread on pedal cars, but I can’t tell if this is pedal or foot driven. There is no date on the photo.

https://www.autopuzzles.com/forum/featured-imagery/vintage-pedal-cars-your-posts-are-wanted!/

pedal-jeep

 
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Pics from Facebook

• CATEGORIES: Bantam-FordGP-WillysMA-EarlyJPs, Features, Old Images • TAGS: , This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

I don’t think I’ve shared this specific jeep-trailer photo. It was posted by Morihisa Ochi on the G503 Facebook page. He’s posted a number of interesting WWII-jeep photos.

jeep-trailer-conversion-wwii

Here’s another interesting photo from Morihisa Ochi. It shows a Ford GP that’s been converted into more of a truck and a radio jeep.

radio-jeep-phillipines

No date on this photo posted by the Maine Forest Rangers on Facebook:

maine-forest-fire-jeep

This customized jeep was on g503, posted by Graham Thrussell.

custom-jeep-g503-fb

Roger Martin pointed me to this jeep with a modified hardtop sitting on the back:

jeep-sedan-hardtop-fb

Roger also pointed me to this unusual tracked mb:

jeep-tracks-fb

Mario Maipid posted this May 09, 1943, article to Facebook. It indicates the FTC gave credit to Bantam for creating the jeep.

1943-05-09-ny-times

 

 
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Late 1940s? Photo of Jeeps & Men Welcoming W-O People on eBay

• CATEGORIES: Features, Old Images This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

This old photo shows a series of early wagons lined up, along with a committee of men, to welcome the Willys Overland Motors Service School to Seattle. That might be Boeing field?

View all the information on eBay

“1950’S WILLY’S JEEP DEALERSHIP SERVICE MEN SCHOOL SEATTLE PRESS PHOTO ORIGINAL. THIS IS AN ORIGINAL PHOTO. NOT A COPY.  MEASURE 8 X 10 INCHES. ”

1940s-willys-overland-seattle-photo

 

 
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Wild Man Willis Ray Willey

• CATEGORIES: Features, Old Images This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

UPDATE II: This post was originally posted in January of 2011 (yes, hard to believe it was eleven years ago!). The post covers some of the history about Willis Ray Willey, which is a pretty cool name for a site about vintage jeeps. Who else had a name that includes both “Willis” and “Willey”? Anyway, this post is full of some great and useful comments. It’s taken on a life of its own.

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UPDATE: Thanks to Mike for sorting out Willis’ real name. He was Willis Ray Willey, while his twin was Willard Roy Willey.

It might not surprise you that my interest in history has led me to become the family historian.  As a part of my self-assumed title, I make it a point to look through the family albums and scan images whenever I’m visiting.  This morning while looking through my grandmother’s album, which contains images from Fighting Creek, Idaho, the place her parents homesteaded in 1911 (they actually won a land lottery), I stumbled upon the unusual photograph of a man in an early motorcar that I show below.  I called mom over and asked her if she recognized anyone in the photo, as I didn’t.  She said she didn’t either.

About mid-day I was talking to my aunt (mom’s sister) and briefly described the photo.  I described the guy as ‘wild looking’.  Well, my aunt said that there was once this guy with the name of Wild Willy or something that used to be a colorful character around the Spokane area.  I got curious about who this guy might be and why the unusually nice photo, for a photo taken in 1933, ended up in a family photo album.

So, I powered up Google’s image search feature and input a variety of search strings until I spotted a picture of a guy who looked like the guy sitting in the car.  The story accompanying the photo said his name was Willis Ray Willey and, while he didn’t have a jeep,  he had quite the unusual, adventurous story.  So, I thought I’d share a brief summary of it.

To read more about Willey, visit this article from Nostalgia Magazine. Willey reminds me of the Camel Man, who Hein ran into a few months ago in Australia.

In the picture above, we appear to have Willis Ray Willey in his 1904 REO, the first year that the Ranson E. Olds Automobile Company built a car.  This photo was taken in 1933 (note the ’33 on the license plate).  The photo is taken with the Monroe Street bridge and the Spokane Falls in the background.  Willey planned to drive this car from Spokane to the 1933/1934 World Fair in Chicago.

You’ll note that Willey is only wearing shorts.  It turns out that Willey was a sickly youngster.  After examining him, a doctor suggested that he improve his constitution by exposing himself to the elements.  So, over time, he reduced the clothes he wore, eventually only wearing shorts whether winter or summer.

Apparently, that did the trick, as he never got sick, at least not until he was on his trip to the Chicago World’s Fair.  See, it turned out that simply wearing shorts wasn’t very common practice and, in fact, wasn’t tolerated.  People complained when they saw him and police would arrest him, with many arrests occurring on his way to Chicago.  According to Nostalgia Magazine, he did make it to Chicago, where he was arrested again. However, this time they cut off his hair and beard and he promptly got sick and remained sick for 3 months.

Now in the photo above, you’ll note that along the side of the seat it reads “Postcards 3 for 25 cents”.  One of the ways Willey made money was by selling postcards of himself; I guess he recognized just how much of an oddity he was.

If you look below, you can see two of the postcards he sold.  One is of him on Treasure Island in San Francisco, with a dog, a coyote, a turtle and multiple possums (click on photo and scroll down to see closeups).  The other is of him ice skating at LIberty Lake (thanks Jerry).

Yes, quite the character indeed!

 
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Jim’s USS Essex Photos With Jeeps

• CATEGORIES: Features, Old Images This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

Jim sent me the following pics ….

“I was recently entrusted with a collection of photos that were taken by Chief Photographer’s Mate Paul Madden while onboard the USS Essex during WW2. The pics of Madden are for a little background. The first pic is of him, the second is of him after returning from an air mission where he was wounded (shrapnel in the head)”

paul-madden-pics1-lores

paul-madden-pics2-lores

“The third pic is what happened to the Jap Zero that wounded him. The fourth is the Purple Heart he got for that wound.”

Jap diving on Essex missed.

Jap diving on Essex missed.

paul-madden-pics4-lores

“Below are some Jeep photos(attached) on board the Essex, which is the main reason for this post.”

Flight deck - Essex Jeep towing dive bomber

Flight deck – Essex
Jeep towing dive bomber

Continue reading

 
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1943 Photo of Jeep Pulling Avenger on Carrier

• CATEGORIES: Features, Old Images This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

The Press photo below appeared in at least one newspaper. On October 18, 1943, the Chillicothe Gazette (Ohio) published this pic and caption:

1943-10-18-chillicothe-gazette-jeep-pulling-plane

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Published April 9, 2021: Based on the bumper, I’d say this is a GPW. I had hoped to locate the photo in a newspaper, but had no luck.

“Vintage original 1943 press photo of Grumman TBF / TBM Avenger with Jeep on Wake Island, (approximately 20cm x 15cm), with “Keystone” press stamp & description to rear. OK condition, with wear.”

1943-12-17-seagoing-jeep-carrier1

1943-12-17-seagoing-jeep-carrier2

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This pic and caption came from a 12/2019 ebay auction:
Good photo of a stripped(?) jeep maneuvering a Hellcat aboard an aircraft carrier.

“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.”

1943-10-17-hellcat-jeep-carrier1

1943-10-17-hellcat-jeep-carrier2

 
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1943 Photo on Supply Route in Italy

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Looks like a slat grille.

View all the information on eBay

“1943 Press Photo American jeep passes workers on a supply route in Italy. This is an original press photo. Italy — An American jeep rolls along the broad supply route in an Italian wilderness that a short time ago was a mere mule-track. Skilled United States engineers literally carved out the road during the battle for Naples, using bulldozers, cranes and Italian laborers to rush through the job.Photo measures 9 x 7.25 inches. Photo is dated 10-12-1943.”

1943-10-12-italy-supply-route1

1943-10-12-italy-supply-route2

 
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Robert Max and The Long March Home

• CATEGORIES: Features, Old Images, videos This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

I don’t remember how I found this video (maybe from Facebook?), but it turned out to be a compelling one. Before his death in 2020, New Jersey resident Robert Max was the last known survivor of the Nazi WWII force laborers. A few years ago, he wrote a book about his experience, then narrated the following forty minute documentary video (playable for free on Vimeo). There’s a pretty interesting twist at the end, too.

Here is Robert Max in a jeep at Camp Atterberry in 1944:

Click on this image to go to the video page:

 

You can learn more here: https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/new-jersey/2021/11/26/nj-jewish-wwii-vet-subject-bob-max-long-march-home-documentary/8718280002/

 
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Photo of GPW out of Nagasaki

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Morihisa Ochi posted this photo on FB of a GPW in Nagasaki after the Atomic Bomb. The top is interesting. According to him, “GPW in Nagasaki, Occupied Japan 1945 After a big factory near Ground Zero was blown off by Atomic Bomb, USMC used this area as a rifle range.”

gpw-softop-japan-fb

 

 
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FC-Wrecker Photo on Facebook

• CATEGORIES: Features, Old Images • TAGS: This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

Mike shared this photo of an FC-150 wrecker in New Jersey that was posted to Facebook. Mike actually remembers seeing this same FC in New Jersey back in 1961.

fc-wrecker-nj

 
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1964 Slide of Willys Tow Truck on eBay

• CATEGORIES: Features, Old Images • TAGS: , This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

Steve shared this cool photo/slide of a mid 1950s Willys Truck operating for a Shell gas station in Forest Park, Illinois. The photo is dated June 21, 1964.

View all the information on eBay

willys-truck-towing-yellow-shell-photo

“RIGINAL COLOR PHOTO TRANSPARENCY (2″ x 2″ SLIDE) TAKEN 1964 WITH 1950’s WILLYS JEEP TOW/WRECKER TRUCK. TOWING 1958 PONTIAC. THE SHELL SERVICE STATION IN FOREST PARK, IL GAVE S&H GREEN STAMPS WITH PURCHASE.”

 
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1952 Photo of Corn to Dryer Plant

• CATEGORIES: Features, Old Images This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

Sam spotted this photo with an 1946-1947 CJ-2A (and other photos) at the Digital North Carolina archives. According to the description, the photo shows “Van and George Watson hauling seed corn to dryer plat at Watson Seed Farms INC. with World War II Surplus Willy’s Jeep. Watson Seed Farms had 2 jeeps.”

https://lib.digitalnc.org/record/8919#

1952-jeep-corn-to-dryer-plant

 
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1943 Photo and Article of Jeep Testing

• CATEGORIES: Features, Old Images, Old News Articles This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

This article and photo was published in the September 25th, 1943, issue of the Calgary Herald.

1943-09-25-calgary-herald-farm-jeep1 1943-09-25-calgary-herald-farm-jeep2

 
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1942 Photo of Jeep & Carless Tuesday on eBay

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Steve spotted this photo that included a Ford GPW. This photo and its accompanying article was picked up and published in newspapers across the country. Carless Tuesdays was an attempt in 1942 by Peoria to save rubber by encouraging folks with odd-numbered license plates to live their vehicles at home on Tuesdays.

View all the information on eBay

“7.5 x 9.25 in fair condition with average wear and tear of handling.
PEORIA, ILL., NOV. 24–‘CAR-LESS TUESDAY’ GETS TRIAL–Peoria’s so-called “Car-Less Tuesday” doesn’t worry Arthur Locker (left), who uses his children’s shetland pony and cart to drive downtown today with G.A. Louthan (right). Derby hats and lap robe give pre-auto era atmosphere. Jeep proves contrast in rubber-saving traffic experience to see if workers can get to jobs with many cars “at rest.” ”

1942-11-27-carless-tuesdays-photo-with-jeep1 1942-11-27-carless-tuesdays-photo-with-jeep2

Here’s one example of the photo and article in the November 25, 1942, issue of the Decatur Herald out of Decatur, Illinois.

1942-11-25-decatur-news-horse-buggy-jeep-carless-tuesday

 
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Throwback Four Corners Photo

• CATEGORIES: Features, Old Images This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

My son spotted this throwback photo posted on Utah’s DOT (aka UDOT) twitter page. It shows 9 jeeps parked in a circle around the Four Corners area of the southwest. He correctly noted that one of the vehicles was an FC (he’s learning, lol). There is no date associated with the image.

 
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S & B Corporation Panel Modification for Flatfenders

• CATEGORIES: Advertising & Brochures, Features, Old Images, Willys Wagons • TAGS: This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

UPDATE: Here’s a rare example of the S&B Corp’s All-Steel ‘Jeep’ Panel Body. This Buck & Sons Tractor & Implement Company MB/GPW had a cargo-wagon-like setup added to it. The company was out of Tacoma (where I lived for four years). 

extended-mb-cab-buck-and-sons-fb

This photo was posted to Flatfendering Aficionado Monthly’s FB page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/502884336980336/permalink/780325609236206

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Originally Posted April 6th, 2013: This rare brochure details a panel wagon modification for the CJ-2A. It was created and sold through the S & B Corporation.
s-b-corporation-panel-truck-from-cj2a-brochure1-loress-b-corporation-panel-truck-from-cj2a-brochure2-lores

 
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Extended Jeeps in India (?)

• CATEGORIES: Features, International, Old Images This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

This International Flatfender Facebook post from India(?) shows two extended jeeps. Both looks like interesting builds.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1641202336209808/permalink/2765258613804169/

extended-jeeps-india1 extended-jeeps-india2 extended-jeeps-india3 extended-jeeps-india4

 
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1967 Photo of a 1943 Ford GPA

• CATEGORIES: Features, Old Images This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

This photo of an unusual Ford GPA/jeep build has appeared in several places on Facebook, but appears to have been originally posted to the Forgotten Oregon Facebook Group. The photo was taken in Vernonia, Oregon, in 1967. The 1943 Ford GPA was modified by Brad Garner’s father. The shop next to The Jeep is the Vernonia Eagle newspaper office.

seep-mb-slat-unusual-mod-facebook

 
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1950 Photo of a Holden(?) Ambulance Jeep in Korea on eBay

• CATEGORIES: Features, Old Images This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

This 1950 photo shows what appears to be a Holden Ambulance used during the Korean War. Anyone know widely used (or not) these were during the Korean War?

View all the information on eBay

1950-08-20-south-korea-holden-ambulance

“1950 Press Photo Wounded Marines are loaded on an ambulance jeep, Naktong River. This is an original press photo. South Korea: Wounded US Marines are loaded aboard double decker ambulance jeeps for evacuation to a hospital after being wounded in the fighting on the Naktong River bulge.Photo measures 9 x 7inches. Photo is dated 08-24-1950.”

 
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1947 Photo of Dorothy Lamb in a CJ-2A on eBay

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The point of this photo was to get this point across: “People, return your milk bottles!” … newspaper reports of the time indicate there was a shortage of bottles throughout North America.

View all the information on eBay

“January 24th, 1947, Original Press Photo.
Mrs. Dorothy Lamb of Scarsdale, New York, goes to market in the modern manner, with a basketful of empty milk and beverage bottles. She is answering the plea for return of the 35 Million bottles that have gone “truant” in American homes. Every one must be returned to circulation if a shortage milk and beverages is to be avoided because raw-material shortages ins curtailing bottle production.”

1947-photo-dorothy-lamb-cj2a-milk-bottles

As you can see in this ad published the January 04, 1947, issue of the Bradford Era (Bradford, Pennsylvania), the shortage was serious and ‘dangerous’!
1947-01-04-bradford-era-milk-bottle-shortage

This article from The Province, dated January 16th, 1947, out of Vanouver, B.C., provides more information about the crisis:

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Photo of a CJ-2A Fire Jeep **SOLD**

• CATEGORIES: Features, Fire/Police/Industry Vehicles, Old Images This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

UPDATE: **SOLD** Was on eBay.

This black and white photo (free shipping) appears to show this CJ-2A fire jeep in a parade (based on the folks sitting in the background).

cj2a-fire-jeep-photo

 
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Year? Photo of Jeep/Trailer Build on eBay

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This photo is currently for sale on eBay. It shows a WWII jeep combined with a WWII trailer. Looks like it was a practical rig.

View all the information on eBay

jeep-trailer-bed-photo

“You are bidding on a Nice Vintage WWII US Army Late 1940s Willys-Overland Jeep Pickup Truck with Box Bed Photograph.
Very nice condition with light discoloration spots on back, from album mounting.

Great photo view showing WWII era U.S. Army late 1940s Willys-Overland Jeep pickup truck with box style bed.
Jeep hood shows # 37829

Measures 4″ x 2 5/8″.”

 
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1973 Slide of Las Brisas Surreys/Galas

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This 1973 slide that was on eBay is taken from behind two DJ-3A Galas/Surreys. In the background are some DJ-5 Galas/Surreys.

1973-las-brisas-slide-dj3as-dj5s-surreys

 
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Photo of 2 Early Wagons at a NC Drive-In Theatre

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Blaine shared this vintage photo. It’s undated, but the Jeep wagons are early enough that I would guess it’s a late 1940s or early 1950s photo? It was posted to the Our State website. The article is about early North Carolina drive-in culture.

willys-wagons-drive-in-theatre

The wagon on the right is obvious, but the one forward and to the left is kind of hidden.

 

 
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Photo of Jeeps on an Aircraft Carrier

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JR spotted this photo in an Air Force Commemorative Facebook Group.lt looks to me like the ship is shown near San Francisco.

jeeps-air-craft-carrier