In the miscellaneous-facts-that-probably-weren’t-accurate-at-all …. According to the July 05, 1944, issue of the Conneautville Courier (Conneautville, Pennsylvania), the standard jeep weighed 2,368lbs, while the crates used to box jeeps weighted 784lbs. I wonder how many jeeps and how many crates actually weight those amounts?
Old News Articles Research Archives
1949 Article Introduces the 4WD Wagon
This September 17, 1949, article in the Green Bay Press-Gazette states that the four-wheel-drive wagon evolved out of a military special order for four-wheel-drive-wagons. I’ve run across that fact previously, maybe on a brochure?
Winter Park Villager: A DJ-3A Surrey Pulling a Matching Trailer
UPDATE: The two post cards at the bottom of this post were on eBay several years ago. I recently came across some newspaper clippings that give background about the Winter Park Villager tram’s purpose. The service began November 28, 1966, but I could not find an end-date.
This first article discusses the jeep tram’s beginnings:
This next article notes that Monday, November 28th, as the launch date for the jeep tram service.
This short article from March of 1967 describes some of the tram’s stops:
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This Winter Park Villager shows a DJ-3A Surrey pulling a matching trailer in Winter Park, Florida. One of these postcards is currently on eBay.
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Here’s another view of the same combo. One of these postcards is currently on eBay
1942 Jeep Day in Mansfield, Ohio, Raises Big Bucks
The June 13, 1942, issue of the News-Journal out of Mansfield, Ohio, happily reported on the unexpected amount of bond sales at the city’s previous day’s “Jeep Day”. The committee had hoped to sell $10,000 worth of bonds, but topped $25,000 instead. I’m sure it was all due to the jeeps!
1953 Exploration of Manuelito Canyon, New Mexico
Gallup’s local Willys dealer organized a trip to Manuelito Canyon, according to an article int he October 14, 1953, issues of the Albuquerque Journal. Some local Gallup area residents had hoped at the time that the canyon would become a national park. Instead, in 1964, it was named a National Historic District. There is (was?) a visitor’s center, but it is temporarily closed (and was so as of January of 2020, which predated the pandemic).
I like this photo with the line up of wagons. I’d love to find the original or reprint of this.
1944 Article on “WAC Jeep Day” in Fort Worth, Texas
This May 18, 1944, article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram describes the upcoming “WAC Jeep Day”. The Fort Worth recruiting team would offer free jeep rides to those women who fit the WAC’s specifications. I’m guessing the women had to be “U.S. citizens between the ages of 21 and 45 with no dependents, be at least five feet tall, and weigh 100 pounds or more.”
1946 ‘Come in and Drive a Jeep’ Ad
Instead of qualifying for the WACs, it might have been easier to wait two years and drive a jeep with no strings attached! This ad published in the May 29, 1946, issue of the Knoxville News for the Sam Horne Company shows a woman test driving a jeep.
1973 Article on PNW4WDA Clubs and Jeepers
This July 28, 1973, article in the Longview Daily News shares information on the rising number of jeep clubs in the Longview area. I figured the text would be easier to read if I posted it separately at bottom. The CJ-5 on the upper left is running the recently introduced Desert Dogs.
1946 Photo of Louisiana’s Forestry Jeep
This June 29, 1946, photo in the Daily Advertiser shows off an early MB conversion into a Louisiana Forestry Jeep. Developed by the Louisiana Foresty Commission, the state purchased five of these rigs.
The Weekly Town Talk out of Alexandria, Louisiana, also ran the photo on the same day, but with a different caption:
1943 Article on FDR and Jeeps
This article shows FDR in jeeps. It was published in the Minneapolis Star Tribune February 02, 1943.
1944 Article Says the Big Three Automakers Are Tepid on the Post War Jeep
The April 27, 1944, article in the Star Tribune out of Minneapolis argues that Ford, GM, and Chrysler did not believe the post-war jeep would be as successful as hoped, due to (1) the hard suspension and (2) a lack of appeal to the “woman of the family”. It seems they were right to be wary from a family perspective, but the big three didn’t foresee the wagons, which attempted to address both of these issues.
1946 Jeep Trip From Hawaii to the Midwest
This photo captures three friends traveling from Hawaii to the midwest via Minnesota. Akira Tanaka, sitting in the driver’s seat, helped establish the military intelligence company that was part of Camp Savage in Minnesota.This was published in the September 16, 1946, issue of The Minneapolis Star.
I tried to learn more about these three, but didn’t have much luck. There was an Akira Tanaka that went to work for General Motors and built himself a home that was featured in a 1955 article in the Detroit Press. So, it’s possible that he graduated from College in Michigan, then went to work for GM. If that’s the case, he developed several automotive patents for the company.
1944 January Drive in a Ford GP
The January 30, 1944, Sunday issue of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune made John Henkels and his son front page news for the purchase of their 1941 Ford GP from Wilensky’s auto parts. What a cold drive back to Fulda, Minnesota, that must have been!
1944 Article on the Burma Jeep Trains
The article shares information on why the GI’s had to use jeeps on the tracks and the dangers they faced. The photo is from a later newspaper.
From the Tucson Daily Citizen, October 23, 1944:
March 1943, Ford Announces it Will Begin Ford GPA (SEEP) Production
A variety of newspapers announced on March 09, 1943, that Ford would being producing Ford GPA (SEEPS) at its production plant in Detroit.
February 1945 Ireland Denies Jeep Trademark
On February 11, 1945, the Pittsburgh Press shared the news that Ireland had ruled that the word Jeep could not be trademarked there. There were two reasons for that decision: 1) the word had not been stamped on the vehicle(s) and 2) the term ‘Jeep’ had fallen into public domain as a result of usage.
Both concerns seem valid. Even today, there’s confusion around the brand in terms of Willys vs. Jeep. However, one could argue that both issues were the result of Willys-Overland’s effort to win a war, thus the company sacrificed normal naming (in terms of vehicle models), advertising, and trademarking issues. So, why should they be penalized?
1949 Trip Down Africa in a Jeep
On December 06, 1949, New York Artist and former Gallery owner Elenore Lust drove her WWII jeep into Capetown, completing a 13,000 mile trek from France to South Africa. Their trek took them across ten countries. During one long stretch in the Sahara Desert she and her husband Paul Koston, who didn’t know how to drive, had to spread wire mesh on the sand, drive atop it, then roll it up, move it to the front of the jeep, then drive forward again, a process they repeated many times.
Unfortunately, I could not locate a photo of her and her jeep, but I was able to find a photo and an obit, which shared that after teaching art in South Africa, she returned to the US and began teaching art in Pennsylvania up until her death.
This article from the December 07, 1949, issue of New York’s Daily News provides some details about the trip.
Here’s the only photo of Elenore I could find. It was printed in the June 08, 1988, issue of the Philadelphia Inquirer:
Her obituary was published in the April 24, 1997, issue of the Philadelphia Inquirer:
1953 Photo of Working Model Jeepster
The Tribune newspaper out of Coshocton, Ohio, shared this photo and caption on the May 24, 1953. It shows three-year-old Terry Schley driving a model Jeepster his father built for him. It includes a feature that auto braked when the foot is lifted from the accelerator.
1950 Photo of Roy Fisher’s Willys “Jeep” Dealership
This 1950 photo from the Gateway to Oklahoma History archives shows Roy Fisher’s jeep dealership. His dealership was active between 1946 and 1950 in Oklahoma City, OK. It was sold about the time this May 1950 photo was taken. Note the CJ-2A Fire Jeep in the second story window. The vintage Willys sign with the drop “J” logo is cool as well.
Here are a few ads from the Roy Fisher Willys ‘Jeep’ dealer era.
Here is the sale announcement from the May 25, 1950, issue of the Miami News-Record out of Miami, Oklahoma:
1945 Article on Los Angeles County Jeep Patrols
The December 19, 1945, issue of the Los Angeles Times noted that the county sheriff’s department hired 85 deputies and purchased 25 jeeps to tackle a jump in criminal activity in the unincorporated parts of Los Angeles County. This may have been the largest and earliest attempt to employ jeeps by law enforcement in the US (Outside of the military of course).
1955 Article About California Jeep Trip That Turned Bad
This story about a jeep trip that turned deadly was repeated across the country. I tried to find “Amazon Canyon”, which is supposed to be east of TwentyNine Palms, but couldn’t locate it.
This version of the article appeared in the June 27, 1955, issue of the Lincoln Journal Star (Lincoln, Nebraska).
More on the Jeep vs. Peep Debate
This January 15, 1942, article in the Amarillo Globe-Times highlights the continued debate concerning the jeep vs. the peep.
1949 Ad from Dealer M. O. Trindel
This ad March 05, 1949, ad in the Beatrice times (Beatrice, Nebraska) from M. O. Trindel, and authorized Jeep Sales and Service provider underscores his enthusiasm for the Willys 1949 line-up of vehicles. His argument that Willys-Overland’s lack of innovation (models didn’t change yearly) was a competitive differentiator that I hadn’t considered, but this meant there was much internal innovation. I would argue that instead of Willys-Overland and Willys Motors innovating internally, they left the innovations to the special equipment folks, from tops and hubs to winches and other pto equipment.
1941 Article on the ‘Jeep’ Army Car
The jeep has four speeds forward? This article appeared in the Abilene Reporter-News out of Texas on March 02, 1941.
1941 Article Jeep and Dust Clouds
This June 18, 1941, article in the Los Angeles Times discusses how a “trapped jeep” uses a dust cloud to a escape the ‘enemy’.