UPDATE: Here’s the scanned version of this January 1961 military vehicles brochure, It highlights the M-38A1 and M-170.

This brochure came from eBay. I’m guessing it was published sometime in 1956, given it describes both the DJ-3A and the CJ-6 as new models. The brochure folds out horizontally.

UPDATE IV: Branden found this 1945 Parts List booklet that includes a prominent “J” logo. This is the most prominent use of the logo that I’ve seen. It’s not clear to me whether this booklet was introduced with the jeep in August of ’45 or a little later in ’45.

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UPDATE III (04/07/2019): Maury spotted the a “J” dealership sign example on this Miller Tools brochure:

UPDATE II: I’ve added two examples of ‘dark’ “J”s, dark (blue or black) background with white letters. Now that I think about it, I guess this is similar to the black and white newspaper versions.

CREDIT: Douglass, Neal. Harry Payne Motors, photograph, June 3, 1942; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth34338/m1/1/: accessed April 7, 2019), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Austin History Center, Austin Public Library. … MY NOTES: The photo year is more likely late 1947 or 1948.

From Willys World March-April 1991 issue.

UPDATE: This is best described as a working draft that Maury Hurt and I have constructed in the hopes of understanding Willys-Overland’s “J” logo better …. If you have input, please email me or add it in a comment at the bottom of the post.

In January of this year, Maury emailed me about a Willys/Cars•Trucks/Jeep logo that he was hoping to reproduce, wondering if I had any better examples of it. That simple email turned into a mission: Find out the history behind the logo.

I have one of these patches. Not sure who created them or when.

It turned out that we could find no articles or discussion about the evolution of the logo. So, we spent a month looking through old brochures and advertisements to develop a theory of what it should look like, when it was used, and why.

What’s the logo supposed to look like?

Our first challenge was to determine what the logo was supposed to look like. As these examples show, different fonts and slightly different looks were used in the printing of the logo.

Another patch example.

This was from a January 1946 magazine ad.

or even this one …

Our suspicion is that this is from overseas, possibly Australia? We don’t have a time frame on this one.

And, the list would not be complete without some matchbook covers:

How should the “J” look?

Continue reading →

This no reserve brochure is only $.99 (plus shipping) right now. It’s a good price on a nice brochure that folds out pretty large.

View all the information on ebay

“1954 Willy’s Jeep Station Wagon Original Sales Brochure. Condition is Used. Great condition! Shipped with USPS First Class Package.”

This ad by the American Thermos Bottle Company was published in the May 22, 1943, issue of the Saturday Evening Post. I believe the takeaway from this ad is, If Thermos products are good enough for workers building jeeps, than they are good enough for the average American. However, there seems to be a lack of evidence that Willys and Ford employees were using Thermos products.

Anyone ever run across one of these cranes. It was manufactured by the Construction Machinery Company out of Waterloo, Iowa.

Blaine shared these two ads from the February 1966 issue of Popular Science. The jeep ad appears on page 71 and the engine adapter ad was published on page 227.

In a column titled Underwater Puzzle: A  Post War Anecdote, an article shares the story (true?) about a lost jeep. This appeared in the December 1, 1944, issue of the Saturday Evening Post.