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Tagging A Jeep

April 7, 2020 • CATEGORIES: Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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Chattanooga Times reporter Marion Coleman wrote a piece on jeep tagging in July of 1943, which was then syndicated to at least one newspaper, appearing in the Key West Citizen on July 20, 1943, under the title “Tagging a Jeep”. The problem is that the scan is horrible. Moreover, I can’t find any other copy of the article nor are the Chattanooga News-Free Press archives online, which is where I suspect it was also published.

The reason I found the article interesting is that she underscores the primary purpose of naming (or tagging) a jeep wasn’t for sentimental/inspirational reasons. Instead, it was so drivers could identify their individual jeeps. Given drivers were responsible for their jeeps, creatively marking their jeeps was one way of safe-guarding them. Of course, snagging the distributor when parked was another way to help keep it from being stolen.

I suspect the only way to get a good copy of the article is to visit the local library in either state, which likely won’t be happening anytime soon!

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Terrible online scan from the July 20, 1943, issue of the Key West Citizen.

 

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1949 Meyer Snow Plow Brochure

April 7, 2020 • CATEGORIES: Advertising & Brochures, Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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This early Meyer snow plow brochure sold on eBay. I was busy buying a few other things yesterday, so decided to let this one go. If someone out there purchased it, feel free to send me some lo res scans (d @ dealers.com) that I can share with folks.

1949-form-4WD-489-meyer-snow-plow-brochure-1 1949-form-4WD-489-meyer-snow-plow-brochure-2

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Mechanix Illustrated Magazine: Jiving up the Jeep, Articles 1-4

April 4, 2020 • CATEGORIES: Features, Magazine, Old News Articles • TAGS: . This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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UPDATE: Steve obtained copies of article #2, so now this list is complete!

Nine years ago there was a post about “Jivin up the Jeep”, which referenced a series of articles in Mechanix Illustrated Magazine. At that time, I could only locate articles #3 and #4. Steve Zamell just shared the earliest of the four with me (Thanks!). And, I found a poor image of article #2 So, below you’ll find information about all four articles.

According to the information on this Modern Mechanic Post, the October and November 1946 issues of Modern Mechanic magazine each included an article titled “Jivin up the Jeep” that shares various modifications. Those articles were a big hit across the US, as readers from all over sent in follow up suggestions and ideas. That led to an additional two articles, one in April of 1947 and one in November of 1947. I’ve shown the pictorial portions of the articles below. There’s additional content on the 1947 links.

From October 1946 Part I – A few Jeep ideas:
 1946-10-mechanix-ill-jivin-up-jeep-pt1-lores

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From November 1946 Part II – I just bought a cheap issue of this magazine. I’ll update these poor pics found on a current  eBay ad once I receive my copy of the magazine. Looks like this article covers the creation of a custom hardtop:

1946-11-mechanix-illustrating-jivin-jeep1-lores 1946-11-mechanix-illustrating-jivin-jeep2-lores

From April 1947: Custom Tops

Continue reading →

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Kemco Hardtop Brochure

April 3, 2020 • CATEGORIES: Advertising & Brochures, Features • TAGS: . This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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A big thanks to Ted Jordan for making and sharing these scans. When Hubart A. Kelly initially purchased the D. L. Beck Manufacturing Company, which produced CJ-2A hardtops, initially the cab company was called Kemco. At the time Beck was still a working partner at the company. This rare four-page brochure was produced at that time. Not too much later, Kemco was officially became the Kelly Manufacturing Company and Kemco disappeared.

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These are the interior two pages.

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This is the Dealer’s Confidential Price list:

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And here is what the rest of us would likely have paid:Kemco-brochure4-lores

 

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Spring Reunion Rescheduled for June 19-20, 2020

April 3, 2020 • CATEGORIES: Event, Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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Bob Christy has announced that the Spring Reunion has been pushed back to June 19-20. Depending on how COVID-19 events unfold, there may be further alterations or even outright cancellation of the event. So, stay tuned!

http://www.willysreunion.com/swr20.htm

“Due to the current COVID-19 Restrictions…

The Spring Reunion is now Re-Scheduled to June 19-20, 2020

I spoke with the hotel and they are working with minimal staff under the current restrictions put in place by the State of Ohio.

The person I spoke to (Frank) was going to move all of the room reservations to the new dates. If you cannot make it to the show on the new dates and need to cancel your room there will be no penalty.

If you have already registered for the show, your registration is still valid, so you need to do nothing.

As of right now, the show will go on as planned, however, state restrictions in place at the time of the show may force us to make decisions on:

Dinner
Guest Speaker
T shirts
outright cancellation

It’s our sincere hope that by June everything will be back to normal and we can hold the show as planned, but of course like everyone else, we will not know that for many more weeks.

On Behalf of everyone that helps to run this show, including Art, Mindy, Jpet, Scott, Kevin, Bill, and myself we wish all of you health and happiness during this time and we hope to see you all soon.

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