Features Research Archives

To Top

Jeepster Pin on ebay

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

This is neat. No size dimensions provided.

View all the information on ebay

jeepster-pin

 
To Top

Smokey Bear Postcard on eBay

• CATEGORIES: Artists/Drawings, Features, Postcards This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

Cool postcard. Too bad the jeep isn’t more accurate. This is a tribute to artist Rudy Wendelin.

View all the information on eBay

“VINTAGE SMOKEY BEAR POSTCARD – TRIBUTE JEEP.”

smokey-bear-postcard1 smokey-bear-postcard2

 
To Top

1957 Photo of FC-150 w/ Louisville Health Dept Mosquito on eBay

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

Cool photo.

View all the information on eBay

“1957 Jeep FC Press Photo. City of Louisville. Transportation Division. Louisville & Jefferson County Health Department Mosquito Control Project.
Pages: 1
Details: W 10 x H 8 x D 0.1 Weight 1”

1957-louisville-health-deparment-fc150-photo

 
To Top

1943 photo of Jeep stuck in the Solomon Islands on eBay

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

UPDATE: A different version of this photo is up for auction.

View all the information on eBay
1943-11-15-bougianville-solomon-islands1

1943-11-15-bougianville-solomon-islands0 1943-11-15-bougianville-solomon-islands2

=======================

Original Post March 22, 2014: “1943- U.S. Marines pull jeep from mud on Bougainville, Solomon Islands.” This was on eBay.

one-stuck-jeep

one-stuck-jeep-solomon-islands2

 
To Top

Willys-Overland Saturday Evening Post Ads 1948-1949

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

These are all the ads I could find on Saturday Evening Posts published between January 1948 and December 1949. Again, it seems Willys-Overland’s advertising was an exercise in experimentation. Some notes:

  1. City-And-City Campaign: The first obvious item is that Willys-Overland ran its wagon city-and-city campaign in 1948, but did not run all the ads produced in the Saturday Evening Posts (as documented here). Collier’s Magazine also got a few as did Life Magazine.
  2. W-O Graphic: In a November 11, 1946 (see 1946-1947 ads here), ad Willys-Overland used script for Willys Overland Motors. In December 21, 1946, the script was accompanied by the graphical representation of Willys-Overland in the form of an yellow “O”, colored red on the inside, with a yellow “W” atop that design.
    1946-12-21-willys-script-wo-logo
    The scipt disappeared in January on 1947, leaving only the W-O logo. In February and March of 1947 the W-O logo was absent from ads, but then in April of 1947 it made a brief return, before disappearing again.
    1946-10-w-o-badge
    In Febrary of 1948, the W-O logo reappeared, this time with the ‘Jeep’ logo hovering above it. That combo was used through May of 1948.
    1948-02-07-jeep-wo-logo
    In June of 1948, the ‘Jeep’ was dropped in favor of just the W-O logo. By July, the W-O logo disappeared for 1948 and 1949.
  3. CJ-2A Barely Advertised: Trucks and wagons dominate the advertising. There’s only one ad in two years for the CJ-2A and none for the CJ-3A. One reason for this is that Willys-Overland expanded their advertising to other magazines. The Farming magazines (Farm Journal, Country Gentleman, and others) were more CJ-ad oriented.
  4. ‘Jeep’ Product Badge: Through 1948 and most of 1949 Willys-Overland was advertising ‘Jeep’ Trucks and ‘Jeep’ Station Wagons. However, in late 1949 the company began a switch to WILLYS ‘Jeep’ Station Wagons (see October 15, 1949 ad), then the ‘Jeep’ name was relegated in December 1949 to a small (new) badge, while WILLYS became the more prominent branding once again. Here’s how the badge looked.
    1950-jan-07-jeep-product-badge
    In January of 1950, the company shortened WILLYS ‘Jeep’ Station Wagons to Willys Station Wagons, dropping the ‘Jeep’ entirely.

    1950-01-07-sat-evening-post-station-wagon-pg86-650px

    January 07, 1950 Willys -Overland ad in the Sat Evening Post, page 86. Note the use of the ‘Jeep’ badge and the return of WILLYS as the primary brand.

  5. From ‘Jeep’ to WILLYS: After February 1950, Willys-Overland dropped the ‘Jeep’ badge and the ‘Jeep’ branding of the wagon as a ‘Jeep’. Instead, the company went full WILLYS branding, as seen in the September ad below. This seems incredibly strange, given the company had finally won the Trademark for JEEP that year  (June 13, 1950 Awarded JEEP registered trademark).
    1950-09-23-sat-evening-post-willys-makes-sense-pg57-650px

    September 23, 1950, Willys-Overland ad in the Sat evening Post, page 57. Note that ‘Jeep’ has disappeared completely from the advertising.

    Why did Willys-Overland drop ‘Jeep’? I have no idea. But, it’s no wonder the average person is/was confused about whether a wagon is a ‘Jeep’ wagon or a Willys wagon!

  6. In October of 1946, Willys-Overland introduced the phrase, “Makers of America’s Most Useful Vehicles” within its ads. That phrase would accompany ads into the 1950s. However, in December of 1949, Willys-Overland introduced a new phrase, “World’s Largest Maker of 4-Wheel-Drive Vehicles”. This phrase was only used once in 1949, but a variation of that phrase would eventually grace Willys-Overland ads (or Willys Motors) in the form of  “World’s largest manufacturer of 4-Wheel-Drive Vehicles”. I don’t have dates for when the former was dropped and the latter adopted … yet.

Below are the 1948-1949 ads from the Saturday Evening Journal:
1948-1949-sat-evening-post-images-flat-650px

 
To Top

Army Story Includes a General and Bob Hope

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

This story appeared in the August 12, 1950, issue of the Saturday Evening Post, page 56. It highlights the challenges of being an Army jeep driver.

1950-08-12-sat-eve-post-perfect-squelch-bob-hope-story-pg56

 
To Top

1943 Bantam BRC-40 Postcard on eBay

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

UPDATE: Another of these postcards is now on eBay.

View all the information on eBay

“U. S. Army Signal Corps. Jeep Soldiers Out For Refreshments.”

1943-bantam-brc-40-refreshments-postcard1 1943-bantam-brc-40-refreshments-postcard2

Original Post February 20, 2014:

“You are bidding on a vintage 1943 photo postcard of a Jeep, soldiers and a lady. The card reads, Photo by U S Army Signal Corps. The card is postmarked Camp Pickett, VA 1943. The card is in very good condition.”

1943-bantam-postcard1

Continue reading

 
To Top

Break-in Instructions for a 1961 Wagon

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

Frank shared this pic of instructions that accompanied his 1961 wagon.

He wrote, “Thought you might find this interesting. It is the sleeve that came on the visor of my 61 Wagon. When I bought it it had 32,000 miles and now 42,000. The jack was wrapped in a newspaper dated 1961.”

Willys-Wagon-break-in-procedures-frank

 
To Top

1944 Photo of Eisenhower in France **SOLD**

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

UPDATE: **SOLD** Was on eBay.

This photo appears to have been published as part of Eisenhower’s 1948 book “Crusade in Europe”.

“Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower in a jeep at front line positions in France in September, 1944 . . . Get. Eisenhower’s own book of the war, “Crusade in Europe,” to be published Nov. 22, will be a treat to military men in studying the strategy of the war and its campaigns, but perhaps the most interesting part of it to the layman is his inside estimate of the war leaders. . .”

1944-09-france-eisenhower1 1944-09-france-eisenhower2

 
To Top

Willys Special Service Tools Brochure

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

This Essential Special Service Tools brochure by the Miller Manufacturing Company appears to have been first published in late 1945 or early 1946 (I’m assuming this based on the Willys-Cars-Trucks-J sign on the cover). It was then updated with this second edition in December of 1948.

These aren’t best scans, so I’ve had to do repairs in Photoshop. I’ve actually had this digital brochure scan for several years, but finally had a chance to assembled the scans yesterday, after Maury noted that this has the Willys sign, which would make it the latest document we’ve found with the Willys-Cars-Trucks-J sign on it. There’s a companion brochure for Trucks in the post below.

willys-miller-tools-hires-cover-lores

willys-miller-tools-hires-backpage-lores

willys-miller-tools-hires-back-partly-open-lores-650px

willys-miller-tools-full-page-lores-650px