UPDATE: The early version of this brochure (form SD-203-4) can be found here.
This form W-203-5 was part of the 1954 family of brochures.
UPDATE: The early version of this brochure (form SD-203-4) can be found here.
This form W-203-5 was part of the 1954 family of brochures.
This 24 page brochure, W-1772, is a little large for my scanner, so I’d put off scanning it. A few days ago I was investigating various large format scanning strategies (bigger than 12″x9″). Below is a test of some free IOS software from Evernote. It’s not perfect, but it sure was quick and I could see using this software when going over old documents at a library, stuff where time is more important than performance.
I might also try one of those new overhead. portable book scanners, though some of these require your computer to provide Admin access, which is a little suspicious (especially since a couple users noted that the unit was causing communications to occur to China).
Anyway, once I get a large format scanner, I’ll get some better scans of this one.
Not in perfect shape, but a reasonable price.
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/799775637112471/
“Rare hard to find mailer newspaper to advertise the first CJ.”
INTEGRATING KAISER MOTORS WITH WILLYS MOTORS:
As mentioned in the 1955 testimony by Edgar Kaiser, initially when Kaiser purchased the Willys-Overlands assets, Kaiser Industries operated it as a separate automotive company called Willys Motors, an entity distinct from the other automotive company Kaiser Motors. Part of the reason for this was that both organizations had separate plants, Kaiser in Michigan (at Willow Run) and Willys in Toledo, and separate sales and distribution systems.
Step one of the integration was to blend the sales and marketing teams of Kaiser and Willys. Later, in early 1954, the Willow plant was shut down and manufacturing was moved to Toledo. By early 1955, most of the integration of Kaiser Motors into Willys Motors had been complete (I don’t know if Kaiser motors existed after that).
As a part of the integration strategy, and perhaps to bring cars, jeeps and truck under one umbrella logo, the marketing team introduced the Kaiser Willys name and the KW logo. These appear on a variety of brochures and documents from 1954, but pretty much disappear by early 1955. Here’s an example of the sales and dealers’ newspaper, the Kaiser Willys News. It features both the logo and the dual name:
But by early 1955, this KW and Kaiser disappears, replaced by just Willys and the W logo:
Maury found this good example of Kaiser Willys coupled with the KW on a service manual. It also labels the sales division as the Kaiser Willys Sales Division.
In terms of brochures, here’s an early 1954 version of a CJ-3B brochure with the KW:
Here are the later 1954 versions of this same brochure, with the one on the left intended for the Willys-Overland Export Company, while the one on the right was marketed by the Willys Motors, Inc. Gone is KW and Kaiser Willys, though Willys and the W-O logo reappear on the Export brochure:
Here’s another somewhat common brochure that I hadn’t dated until yesterday. That’s because it didn’t register with me that this brochure has both a KW logo and a KW-form number (KW-1706). It’s the Farm Power Brochure that extolled the virtues of four wheel drive and it’s practicality on the farm. I’ll just show the first and last images here. The full brochure can be seen in the post below.
There are quite a few examples of the KW and Kaiser Willys logos on documents. However, by 1955, those logos were mostly removed in favor of ‘Jeep’ and Willys.
Tomorrow, we’ll visit the initial attempts to harmonize sales brochures across models.
UPDATE: Here’s another version of the 24-page “A Report on The Universal Jeep in Conservation” available on eBay. You can view all the pages of the report here. It’s priced at $29.95.
(This is an extension of the hubcap post above, but also covers how the angular W was used in other ways)
In 1952, Willys-Overland introduced the Aero line of cars. They sported a new hubcap that featured only the W, along with a W on the front of the car and Willys script along the side.
The hubcap would be used throughout the Aero car line for the next four years.
The 1952 Mechanic’s Manual below shows how the W logo was used on covers.
This page is from a 1952 owner’s manual; it demonstrates that the Willys-Overland Export Company had already been formed by 1952, so it was a pre-Kaiser creation.
Here’s a good shot of the angular W on the grille on they 1952 Aero Ace. Note the Willys script logo along the passenger side fender.
In 1954, I’m sure just to make my life documenting hubcap history more difficult, Willys introduced a new hubcap with a circle around the W on the Willys Aero Ace. What other models may have sported this hubcap I couldn’t say:
Also, in 1954, Willys offered a dual concentric circle hubcap, a design used later on the Surreys (Galas) starting in 1959. However, these were all red. The one below looks like it could have been an aero cap:
In 1955, Willys Motors introduced the Willys Bermuda, which sported a brand new hubcap design:
The Aero cars were discontinued in 1955, with some (or all) tooling eventually shipped to Brazil. The angular W logo would mostly disappear after 1955, but a few ripples remained. For example, the plain W re-appeared on the DJ-3A hub caps starting in 1956,
Sometime after 1959, with the introduction of the DJ-3A Surreys (and Gala’s for export), Willys re-introduced the concentric circle W hubcap design:
I doubt that this is a complete list of Willys-related hubcaps or of the angular W, so I welcome corrections for those that know more about this than I do!
This 32-page snow plow manual includes a variety of jeep-related photos.
View all the information on eBay
“Here I have an Excellent Condition 32-Page Brochure
MEYER SNOW PLOWS SNOW PLOWING MANUAL
Measures about 8 ½ x 5 ½ inches
Near Mint condition except it has 2 holes punched to fit in a ring notebook
Has some great photos inside of 1950s vehicles
including several Willys Jeeps”
UPDATE: This post from 2013 originally consisted of a brochure from eBay, but for this update I’ve added some additional brochures and Tom’s video showing how he uses the Blackhawk snow plow in Northern Wisconsin. The Arps Corportation manufactured these plows out of New Holstein, Wisconsin. Near the end of the video he shows how he mounts the plow and manual adjusts the angle using a chain.
Prices as of 1948:
Other material:
Unfortunately, this got wet. Starting bid is $149.99. Or you can have two different binders for $300 off of Facebook (again, both water damaged) (Located at Front Royal, VA).
View all the information on ebay
“Jeep Specialized Vehicles & Equipment Catalog 1950s Binder Ambulance Fire Engine. Was wet at one time so most pages are wrinkled but none are stuck together. The binder is solid no mold. The white stuff is from another book that was on it when it got wet. Its completely dry and ready to be used.”
This was mailed to the Anderson Willys Company in Portland, Oregon, at some point. This is one of the 1955 mailing pieces as part of the Kaiser Willys advertising push. It was one of several targets mailers produced for dealers.
Service Station (Mr. Service) 1955 mailer:
This Kaiser Jeep of Canada-sponsored magazine featured the Jeepster Commando, complete with a College Bowl winner of a Custom adorned Jeepster Commando. The issue also highlights the Repair Corps of Royal Canadian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, which dismantled jeeps quickly across Canada (200 appearances from Victoria BC to St. Johns). (Great find off of eBay!)
UPDATE: Chris noted that this photo is back on ebay. Cool sign!
Fisher Motors out of Brattleboro, Vermont, has an interesting sign that highlighted Willys Jeep, Sales-Service, and Cars & Trucks.
This ad was published in the August 1954 issue of Fortune Magazine. When Kaiser bought Willys, one of the early advertising decisions was to use the KW logo on various marketing documents. I suspect this was an attempt to brand across the jeep and Willys Aero lines. This strategy was dropped by 1955, followed shortly with the dropping of the Aero vehicles.
This 1948 brochure indicates the Champion post hole digger (aka an Earth Auger) was manufactured by the Southwest Equipment Company out of Los Angeles, California. According to a 1948 filing, the company was operated by Kenneth J. Browne.
This December 12, 1947, ad was published in the Sullivan Daily Times by the Citizens Garage out of Indiana.
Mario posted on Facebook this great ad for American Central Manufacturing.
Maury and I thought this jeep bank was interesting. It is a Willys-Motors-parts-department-themed wagon that is listed as a ‘1953’. It was sold on eBay and now documented at WorthPoint. Anyone seen others of these?
https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/liberty-classics-1953-jeep-willys-491185253
Maury suggested we organize and go through the various Willys-Overland and Willys Motors logos, badges and slogans seen in brochures and ads during the years between 1941-1963. I thought that a good idea as well, so here’s what we found for the pre-Kaiser period between 1941-1953.
Before we begin, when is a slogan ‘a slogan’ and when not? It is totally arbitrary on our part, but we think we’ve covered quite a few (and welcome other suggestions). Much of Part I is a synopsis of advertising-related posts published over the last year. We hope to publish part II in the next few days.
1941-1945: (A deeper dive into the ads of this time period can be found here).
As a 1951 advertising review noted, the challenge facing Willys-Overland, once winning the jeep contract, was to convince consumers that the jeep was a Willys product (even though, as Ford argued, it was a joint project). To this end. Willys-Overland’s very first ad in December of 1941 emphasized WILLYS.
Willys-Overland continued this theme with their famous war-time color ads, a list of which you can view here (1942-1946). In the Hell Bent ad, the first of the war-time ads, Willys-Overland continued to emphasize WILLYS. The company also added “JEEPS” as a third category of vehicles for the first time.
In 1943, while emphasizing WILLYS, the company introduced a new badge, “The Sun Never Sets on the Fighting Jeep”
The “Fighting Jeep” phrase lasted through May of 1943. Then, was left off of a few ads, before returning on July of 1943 with the replacement of Fighting with Mighty: THE SUN NEVER SETS ON THE MIGHTY JEEP.
Willys-Overland continued to emphasize WILLYS until February of 1944, when the company abruptly switched the emphasis to JEEPS.
This Carter Products Ad appeared in the January 19, 1952, issue of the Saturday Evening Post. It’s an interesting throwback ad to the WWII concept of the jeep (arguably, it’s a Ford GPish illustration).
Maury spotted this Jeep Radio Ad record on Worthpoint. It turns out that the CJ-3B page has published some of the recordings from the record. So, on this Christmas morning, you can test out the sound of your new computer/tablet/phone/Internet-of-thing.
1. This 1963 magazine ad for the new ‘Jeep’ Wagoneer prominently claimed the wagon had “DRIVEPOWER”, a slogan for the Wagoneer’s new and improved and exclusive 4-Wheel Drive system. I looked to see if Kaiser Jeep attempted to trademark the term, but there’s no evidence of that at the US Patent and Trademark site. So, the use of the drivepower concept seems to have been brief.
View all the information on eBay
2. This other 1963 Ad also uses the term “DRIVEPOWER”, but in a smaller font.
View all the information on eBay
3. This early 1964 Wagoneer Ad defines “DRIVEPOWER” as “Wagoneer station wagon’s new, improved and exclusive 4-wheel drive system” (also published in Popular Science).
View all the information on eBay
4. This 1963 or early 1964 ad promoted a variety of ideas, include “DRIVEPOWER”. The ad also promoted ABC’s “The Greatest Show on Earth”, which was sponsored, at least in part, by Kaiser Jeep (see Jeep rare brochure promoting that show here).
Spotted by Maury, and according to the blurb from this page, this brochure/booklet was apparently released to some Willys-Overland employees following the purchase of Willys-Overland Motors by Kaiser-Jeep in 1953. I could only find a pic of the cover.