Santa brought me the flu for Christmas Eve….. Thanks Santa! So, between that and helping my parents, I am taking another day off. We head back to Pasco for a few days, so I’ll be able to catch up at that time.
Features Research Archives
Product Merchandising Manual Circa 1955
Several months ago a reader purchased a product merchandising manual with over four hundred pages, used by the Willys Motors marketing department. Over the succeeding months, we scanned and assembled this into a PDF. I’m dating it at 1955 because it introduces the new CJ-5. It’s not entirely complete, but there’s lots in it.
I’d like to thank the generous reader for making this available to everyone! I wish everyone the best for 2019!!
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1OW3rP4Ay1l9fcMrLaIMTH2ordwssoDaV
Here are a few pages:
Willys Overland Business Card on eBay
Maury shared this one. It’s unclear what year this might have been printed, but for the price you could buy a few thousand current business cards.
View all the information on eBay
“Here is a vintage, Willys Overland Jeep, The Overland Band business card, from Toledo Ohio. The card is in excellent condition. There are no creases in it. I do ship internationally. Please email me with any questions.”
1959 Harney Peak South Dakota Jeep Trip Brochure
UPDATE: I’ve been looking for one of these since I first saw one on eBay in 2013. I scored one earlier this month on eBay. Along with it came the post card below.
Christmas Morning Photos on eBay
Steve shared this timely holiday photo.
View all the information on eBay
“Up for bid we have 2 Circa 1950’s Christmas Morning Photo’s featuring a Young Boy with all his new Christmas Toys.
Visible under the tree is a Toy Truck, Army Jeep, the boys wearing a new gun & holster set.
Cute photos.
Photos measure approx. 3-1/2″ X 3-1/2″ and come in excellent condition”
1947 ‘Jeep’ Greenkeeper’s Best Friend Ad on eBay
Not many of these ads left.
View all the information on eBay
“HIS IS A COLOR ORIGINAL 1947 MAGAZINE AD FOR THE JEEP-WILLYS OVERLAND MOTORS THE GREENKEEPER’S BEST FRIEND IS THE UNIVERSAL JEEP….IT IS IN EXCELLENT CONDITION,MEASURING 8″ X 11″..POSTAGE ON 1 ITEM IS THE SAME PRICE AS FOR 1000….PLEASE VIST MY E-BAY STORE….NOSTALGIA AIRWAYS…..”
2 1961ish Brochures on eBay
There are no bids on this pair of brochures. It’s one of the better prices I’ve seen lately.
View all the information on eBay
“2 Jeep brochures and are in very good condition spots where paper clip was holding together!!!”
More Progress on Paul’s Trailer
As we begin counting longer days, Paul’s toiling away in his warm and cozy garage as the snow falls, the sun hides, and aftershocks rattle Anchorage.
Paul writes, “Since the earthquake November 30th we’ve had almost 5,000 aftershocks in less than three weeks. Many of the tremors are too light to feel but we’ve had a few strong shakers that concerned me enough to make a trip to the local hardware store necessary where I purchased additional tie down straps. The trailer and box assembly is still sitting on two work tables and will remain that way until I finish rolling the upper edge of the trailer box. I’ll rest easier when I get the trailer frame finished, the axle attached and the box lifted off the work tables and bolted to the frame.”
“The trailer box is riveted together so the next step (after the taillights) is to weld the tubing into a big rectangle to match the upper edge of the side panels and then roll the metal over the tubing and weld as necessary. I’m not quite sure how I’ll accomplish this task but I expect it’s going to cost more than I planned and take longer to accomplish than I’d intended but that’s normal for this project.”
I’ve made 6 or 7 different designs for the taillight/turn signal layout on the M100 trailer but none of them are without problems. Here’s my mockup of the lights mounted to the rear of the trailer. To me they are too close together and would look awkward sticking out from the box.
It would be much easier to position these lights if I went to a smaller size LED light but I want the trailer lights to match the ones I installed on the little Willys so I’m running into location/space issues.
I’ll try again.
Here the taillight brackets would be mounted to the trailer sides just forward of the rear corner sections. They’d be close to but not interfering with the use of the grab handles bolted to the corners. The housing for the lights would be stainless steel sheet fabricated into a one inch thick box with a removable access panel on the front side.
Here are some of the poster board mockups of the tail light housings I’ve made while attempting to achieve a reasonable balance of visibility, secure installation and ease of fabrication. The first mockups were made from white poster board with line drawings to indicate the light assemblies.
As I refined my design I began coloring in the tail/brake light lens (red) and the turn signal lens (orange) with felt markers to give me a better idea of how these lights would look on the trailer. I’m pretty sure I’ll use the mockups number 5 and 6 (starting from the first mockup on the left as #1) as the final design so tomorrow I expect to begin cutting sheet metal.
Odd Turkish(?) Video with a Jeep
ModMike shared this odd video on Facebook that includes a CJ-2A. I finally tracked down a Youtube version. Can anyone explain it?
Little General Ride On Jeep on eBay
This is a cardboard ride on jeep that was never opened. I imagine these jeeps didn’t last long. This particular package remains un opened. The seller has a pretty steep price on it.
View all the information on eBay
“UP for sale, I have a vintage 1960’s Little General Ride On Jeep. I can’t believe I have decided to sell this, as I have had it in my collection for over 20 years, and have never seen or heard of another. This is still mint sealed in it’s original bag package, which the package boost 2 toys, ride on Jeep and a free military poncho. Well guess what the poncho is part of the bag and you cut it out.
Toy was produced by General Box Co. of Illinois. The bag measures 40″long and about 13” wide. The toy was offered in the comic book ads of the 1960’s as a full ride on Jeep with a dress up military poncho. Who could forget those ads in the comic books? I remember wanting the Polaris Nuclear Submarine, but there were many others including a tank, spaceship and this here Jeep. They were all constructed of printed cardboard and companies like Honor House products seemed to advertise the heck out of these pieces at $4.98.
Continue reading
TM 10-1513 Manual Indianapolis, IN $10
Chris is selling this manual that came with a later model jeep he bought.
https://indianapolis.craigslist.org/pts/d/indianapolis-tmmaintenance-manual-for/6771850269.html
“Reprint of maintenance manual for MB series Willys Jeep. Good shape, no torn pages, couple of fingerprints on covers. In great shape, would make a great shop copy for someone. I can invoice via internet and ship within the US for an additional $4.”
Video — Jeep: The Unstoppable Soldier
I didn’t get a whole lot done the last few days, as Dad is needing more assistance. No time to do updates for Thursday, but perhaps this 1 hour video from WheelsTV will fill the void. I’ve only seen the first 15 minutes, but it looks promising thus far.
I did spot at least one item that was incorrect. While discussing the first BRC at Holabird, between 15:59 and 16:20 pictures of a BRC-60 are mistakenly shown.
Metal Earth Jeeps
Steve let me know about Metal Earth’s metal jeep DIY kits. I knew about the B-2 model (Ann has one), but didn’t know about the jeep.
Willys Overland Promotional Movie
Midwest Jeep Willys republished this promotional video titled: Workhorses of Industry. Thanks to Blaine for spotting it.
April 6, 1945 Army Day Review Booklet on eBay
I”ve never documented one of these.
View all the information on eBay
“Vintage April 6 1945 Army Day Review RARE Roosevelt, Eisenhower, MacArthur, Patton
Ads:
Grace Line Ships
Pass & Seymour Inc
Tube Turns
RCA
Fashion Frocks Parachutes
Monroe Shocks
Cummings Machine Works
Eastern Air Lines
Magnavox
Republic Aviation
Wisconsin Honey Farm
Ward LaFrance
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1943 Postcard “Jeep Ferry” on eBay
I bet not too many of these postcards were made.
View all the information on eBay
“Our large front and back scans show you the exact condition of this postcard. Size: Approx. 5.5″ x 3.5”
Walter M. Baumhofer’s Jeep Art
UPDATE: Someone pointed me in the direction of this Walter Baumhofer CJ-3B calendar image (I can’t remember who, but please take credit in the comments).
There’ s no name associated with this one. At 16″ x 12″, it’s a little smaller than Emmett Watson’s “Jeepers” print. You can see more of Walter’s work over at the CJ-3B page.
Original Post (11/19/2018): Robin recently purchased this Walter M. Baumhofer illustration at an auction. It’s titled “Self Appreciation”. According to intelligentcollector.com, Walter was one of the most prolific Adventure Pulp artists out there. Among other prolific pulp adventure artists mention in the article is Emmett Watson.
Funny how both Emmett’s illustration Jeepers and Walter’s image has two men, a jeep, a tent, a red blanket, and three bears. I find that a big coincidence.
Oversize Dealer Wagon Postcard **SOLD**
UPDATE: **SOLD** Was on eBay.
This is a nice one. With shipping, this is under $10. It’s 11″x 8.5″.
“Today I offer for an RJ’s of VARINA EASTERN TIME, BUY IT NOW OR FOREVER HOLD YOUR PEACE SALE is a LARGE, 8.5″ x 11″, VINTAGE 1951 WILLYS STATION WAGON DEALER POSTCARD, RYSON MOTORS of DOVER, NEW JERSEY”
No Updates For Sunday
I’m in Seattle for a few days helping my parents. Updates resume Monday.
“They Shall Not Grow Old” is the name of this unusual WWI documentary directed by Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings, etc) that’s being released to some theaters. It’s all made using restored/repair actual footage of WWI. They also employed professional lip readers in the hope of capturing the dialogue seen in the video clips. It’s all wound together with interviews of WWI soldiers in the 1960s/1970s.
Here’s a trailer for the movie:
And here’s a part that shows what the British troops though of German Soldiers:
Echeverria Field GPW Dedication for Wickenburg VFW
Joe-in-Mesa’s daughter’s boyfriend’s father (way to suck him in Joe!) took this photo of a 1943 GPW dedicated to the memory of the Echeverria Field near Wickenburg, Arizona, and donated to the Wickenburg VFW. Obviously, it’s not a perfectly restored vehicle, but it does help provide a tangible memory for VFW visitors.
Joe searched and found a few more photos online:
Here’s the VFW where the jeep is located, though Google did not capture the jeep outside:
Here is some location information about the air field. The location was not available via Google maps, so this is a hacked together location image:
1951 view of the former air field:
Some related links:
Christmas Village Article at the CJ-3B Page
Check out Derek’s Christmas Village article that features a jeep that seems a combination of a CJ-3B and a DJ-3A.
http://cj3b.info/Toys/ChristmasVillage.html
For comparison, here’s a recreated DJ-3A soft top:
Flattened Willys Hood Swisttal, Germany **SOLD**
UPDATE: These hoods were sold on eBay.
Thanks to Scott for spotting this unusual auction. The seller is selling an original, flattened jeep hood from WWII that was used in part of a homeowner’s wall rebuild (most likely) just after the war ended. You’ll need to read the text below to get the full story. I imagine the seller will be selling the other hoods later.
“QUESTIONS:
Where did the Willys MB come from, whose hoods ended up in a junkyard in Bonn?
And how did the hoods from the junkyard get to the ceiling of a Bonner Bürgerhaus?
And why can you buy one of these historic hoods on Ebay now?
ANSWERS:
The history of the jeeps could have started 18 kilometers from Bonn…
Once there was a Feldflugplatz Odendorf – a temporarly airfield made in 1938 / 1939. Adolf Hitler used it and Göring and Goebbels did too. They used it to reach the „Felsennest“ in Rodert, a secret and not so well known Führerhauptquartier deep in the Eifel woods. Hitler was there in autumn 1939, because of a possible invasion of France and the Low Countries. And the end of WWII Supreme Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower landed on the airfield. General George Patton was there to pick him up – with a lot of Willys of course…
But Odendorf was of course not the only historical place in the vicinity of Bonn for the American army. This was above all the world-famous bridge of Remagen after its capture on 7 March 1945.
The Battle of Remagen during the Allied invasion of Germany resulted in the unexpected capture of the Ludendorff Bridge over the Rhine and shortened World War II in Europe. After capturing the Siegfried Line, the 9th Armored Division of the U.S. First Army had advanced unexpectedly quickly towards the Rhine.
They were very surprised to see one of the last bridges across the Rhine still standing. The Germans had wired the bridge with demolition charges. When they tried to blow it up, only a portion of the explosives detonated. U.S. forces captured the bridge and rapidly expanded their first bridgehead across the Rhine, two weeks before Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery’s meticulously planned Operation Plunder. The GIs’ actions prevented the Germans from regrouping east of the Rhine and consolidating their positions.
Everywhere Willys MB jeeps were used.
1945, after the war and the collapse of the Third Reich, the Willys, who had suffered severe damage during the war, remained in Germany. Some came to a junkyard in Bonn-Endenich. Opposite the cemetery in the Hainstraße they were stored and dismantled. You’ll find this place still on Google Earth…
And when the citizens of Bonn repaired their homes from the damage caused by the American bombers, these hoods were of course welcome. They took the bonnets, knocked them flat and nailed them to the walls and ceilings. Then they covered them with boards and so they were gone and forgotten for over 70 years.
A few weeks ago, a citizen of Bonn restored his old house, removed the boards from the ceiling of an old stable and discovered the boards. The house is only 500 meters away from this old junkyard. Therefore it is no mystery where the sheets came from in 1946/1947…
So they came from the junkyard 1946 and they should return to the junkyard in 2018. But we saved them, now they’re on Ebay – that’s the whole story.
You, dear Ebayer, have now the opportunity to bid for these unique witnesses of the past.
Please note: Only the hood on picture 1 is now offered on Ebay. We will decide later, what should be done with the other 13 hoods.”
Other photos of hoods the seller has:
Erick Schat’s Bakkery Wagon
Home of the “Original Sheepherder’s Bread”, Erick Schat’s Bakkery (not a misspelling) in Bishop, California (not too far from the eastern entrance of Yosemite National Park) has a beautiful wagon parked out front.
1956 CJ-5 Ad
UPDATE: I mistakenly listed this as a 1954 ad. It am told it was actually a 1956 ad.
Andy spotted and bought this 1956 CJ-5 ad on eBay. The jeep has an odd look about it. I think it’s the 1) skinny fenders, 2) thinner than normal hood and 3) odd grille. It makes it feel a little bit like some kind of CJ-4 (though the actual CJ-4 has flattish fenders). The headlights on the grille in the ad look more like 7″ headlights on an MB grille.
For comparison, a 1955 CJ-5:
Women Drivers … Are Jeep Rough-Riders
Just a few updates today …
The August 1954 issue of People Magazine did a two-page article on the women who drove jeeps for Willys Motors. It looks like they are testing a series of M-38A1s in the photos.