This post began as a single newspaper photo and caption titled “Learn About Blitz Buggies” that Mario posted to Facebook. Just before I readied the post, I figured I’d see if there was a better quality version of the photo he posted.
To my surprise, when I searched for “About Blitz Buggies”, the results returned numerous seemingly press release photos over the summer and fall of 1941. No credit for the photos are provided. Given the titles are mostly identical and all showed various soldiers “working” (but probably posing) in front Ford GPs, I can’t help but wonder if this was a subtle campaign by Ford Motors to encourage the adoption of the Ford GP “Blitz Buggy” by the military.
So, here are some random newspaper photos from 1941 (there are many more during 1941).
June 26, 1941, Manhattan Mercury out of Kansas:
June 17, 1941, Montgomery Advertiser out of Alabama (looks to me like the same person as above, yet the caption shows a different name):
July 13, 1941, Akron Beacon out of Ohio:
August 16, 1941, Star Gazette out of Elmira, New York:
August 24, 1941, Austin American out of Texas (that Ford logo looks a little too obvious):