Merry Christmas From This-Old-Jeep.com!

Merry Christmas to everyone! The update is a bit late today and a small one at that. Spending time with my two sons, 3 and 5 took precedence this AM. I just wanted to say that I hope that everyone is having a wonderful day with their family, friends and jeeps this morning and that Santa brought you everything that you hoped for! Click on the photo above that came from the National Archives and are available as an inexpensive download from the always surprising website OliveDrab.com. OD.com is a rich resource of information pertaining to anything military. Check them out here at the This-Old-Jeep.com collection of some 300 historical photos of the mighty jeep. Check back with us next week (and next year!) for a regular update and I want to wish you and yours a very happy holiday!

Welcome Home!

After nearly eight and a half years, 4,500 dead and 30,000 wounded and 1.5 million served in total, welcome home to the troops who are finally leaving Iraq. And though the jeep was phased out in favor of the hummer, the jeep has always been linked with the U.S. fighting forces and in honor of this momentous time, I’d like to present these two pieces of jeep history. The press photo of the MB emerging from the glider is from the archives of the Detroit News dated 1943. Its an example of the forward thinking that the army displayed in its uses of the jeep as military tool. The magazine page is a 1947 post war example of army recruiting. The ad reminds the young men of the day that the regular army serves in both wartime and peace. The youth of the day and today remembered this and served their country and now they are coming home for a well deserved respite. Welcome home! You can view the full sized images by going to their respective albums and other photos and ads. Its still not too late to get your Xmas gifts for the jeep lover in your life, whether they’re t-shirts or tree ornaments, check them out here at the This-Old-Jeep.com’s online store. Order by 3PM Pacific /6PM Eastern Time for guaranteed delivery by the 24th! Today is the last day!

Four New Dealer Advertising Postcards

Spanning about a decade, these postcards represent a method that is still tried and tested today, the automobile dealer postcard inviting prospective buyers to come on in for a test drive! The top two cards were huge, 8 1/2 X 11”! Imagine getting these in your mailbox! The Station Wagon cards date from 1958 when the new two-tone Maverick Special paint job was introduced and I’d guess that the newest member of the jeep family, the Jeepster Commando card dates from its introduction in 1967/8. Click here to be taken to the full sized photo album of these great cards. Check back in the next weeks for more postcards, more brochures, including some of the very earliest advertising for the civilian CJ-2A. And don’t forget that its still not too late to pick up that special t-shirt, bumper sticker, electronics case, mug, calendar or Christmas tree ornament for the jeep lover in your life! Check out the This-Old-Jeep.com online marketplace for many, many ideas and gifts. There are sales going on all the time as well. Don’t forget to check back daily for the latest!

The This-Old-Jeep.com 2011 Calendar- December

The final month of the This-Old-Jeep.com 2011 calendar features the proud owner of a classic Willys pickup truck. I wish that I had more info on it, but the only thing that I can glean is the Washington State plate with the year 1949 on it. I think that it’s a great picture. You can read the pride in the man’s face and you know why- he owns a jeep! You can click on the thumbnail to be taken to the complete gallery of photos from the 2011 calendar. If you want any of the photos to frame for your office, garage or man cave, it’s still not too late to order the calendar. The all-new 2012 calendar is also now available from the This-Old-Jeep.com online marketplace. It features 17 all new and never before published photos of the mighty jeep and can be had as well as many other all new jeep related t-shirts, mugs, keychains and much more at the This-Old-Jeep.com marketplace. Check the site often for updated weekly and daily sales through Xmas. Its the perfect time to start thinking about gifts for the holidays! We’ll be back next week with something all new and unique! Keep warm everyone!

Five New Patriotic War Era Ads

I recently picked up some new World War 2 era ads from my friends at American Art Archives. The ads are pretty typical of the patriotic stance that manufacturers took during the war, but are also telling of the way that the public looked at the new tools and vehicles of modern warfare including, of course, the jeep. The jeep is featured right there as a common background to the military and war context in which the products are shown. The products and the advertising that is used to describe them are partnered in context along with the jeep and the modern soldier, “modern, dependable, enduring, power and precision.” Not only did the advertiser promote their patriotism but their product as well. You can view the full sized ads by clicking here to view them and many more ads in their albums.

This week, the all new This-Old-Jeep.com 2012 calendar was released as well, featuring 17 all new never before published photos of the mighty jeep. You can have a new vintage photo of the jeep every day on your wall in your garage or office or man-cave! Check it out here. It’s now the perfect time to start thinking about Xmas gifts for the jeep lover in your life. The This-Old-Jeep.com online marketplace has tons of gift ideas that you can view here and through tomorrow for the Black Friday weekend there also alot of sales happening. You can find them and the store here.

Don’t Forget Your Top!

It’s fall and as much fun as getting out there and trying to squeak in another day or two of topless/doorless driving is, make sure that you don’t forget to bring along the top or get a good weather forecast beforehand! I recently found this magazine cover published by the VFW in 1947 and loved it. Never having seen it before I wondered about the illustrator. Turns out he was a 23 year old buck sergeant in the Signal Corps, William G. Jacobson of Chicago. The blurb about him reads that, “he found time to make quite a few ETO sketches while overseas, to keep his technique from becoming rusty. The guy’s shy- that’s about all we could get out of him. Evidently he expresses himself best with a paint brush.” I haven’t been able to find out much more about him myself. If you happen to know more about him, please contact me @ thisoldjeepdotcom@gmail.com. The only thing that I have found was another cover illustration from a 1952 Catholic magazine, “Extension.” Looks similar to his style, but I can’t be sure.

Curious if he ever did anymore jeep illustrations and of course, I’d also like to see those other ETO drawings. In the meantime, keep warm and don’t forget that top because otherwise your significant other may never forgive you! Check back later this week around the Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend when I hope to have the all new This-Old-Jeep.com 2012 calendar finished. Also check out all of the new This-Old-Jeep.com items in our online store!

The This-Old-Jeep.com 2011 Calendar- November

The year is drawing down and the new calendar for next year is in the works. You can find it right here and soon! For the month of November, the month of Veteran’s Day it was a natural choice to show off a few photos of GI’s posing by and in their jeeps with the venerable MB appearing in the background. We owe much to these men and they owe some of their success to the jeep. Thank you again, vets! You can still find the 2011 calendar in This-Old-Jeep.com’s Zazzle online store here, plus a lot more t-shirt designs, iPod, iPhone and iPad cases, caps, kid’s clothing, mugs, mousepads and more! Check them out and start thinking about Xmas gifts for the jeep lover in your life today.

Thank You, Veterans

Happy Veteran’s Day one and all. A special entry comes today in the form of a new t-shirt in the This-Old-Jeep.com Zazzle marketplace. Chances are, you already know a vet, whether its your neighbor or your family or friend. Say thanks to them today for the sacrifices that they surely have endured so that we may all have so much. You can click here to be taken to the store link for the t-shirt. Through this weekend you can get $5 off any t-shirt and 30% off any case, calendar or mug. Just enter VETERANSALE5 at checkout. And thank you again to my sister, my sister in law, my wife’s uncle and mother in law for their contributions and the memory of my third great grandfather John Lasher, a Civil War vet and survivor of Andersonville and to a distant uncle in the Revolutionary War. Thank you!

Four New T-Shirts At This-Old-Jeep.com

I recently ran across a series of wonderful slides probably from the late 40’s and early 50’s in the case of the top slide to the red ranch CJ3-B that dates from 1961. Kodachromes being the bright brilliant examples of some of the best slide film that ever existed, they made for some wonderful candid portraits of jeep owners and their pride and joys. I thought that these four would make great t-shirts too. Complete with the black framing lines of the original slide they speak of another time in American history and of the men that helped make it a part of what this country is. The slides also list the names of these men. As always please contact me @ thisoldjeepdotcom@gmail.com if you have any info about them and I will archive it. You can view each slide in their individual category in the These Old Jeep Photos section. You can click here to take a look at everything that’s new in the store! You can find tees, hats, mousepads, mugs, keychains, iPad, iPhone and iPod cases and more! Next week I hope to have the last two t-shirts done and the 2012 calendar finished by the week after. Keep checking back in and thank you!

Three New T-Shirts From This-Old-Jeep.com

Normally I’d be posting this on Sunday, but we lost power overnight and into the morning hours with the heavy wet snowstorm that blew in. Hence, without power and the internet, my precious AM time before anyone else is up that I usually use to post my updates disappeared. I was planning on posting this on Monday, but completely spaced the fact that with Halloween my time would be spent with my kids and so here we are on a Tuesday... But without further ado, Happy (post) Halloween and here are three new t-shirts that are available exclusively through the This-Old-Jeep.com Zazzle store marketplace. What jeep t-shirt collection would be complete without a cutaway F-Head or an Andy Warhol homage to his silkscreens with an early MB/CJ-1 prototype? The simple but beautiful illustrations from a soon to be shown early brochure made for another fanciful listing of ‘future’ civilian jeep uses. Hope that you enjoy them and look for another six t-shirts to be released over the next week or two and soon, the all new 2012 This-Old-Jeep.com calendar will be here! Keep checking in and remember to find us as well on Facebook and Twitter. Also, please remember to donate to us for our server fund through our secure Paypal link. The domain is set to renew in a month and we can always use a dollar here and a dollar there. That’s really all it will take! If you like what I do, please help if you can!

The This-Old-Jeep.com 2011 Calendar- October

This week we bring to you the This-Old-Jeep.com 2011 calendar page for October. It’s a couple of my favorite photos from a series of slides that I have of men involved with the U.S. Department of the Interior. They appear to be possibly surveying and exploring areas in Arizona, Colorado and Utah for gas and oil exploration. I’ve been trying to find more info about these men. You can see more of the photos as well as the info that I have about them printed on the backs of the slides here. In addition to all of the other great jeep gifts that you can find in the This-Old-Jeep.com Zazzle store marketplace you can still buy the calendar full of new never before seen photos. I have another seven t-shirt ideas to upload and more mugs, hats, mousepads and more coming soon. I hope to get to them in this upcoming week and of course, a 2012 calendar is in the works! Keep checking back here or on Facebook or our Twitter feed for more! And please remember that if you appreciate This-Old-Jeep.com you can help us to stay online by donating through our Paypal link here and thank you! Every bit helps!

Four New T-Shirts At This-Old-Jeep.com’s Zazzle Marketplace

Four new t-shirt designs are now available from the This-Old-Jeep.com Zazzle online marketplace. Check them out at Zazzle.com, a premier online retailer of custom t-shirts, electronics cases, hats, mousepads, custom postage and lots more. The This-Old-Jeep.com online store can be viewed here. The t-shirts make a great Xmas gift either for that Jeep lover in your life or for yourself! I have more designs that will be out and ready by next week and lots more that is already in the store. You can click on these links to be taken to the shirts in the store. The MB, the Pickup Truck, the Station Wagon and the 2011 This-Old-Jeep.com logo.

It’s never too early to think about the holidays! And remember that your purchase helps keep This-Old-Jeep.com online. I make a small 10% profit from every item sold and every penny goes toward the hosting fees renewal which are coming up in December. Thanks and enjoy this early fall day!

New This-Old-Jeep.com iPhone, iPod and iPad Cases

Things are going to start getting pretty busy in the This-Old-Jeep.com Zazzle store soon and here are the beginnings of this work- new iPhone 3 and 4, iPod Touch and iPad cases and shells! They are designed and created by Speck. Speck says that they “combine luxury with uncompromised protection, this sleek hard plastic case is covered with an easy-to-grip fabric that is richly printed with your favorite design. The first of its kind to be offered anywhere, this lightweight and durable custom case allows optimal access to all sensors, ports and controls on your device, while offering superior comfort in hand.” Speck products have made great and reliably fitting cases for a large line of products since 2001 when they started making cases for the original iPod. They’re such great products that they have problems with fake Speck knockoffs. These are the first five classic designs to make it onto cases. Look for new t-shirt designs and many more new products coming soon! You can view the newest This-Old-Jeep.com products here. And this Columbus Day weekend only, you can save 14.92% on anything! Just enter the code “1492COLUMBUS “ at checkout. Hurry, the sale ends tomorrow! Let’s also take a moment this weekend to remember the man who helped give us these great tech innovations, Steve Jobs.

Four Kaiser Era Ads

The period after Willys Overland in which Kaiser Industries took over was a fruitful one. It saw many innovations in the jeep lineup and a huge amount of diversity. It saw the Wagoneer, the precursor to the modern SUV, the 225 V-6 in a jeep, the reintroduction of the Jeepster and a move away from the emphasis of the jeep solely as a workhorse. In the 1960’s the jeep had its share of competitors as a recreational vehicle, but the jeep still stood for as the ads put it, “solid funpower!” Enjoy the ads

today and look for new products in the This-Old-Jeep.com Zazzle marketplace later on today! New t-shirt designs, iPad, iPhone and iPod cases and soon, the 2012 This-Old-Jeep.com calendar!

A New Jeep Story

A couple of weeks back I received this email. It tells the story of a lady who met this veteran and of the debt of gratitude that we all owe the Greatest Generation! Thanks again to Carrie for this great story! Click here to read more jeep stories. “Hi Brendan, My Name is Carrie K. I live in Mi. I have a Rescue Green 2010 Jeep Wrangler. Not exactly vintage.. Rescue green is a rather strange color. You either love it or hate it. As for me.. I got a good deal so I now own it. I don't know if this is the type of story you are looking for. I'll let you decide. I was putting groceries in my jeep when a man pulled in the spot next to me. He said, "That Jeep looks like a lot of fun". I said it is. I hope to take it off road in the near future. He told me he used to drive a jeep back in 43, 44 and 45. He said his jeep was real fast and saved his life many times. He said it was a lot of fun to drive and he wished he still had his jeep. He said, "I'm a Veteran." I sort of figured that. I looked at him in awe.. I realized that would make him about my Dad's age. How old are you I asked. I just turned 87 was his reply. He looked about 70. He credited his wife for his youthful appearance. I thanked him for keeping us safe. I sure wished I would have thought to asked his name. Everyone has a story. I feel privileged he told me his. Attached is a picture of my Jeep. Sincerely Carrie K.”

The This-Old-Jeep.com 2011 Calendar- September

The This-Old-Jeep.com 2011 calendar page for September features the Willys pickup truck and their owners. From the truck being used as a circus vehicle to a small business owner to a proud looking older man standing beside his truck the Willys has never let us down. With the fall coming on we generally start to rely more and more upon our trucks and so this month we have photos of them proudly doing their thing. You can click here

to view the rest of the calendar pages or click on the thumbnails below to view them full sized.

This photo was from a series of photos that are as yet unidentified, but the business on the side of the truck reads “Shell Pipeline Corp, Springfield, MO.”

The Ringling Brothers truck states that it was employed in the sound department, possibly used along with a broadcast system to alert the town that the circus was in town. The reverse states “RB New Jeep 8-26-55.”

And finally, this older man is also unidentified, but the photo came from Washington State.

Miscellaneous Press Photos

Lots and lots of projects are still in the works at This-Old-Jeep.com. While I’m working on them, I need to clean up a whole lot of miscellaneous things like these great press photos mainly dating from 1955 (with the exception of the 1977 Renegade). They were downloads found at various online sites and make great screensavers. Feel free to right click the thumbnails on my page to save them for yourself! Stay tuned for more from the Jeep Cavalcade scrapbook, a continuation of the LIFE magazine photo archive section, more old brochures (including one of the very first for the civilian jeep), ads and photos. Plus I’ll be releasing lots more t-shirt ideas in our Zazzle store, a new 2012 This-Old-Jeep.com calendar full of never before seen photos. AND foreign ads and brochures and an international jeep family tree. The best is yet to come at This-Old-Jeep.com! And remember you can be a part of it. You can always submit anything @thisoldjeepdotcom@gmail.com. And please also remember that we can always use a donation for our server costs, no matter how large or small through our Paypal link below and thank you!

Two AMC Ads

On this day, let us not forget the events that took place now a decade ago, but let’s also not be too bummed out by them. Rather than a war and conflict centered post today, let’s take a look at two light hearted civilian ads from the 70’s AMC, the ‘Super’ Jeep Renegade and the Levi’s Edition. The Renegade had been around since 1971, but by the following year the ads proclaim it the ‘Super’ Jeep. The Renegade package coated the CJ-5 in three colors: yellow, orange and plum and outfitted it with a rear seat, a fuel tank skid plate, a few more gauges, a Trac-Lok differential and the 304 V-8. In total it cost an additional $299! In 1975 one of the more unusual trim packages for the Renegade that was offered was the Levi’s edition. It outfitted the CJ with either tan or blue vinyl denim look seat covers complete with stitching and copper rivets to mimic the classic jean look. Also as a first was the availability of a factory installed AM radio option for $69. You were certainly styling in this fairly rare package. Check back next week when I’ll try to get more of the Jeep Cavalcade scrapbook up and new items in the This-Old-Jeep.com Zazzle online store! Remember this day, but celebrate life today!