Five Classic Station Wagon Ads

Five ads grace the page today from the golden age of advertising... no computer assisted design, no photography, no Photoshop, just a designer, illustrators, a layout table and ink, paint and pen. All five ads sell the Jeep station wagon marketed towards the businessman and family alike. This is a short entry today to ensure that I get it posted before and if we lose power due to the effects of Hurricane Irene. So if you are on the east coast of America, please stay safe and I wish the best to your family and businesses alike to weather the storm.

Check back this week as I plan on trying to post the special Jeep Cavalcade entries this week! Stay safe and if you have time before any storm related cleanup you can check out all of the ads in their appropriate album.

These Old Jeep Events- 1959 Jeep Cavalcade

In August 1959, the first inaugural ‘Rush to the Rockies’ took place beginning in Ouray, Colorado. The trip took place over three days taking in the four towns of Ouray, Telluride, Lake City and Silverton via mountain passes and stunning scenery. Nicknamed the “Switzerland of America” the San Juan Rockies in Western Colorado were long known as an incredible natural attraction and hosting numerous ghost towns and forgotten mining camps. The Cavalcade coincided with the Centennial of the first settlement (mainly by gold miners...) of what was then three different territories that were to be wrapped up into the territory of Colorado in 1861.

The event was important in jeeping terms as it was one of the first large organized events bringing together jeepers from all over for what must have been one spectacular ride! I’m still not sure if this an event organized by the Hemet Jeep Club of Colorado or was the one photographed by J.R. Eyermann for a LIFE magazine story.

Email me @thisoldjeepdotcom@gmail.com if you have any further clues.

I came across this brochure and separate map from the event some time ago and it fit in with a large project that I have wanted to bring to you for some time now. I plan on unrolling this special project over the upcoming last few weeks of August and wrapping it up by Labor Day weekend. It also gave me the impetus to reveal the newest section of This-Old-Jeep.com, These Old Jeep Events. If you have any vintage photos of a jeeping event, large or small, it could be your family’s weekend camping trip, please submit them to me @thisoldjeepdotcom@gmail.com and I will host them here for posterity. Stay tuned for lots more coming up over the next couple of weeks! You can view the new section here!

Three New Ads Of Jeeps On The Farm

I’ve been reading Frederic Coldwell’s excellent piece of research “Preproduction Civilian Jeeps” lately and am struck by just how much forethought that Willys-Overland put into marketing the future civilian jeep. What was to become the CJ2-A was put through its paces from Alabama to Washington state and then marketed aggressively to the public. Willys certainly saw a unique opportunity and made the most of it. The color ad in the center shows off Willys numerous Agrijeep testing photographs and makes certain that the public knew that “Willys Builds The Universal ‘Jeep’.” The right hand ad trumpets the four functions of the civilian jeep as a truck, tow rig, tractor and runabout. This would capture as wide a swath of the emerging market as possible. And Willys knew it was going to go after the American public’s hearts and minds early on. In fact, Willys efforts at adopting the jeep to a new market began as early as the first production of the MB in 1941! In the post war years not only was the CJ sold but Willys soon diversified into manufacturing their pickup truck and station wagons, each spotlighting a unique corner of the worldwide automobile market.

Come on back next week for more of the world’s greatest vehicle, the jeep! And if you like my site, please consider a donation to our server fund. You can also view the entire collection of ads separated into their model and use categories here.

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

The August page of the This-Old-Jeep.com 2011 Calendar features two photos of the ubiquitous CJ-5 against a background of it’s military predecessor, the M38A1. The military model debuted in 1953, with the CJ-5 and its now familiar rounded fenders following on its heels with 1954 models announced in the fall of the year. The CJ-5, though offending some of the sensibilities of the flat fender crowd, gradually became probably the second most familiar image that the public get in their mind when thinking of a jeep. They were everywhere and endured and flourished through a near 30 year reign as the 4X4 of the world until 1983. Some 603,000 CJ-5s were produced over the years and they were used everywhere from the August 1967 parade in Cooperstown, NY that George Campbell loaned his jeep to, to a couple posing happily before the CJ-5 that they got “going again!” You can view the full album of CJ pics here.

Hope that you enjoy the calendar which is still available here from our online store. Look forward to a 2012 calendar coming this fall along with new t-shirts and other jeep apparel.

Please remember that if you like my site, please consider a donation towards the server fund which will be renewed this winter. The economy being what it is, I will need the help this year. A dollar from everyone of our Facebook fans would keep us going for the next three years!

Check back next week for more of the greatest vehicle ever built!