The Willys-Overland Paintings, Part One

During the war years and the early post-war, Willys-Overland was as busy campaigning the future and influence of the jeep as the jeep was busy on the battlefield. Four talented illustrators were contracted to create paintings for a series of ads that Willys was to use. They were Benton Clark, Charles Horndorff, John Howard and most famously, James M. Sessions. They began with showing battle scenes and the heroics of the jeep and the GI and ended by 1945 with pushing the role of the jeep on the farm and in hometown industry. I’ve always been fond of these ads and the illustrations. For myself and many other fans of the early jeep these are the quintessential example of not only the golden age of ad design, but of the jeep in the world of art. I’ve been meaning to get these ads up for a long time as the site really isn’t complete without them and over the next couple of weeks I’ll add my collection artist by artist starting this week with Benton Clark and Charles Horndorf. Next week will bring us John Howard with the James Sessions ads next. Finally the week after that will bring us a special piece of history that I’ve found. For now, enjoy the warmer weather and check out the entirely new section of the site! Click here to see the new page and the ads. Hope that you enjoy them!