The This-Old-Jeep.com 2012 Calendar- August

I decided to post a short extra entry this Saturday. Today brings us the August page for the 2012 This-Old-Jeep.com calendar. Its nearing the end of the summer and I hope that everyone has enjoyed their summer along with their jeep. This fellow certainly seems to have spent and enjoyable summer day in his CJ way back on August 10, 1956. How’s that for being specific? And it seemed like the perfect photo for a summer’s day. Though there isn’t much summer left, there’s plenty of the year left and you can still purchase the 2012 calendar right here. You can also view the rest of the year's calendar pages here.

I’d also like to announce that This-Old-Jeep.com has been sponsored by a great company, Extreme Terrain.com! They carry a wide variety of parts and accessories for your JK, TJ and yep, even the YJ, all at great competitive prices with great customer service. Check out what their customers have said about their knowledgable staff. They’ve been around since 2001 and certainly seem to know their way around a jeep! Thanks, Extreme Terrain.com!

Come back tomorrow when there will be another update.

Extra LIFE Photography, Part Three

Today we have the last photos in the series of LIFE magazine photography that showcased the world legend, the jeep. Another 15 images are uncredited, unfortunately for the fact that the photographers who took them were so talented. Please contact me at thisoldjeepdotcom@gmail.com if you have any info on them or any further photos that you’d like to share with our archive. The image on the left of a support vehicle for the Tour de France in the form of a Willys MB was found via eWillys so I have a thank you to extend to Dave Eilers. You never know what will pop up and I had never seen the photos that he unearthed. Nor did I know that jeeps were used as support vehicles in, I believe the late 40’s. I am sure that there are still more shots of a jeep from their pages just waiting to be uncovered in the mine that is the internet!

I hope that you’ve enjoyed this series as much as I have had in putting it together. It was a large time consuming one, but one that I feel was well worth it. The amount of talent that was cultivated and nourished through the pages of LIFE Magazine is stupendous. They were a group of men and women whose very work just screams what photojournalism is all about, telling a story visually, informing and making us feel. The fact that the jeep turns up so often in these shots from World War Two and up is a testament to not only the sheer ubiquity of the jeep but its usefulness. From hauling spare tires through the French Alps to the countless GIs who rode in them to carrying a rowing scull for a college team, the jeep has done it all and will continue to do so! Check out the entire selection of albums here.

I’ve also found an article worth your time on this lazy Sunday morning. You can find it here. Its an interview with John G. Morris, an influential photo editor with LIFE during the Second World War who worked with many of the photographers that you’ve seen here. Its worth a read.

Come back next week when we’ll be starting something new. I’m not sure right now what the project will be, but check it out, right here in the online pages of This-Old-Jeep.com!

Extra LIFE Magazine Photography, Part Two

This week, we return to a very large update of extra photos involving the American wonder the jeep within the pages of that other American wonder, LIFE Magazine. LIFE in its years not only gave Americans a view into world events, history and the documentation of their own culture, but of the world at large itself. It began the careers of many of the most talented photographers known to the 20th century and of course, the jeep was right there within its pages. These are many of the extra photos that I came across while doing random online research into the photographers themselves. I hope that these photos bring many a smile to your face as they have mine. Most of them I had never before seen and they’re gems!

Next week I will have one more installment in the LIFE Photo Archive series, an even baker’s dozen of another bunch of uncredited photos and one more LIFE photographer from the Vietnam era. Click here to view the entire selection of albums.