Six Ads From Time Magazine

This Sunday we have six ads from Time magazine. These six are great examples of the classic style of design that typified the Willys-Overland advertising of the post-war late forties- an emphasis on the business and home & farm capability of the jeep. Not much more needs to be said about them, so enjoy! Look for lots more coming soon from This-Old-Jeep.com. I have alot more in store and new t-shirt designs are coming soon!

You can click on any of the above thumbnails to view the full sized ads or click here to view more ads in their respective albums.

Meet The Blitz Buggy, The Quack And Penguin

Dating from October 13, 1943, the article “Meet The Blitz Buggy, The Quack And Penguin” appeared in The War Illustrated and introduced the British public to the wonder of the new jeep that was beginning to find fame across the world. The article includes many of the often heard soldierly vignettes about their love of the jeep as well as the Briticism(?) of referring to the DUCKW as a “Quack”! It’s a nice little find and insight into the common adoration that Allied armies across the world had for the jeep.

There are also a number of pages that include photos from the Invasion of Italy that feature the jeep always in a prominent place during the operation. I hope that you enjoy this little seen magazine and you can click on the thumbnail to view the rest of the pages.

Remember that alot is coming up at This-Old-Jeep.com. I’m working on new t-shirt, iPod and iPad case designs. I also have alot to add to the site soon, more for the LIFE magazine photo archive, James Sessions illustrations, more brochures from the 40’s and beyond, a new 2012 calendar and something special for next month coming up for the Jeep Cavalcade in Colorado.

Also, please consider a donation via our secure Paypal link to help pay for our server fees. I make a tiny amount selling ads via Google AdWords and via our Zazzle store front which helps defray the costs, but bills being what they are, I will need help keeping this labor of love online this year. Just a dollar from everyone of our fans on Facebook would pay for three years alone! Thanks for your help!

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

For July, the This-Old-Jeep.com calendar features two slides in a series that appear to be from the late 1950’s of men working for the U.S. Department of the Interior possibly working on oil or gas exploration in the American west. Luckily there are a few captions written on the back of these beautiful Kodachromes. The slide of the red CJ-5 is titled, “Noel in jeep on Long Point Mesa, on Long Point Mesa, Arizona” and the slide of the CJ3-A is labeled “N(orth): Lee Eicher in jeep, R at Beaver Mesa, Colo & Utah.” Other slides are contained in the station wagon album and make reference to other locations in Arizona and the Utah, Colorado area, drilling and a Carl Lipp, Bill Owen and George Mowat. If you happen to know any of these men or can supply me with any further information you can contact me at thisoldjeepdotcom@gmail.com.

Hope that you are enjoying your summer working or playing with the jeep! Keep checking back as there is alot that I’m working on on This-Old-Jeep.com and keep in mind that if you enjoy this site, you can help me immensely by a donation through our secure Paypal donation link. Help us keep this constantly expanding collection of free jeep history online!

A Report On The Universal ‘Jeep’ In Conservation

In the 1940’s early in the run of the CJ2-A, Willys-Overland was enthusiastic about proving (and selling) the rural, agricultural and farming abilities of the new civilian jeep. As we have seen last week with the Data brochure, Willys had no shortage of proof to present to the post-war world on why the jeep was a vital part of the new economy and developing society.

One of these opportunities that they took was the event that took place in the Ohio Valley on or near the land at that time owned by the Rio Grande College’s farm. The college owned some 300 acres that was used as a fully functioning farm that its students worked on to help defray the costs of tuition and to provide food. This unique situation was utilized by the college from when they bought the land in 1938 until 1953 when the land was sold to Bob Evans, the sausage manufacturer and owner of the restaurant chain of the same name.

Willys-Overland took this and ran with it, providing jeeps and equipment that showed off the capabilities of the jeep in a two day event in such various activities as clearing land, running tools with its PTO and agricultural tilling and planting. The program was run under the auspices of the U.S. Soil Conservation Service with the message that “The land is our heritage... protect it!” It must have been a message that resonated with Americans after the destruction visited upon much of the world after the war. And of course, the jeep was as much a vital part of the peacetime world as it had been during wartime.

Keep checking back every week. I’m still working on a revamp of the website, designing new products for the This-Old-Jeep.com Zazzle marketplace and in the middle of a couple of large scanning projects that you will see here! Have a suggestion or something to submit? You can find us on Facebook and Twitter or email me @ThisOldJeepDotCom@gmail.com.

Jeep Operation Data Brochure

Happy 4th of July weekend everyone! Today we have a brochure to share that most likely dates from the period of 1949 until possibly as late as 1953 as the jeeps shown off in the brochure are CJ3-As. Its representative of the factory advertising of the day when Willys-Overland was still heavily into showing off the farming, agricultural and industrial abilities of the jeep lineup. The brochure is filled with technical specifications, charts and reasons why the farmer as well as business owners of the day should choose a jeep over a tractor or another truck. It’s typical of the emphasis on land stewardship when, after a major war we as a country focussed upon not only helping to rebuild a world torn apart by world war but on our own booming economy and the new opportunities in this country. Click here to view the album of the full brochure!

Happy Independence Day weekend to everyone!

A Family Ride In The 2A And Happy Father’s Day!

Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there and a big thank you to all that you guys do every day! Today I’ve found the perfect photo for Father’s Day. It’s actually a reproduction of an original slide that I purchased from an Ebayer’s store. The seller also does have a fair number of reproductions of photos of vintage automobiles that would be well worth checking out.

Unfortunately while though there was no other further info on the identity of the family, it came from Colorado. This 2A looks like it had the handsome color combo of possibly Picket Grey and Luzon Red wheels. It looks like the family consisting of grand-dad and grandma, daughter and four grandkids and don’t forget the dog were out for a ride one day long ago and had a great time. I hope that everyone takes a moment today to call or remember their dad today! Thank you to my Papa for all that he helped make me. I miss you alot.

Check back next week for a new update. I plan on getting a few dealer’s brochures up as well continuing filling up the LIFE Magazine archive, revamping the entire site and new This-Old-Jeep.com marketplace items for sale this summer!

Yes, the above photo from a series of them illustrate what you think you see. A CJ3-A lifted by a boom truck... but the kicker is it is being held in place by several layers of tape! The photographer, Bernard Hoffman shot these publicity shots back in May of 1950. Apparently scotch tape is much more versatile than you would think. I would hazard a guess that this was at the behest of the Scotch Brand company that makes the ubiquitous tape. I haven’t been able to find any more info on this. Please email me @thisoldjeepdotcom@gmail.com if you happen to know anything else.

Bernard Hoffman was quite a versatile photographer as well. In addition to photographing the 3A, he was a war correspondent as well, parachuting into then jungles of Burma, accompanying crews of B-29s on low level bombing missions over Japan and was perhaps best known for being the first American photojournalist on the ground to record the days after the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

As always you can click here to view the full album of photos and check back as I still have alot to add to the LIFE magazine archive.