Tag: Early Advertising

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Theodore F. MacManus: An Important Figure in the Drama of the Automobile

At the 1940 special preview of the new 1941 Willys automobile, the fact that Theodore F. MacManus had emerged from retirement to name and introduce the new Willys Americar was “apparently the most significant development of the season.”

Many today have likely never heard of MacManus, but he was a well-known adman in the early days of the American automobile industry. Called both “the dean” and “the father” of national automobile advertising,” he created many of the most iconic tag lines for automobiles used in the first half of the twentieth century. For instance, he was the first to apply the term “dependability” to Dodge Brothers:

He also created the familiar Fisher Bodies Napoleonic coach trademark with the phrase “Body by Fisher.”

MacManus also penned the Pontiac slogan, “the most beautiful thing on wheels.”

The most appreciated and recognizable work created by MacManus was likely the one first used by Cadillac in January of 1915 titled “The Penalty of Leadership.”

1915 Cadillac Model 51

Cadillac published this legendary essay again in 1929, at which time it was called “the most widely disseminated piece of business literature ever written.” W. W. Lewis, Cadillac advertising director at that time, said that the re-publication had again brought in requests for copies from nearly every state with those requests varying from one copy to 30,000.

Even Elvis was an enthusiastic fan of not only the Cadillac itself, but also the Penalty of Leadership essay. There even exists a transcription of the essay, made by Elvis from memory on the notepaper of the Las Vegas Hilton during his last stay there in 1976. It has been auctioned several times, and you can see a copy here.

1955 Cadillac Fleetwood

MacManus also authored books including “The Sword-Arm of Business” which was published in 1927 and describes the qualities necessary to make a successful businessperson. He co-authored “Men, Money, and Motors: The Drama of the Automobile,” and I am reading that one right now. It is an excellent book, a witty and not at all stodgy review of the earliest days of the automobile industry. In it, MacManus addresses how some have attempted to put halos about the heads of certain players in the early automobile industry, and how some of those halos have been disturbed in time:

“Some romanticists have attempted to canonize them. That is attempting too much. Business then, as now, was business – not the salvation of the soul nor the saving of the body politic. Those men were frost-bitten, ugly at times, rough-tongued, and heavy-fisted. Age has made them – some of them – philosophical; in youth they were on fire. Hard and heroic they were but human, always. Intensely so.”

The entire book is this well written, and it is available for free from multiple online sources if you are interested.

For all of his involvement in the automobile industry, MacManus famously never learned to drive. He once tried to learn and relayed the following: “The car stopped in traffic, and I tried to start it until my irritation led along the road to profanity. Then I left it in the middle of the street and never tried to drive again.” I don’t know about you, but if I gave up activities that led me along the road to profanity, I would not get much accomplished.

1930 Cadillac V16

Sources:

“1941 Willys Line Named Americar; Will Bow at N.Y.” Automotive News [Detroit], 30 Sept 1940, p. 1.

Advertisement. Cadillac. Newark Evening Star, 2 Jan. 1915, p. 5.

Advertisement. Dodge Brothers Six. Rochester Times-Union, 20 Feb. 1929, p. 24.

Advertisement. General Motors. Pittsburgh Sun Telegraph, 19 Feb. 1939, p. 70.

Advertisement. Pontiac. Reading Times, 23 Oct. 1937, p. 10.

“Faith and the State of Graceland Enterprises.” The Independent [London], 15 Aug. 1992, p. 33.

MacManus, Theodore F. and Norman Beasley. “The Levee Men Crowded.” Men, Money, and Motors: The Drama of the Automobile, Harper and Brothers, 1929, p.7

“Motorcar Slogan Expert is Dead.” Kansas City Journal, 13 Sept. 1940, p. 33.

“Noted Automobile Promoter is Dead.” The State Journal [Lansing], 13 Sept. 1940, p. 4.

“Publicity of Fourteen Years Ago is Again Sent Out.” Bergen Evening Record, 23 Feb. 1929. p. 18.

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Ball Players Are Motor Enthusiasts

Early promotional stunts in the automobile industry were often quite inventive, involving things like a “master of endurance” driving for days on end without sleep, driving cars back and forth on a huge teeter-totter and conquering the Grand Canyon. A more conventional method involves the use of athletes as spokesmen, and Velie used this option in 1914 when they hired Major League ball players to drive their cars across the country.

Velie’s story is an interesting one that I have written about before. Its founder, Willard Lamb Velie, was a grandson of John Deere and the Velie automobile was even sold through John Deere dealerships. In November of 1914, Velie hired a few “prominent ball tossers” to engage in some transcontinental touring in order to draw attention to their brand. All stopped off at the Velie plant in Moline before taking various routes to the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco. They included Ivy Olson and Fred Carisch of the Cleveland American League Team and Walter Leverenz of the St. Louis Browns.

The ball players were driving 1915 models, and those were available in a Big Four, a Big Six and the Biltwel with a higher (40) horsepower 6-cylinder Continental engine.

Carisch is the best-known of these players. In 1923, he was coaching for Detroit alongside the legendary Ty Cobb and ended up playing in a game against Cleveland. Cobb had to resort to using the 41-year old Carisch as catcher after the third and last Detroit catcher was ejected from the game. Unfortunately, Detroit still lost to Cleveland, 10-7.

1923 Velie Touring, Model 58
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Early Marketing With the Master of Endurance

 

1926 Pontiac radiator cap

In the pretelevision decade of the 1920s, companies looked for more imaginative ways of garnering publicity for their products.  New world records and other assorted publicity stunts were common ways of drawing attention, and car dealerships were no exception. When GM introduced the Pontiac in 1926, a “Master of Endurance” by the name of  Rosser J. Newman publicly tested the brand new automobile at dealerships around the country.

You may be wondering how someone earns the title “Master of Endurance”.  Apparently Newman did it by setting records in both marathon dancing (217 hours) and roller skating (72 hours).  Once he was something of a household name, the automobile industry began hiring him.  “Master of Publicity” might have been a more suitable moniker since he was able to draw both sponsors and crowds everywhere he performed his endurance test.

It was the same story in every town.  Newman was a one-man publicity machine and large crowds would gather to watch him get handcuffed to the steering wheel of a car that he would then drive for up to 8 days (100-200 hours) without sleep.  Since he was driving on public roads, surely law enforcement considered that a public safety issue, right?  Wrong.  In most towns it was the police chief himself who joined the festivities by cuffing Newman to the steering wheel. 

It was supposed to be an endurance test for the car, so the car’s engine (a straight-six with 186.5 cubic inches) had to run continuously for the entire length of the test.  It was also set to high gear with the shift lever removed, and the hood (and sometimes the crankcase) was sealed so no oil could be added.

Every advertising avenue was exploited.  The car itself was covered with advertisements:

Whichever food and beverage companies sponsored the event were given credit for getting Newman through the grueling ordeal.  In Springfield, Missouri, it was Banquet Ice Cream and Big Boy Bread.  In Louisiana it was Saints Coffee.  In Oklahoma, Coca Cola got the credit and in Nebraska, those honors went to South Side Milk and Collins Ice Cream.  Even Dutch Masters cigars got in on the act in St. Jo, Missouri.

Gas and oil companies like Karetex, Red Seal and Penreco also sponsored the tests as did tire companies like US Tires, Michelin and The General. 

Other businesses were eager to get in on the action, too.  In Springfield, it was advertised that Newman, the marathon dancer, would be un-handcuffed at the Half-A-Hill Dance Hall so that he could dance with the girls.  Since the car had to remain running and was locked into high gear, I can only assume someone had to be there to hold in the clutch while Newman was off tripping the light fantastic.

Working every angle, the public was even invited to come to the showroom and watch an exhausted Newman sleep at the end of the test:

The Pontiac, of course, became a success.  It was economically priced, and that fact helped it survive the depression that proved the death knell for so many other car companies.  I’m not sure how much credit should go to Newman, but the smart marketing strategies certainly didn’t hurt.  Pontiac offered a V-8 in ’32 and then went with straight-eights for ’33 but, until then, Pontiac was the “Chief of the Sixes”.

Promotional coin given out by Pontiac dealerships.
1926 Pontiac at the Classic Car Collection in Kearney, Nebraska.

Sources:

Bruce Motor Car Company. Advertisement. The Nebraska State Journal, 4 August, 1926, p. 7.

“City Dads Start 100 Hour Driver.” The Lincoln Sunday Star, 1 August 1926, p. 3.

Coca-Cola. Advertisement. The Daily Oklahoman, March 18, 1926, p. 13.

Cuban Coffee Mills. Advertisement. The Shreveport Journal, 9 April 1927, p. 15.

F.S. Edwards Tobacco Co. Advertisement. St. Joseph Gazette, 21 July 1926, p. 9.

F.W. Speed & Son. Advertisement. The Corsicana Daily Sun, 27 February 1926, p. 4.

Half-A-Hill. Advertisement. The Springfield Leader, 9 November 1926, p. 8.

Karchmer Oil. Advertisement. The Springfield Leader, 6 November 1926, p. 12.

McCutcheon Bros. Motor Co. Advertisement. The Springfield Leader, 9 November 1926, p. 8.

“Newman Drives Gamely On To A World’s Endurance Record.” The Springfield Leader, 9 November 1926, p. 1.

“Newman Is Off Today at Noon!” The Daily Oklahoman, March 18, 1926, p. 13.

“Newman on Eighth Day of His World Record Endurance Test.” The Springfield Leader, 12 November, 1926, p. 1.

“Pontiac Establishes Word’s Record.” The Daily Oklahoman, 27 March, 1926, p. 3.

Rudd Motor Co., Inc. Advertisement. The Shreveport Journal, 9 April 1927, p. 15.

Springfield Creamery Co. Advertisement. The Springfield Leader, 6 November 1926, p. 12.

“Turning Back The Pages.” St. Joseph Gazette, 13 July 1966.

“200-Hour Drive Starts Today.” The Springfield Leader, 5 November 1926, p. 1.