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.”
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.
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.
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.