very cool advertising

 

http://progress-is-fine.blogspot.com/2022/03/jordan-playboy-lifestyle-advertising.html

illustrator Fred Cole, had an unusual and superb technique in advertising, he left out parts of cars rather than being conventional and depicting the whole thing. That is, cars were suggested rather than portrayed.

 

Like the dozens of small companies making cars in those days, Jordan faced stiff competition from major automobile makers. It was hardly a contest. The mass-produced Ford, for instance, sold for about $500 while Jordan barely could cover costs by selling his models for five times that amount. His favorite model, the Jordan “Playboy,” was an undistinguished roadster, in features much the same as any other then on the market.

Sales flattened out in 1922 and Jordan, worried that his sales strategy might have been in error, decided to travel to the West Coast to relax and, perhaps, rethink his approach. How could his company survive in the face of stiff competition from dozens of other makers?

The 41-year-old car maker and a colleague from the company rode a Union Pacific passenger train. As the train was passing through southern Wyoming, Jordan glanced out the window. There, in the waning sunset, he saw a beautiful young woman riding her horse alongside the train for a short distance, as if to race the locomotive. The sight so impressed Jordan that he turned to his companion and asked where they were. “Somewhere west of Laramie,” was the reply.

Throughout the rest of the trip, Jordan thought about the incident and the image of the fast horse and beautiful young woman racing the train. Back home, he sketched out an advertisement for his car using the phrase, “Somewhere west of Laramie.” The copy made no mention of the car’s price, its engine size or quality.

http://artcontrarian.blogspot.com/2019/05/fred-coles-suggestively-incomplete-car.html

https://www.carstyling.ru/en/entry/Jordan_Advertising_Art_by_Fred_Cole_1923/images/10884/

see https://carstyling.ru/en/entry/Lincoln_Advertising_Art_1924_1926/images/4892 for many more

traditional hot rodding

In the August '74 issue of Rod Action, is the great story that Harrison Miler wrote about his scrounged-together roadster which combined a '26 Jordan body, a '35 Ford truck grille, a stepped '28 Model A frame, '36 Chevy steering column/wheel and a '39 Merc flathead.

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/vintage-shots-from-days-gone-by-part-2.1154030/page-380#post-13432145

The old fashioned VIN plates in the 1920s were quite different than you're used to

https://libwww.freelibrary.org/digital/item/55510

It's been a while since I've found one at a car show...

this one from 2012 is the first one I recall finding
https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2013/12/the-runner-ups-from-2012-archives-also.html

https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2015/04/1929-chrysler-model-75.html  here's one from 2015 on a 1929 Chrysler, it's similar but interestingly different

https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2017/06/1928-chrysler-model-77-one-with-cool.html

1930 Stutz https://rmsothebys.com/en/auctions/mo10/auction/lots/r186-1930-stutz-model-m-supercharged-coupe

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=2263958580723053&set=pcb.3662685597358674

here's a cleaner image

https://forums.aaca.org/topic/341211-period-images-to-relieve-some-of-the-stress/page/391/

Shorpy.com, long esteemed source of really old photos, has much more vehicle content now, than the last time I had time to admire the photography there... take a look at this Jordan on a fresh buldozed road

Shorpy never used to have such a cool set of photos from an old promo photo shoot.. this is very cool!

http://www.shorpy.com/

1932 Jordan Playboy

such an ornate instrument cluster reminds me of the 1929 Hudson panel http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2012/04/one-of-5-specially-constructed-1929.html

Receipts for cars they bought, (Jordan and 32 Ford) among the many things that his grandparents kept, and They Kept Everything

from Frank at http://familyephemera.tumblr.com/

11/23/28 my (Franks)  Great Grandmother purchased a green 1929 Jordan RE Sedan for $1290. My Great Grandfather had recently passed away so maybe that’s why she kept this receipt (better safe than sorry kind’a thing). This great looking auto was built in Cleveland, which is a nice reminder of how that city competed, and lost, against Detroit as a center of auto manufacturing. The sales contract lists some interesting add-on options that they bought including 1 brake light, and not 1 but 2 bumpers that my family splurged on. It also states that this beast of a car came with an engine that put out 27.3 horsepower. I would guess that it did 0 to 60 in about half a day.

10/27/33 my Grandfather traded in the Jordan for a used 1932 Ford Deluxe Coupe which is indeed the classic Little Deuce Coupe. He received $130.70 for his Jordan on the purchase of the Ford, which cost $443.70. This Ford is just great looking and has a rumble seat. What a cool concept those things were. I’m sure they disappeared for some good reasons, yet still wouldn’t it be cool to own a car that had one. (people in rumble seats were horribly injured in car crashes)

Jordan Playboy advertisement 1923 paintings by Fred Cole

For the entire series, see  http://www.carstyling.ru/en/entry/Jordan_Advertising_Art_by_Fred_Cole_1923/

The spring Big 3 swapmeet at Qualcomm stadium had a lot of little cool old hubcaps

The above box was across the walk from another booth with the following hub caps, and look inthe above, a single Essex, below, a trio. Were they destined to meet at Qualcomm and be reunited? Well, I pointed out the obvious to the sellers who looked across the aisle at each other, and maybe they'll do those Essex hub caps a solid favor, and work out a deal to make it a foursome.

And a gas cap