Vintage Toaster Advertising...uh!

Nov/Dec 2018 edition
Issue #2 AutoMobilia Resource Magazine
David Kayser

As vintage automobile sales literature and related printed advertising materials are found in just about every vintage car enthusiasts automobilia collection, it makes it a niche worth examining.
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Considering that as far I know, there is no significant community of eager enthusiasts seeking out, say, vintage toaster advertising, what is it about vintage automobile advertising that accounts for a vibrant worldwide market for buying and selling this stuff?  
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All advertising relies on a combination of alluring graphics with engaging ad copy and text, to engage and seduce its target audience by making the product appear desirable in both in form and function. Hopefully this leads to serious consideration, ending in a purchase.

1955 Ford Thunderbird car brochure. Certainly a blatantly targeted campaign to women drivers.

1960 Pontiac Bonneville Safari car brochure.

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From the beginning, the car inspired a more significant hold on our collective imaginations. Once owning a car had become a part of everyday living, advertising became less focused on mechanical attributes that had by now become universal and instead presented even the most mundane car as a form of personal expression beyond just its utility of transportation. This was achieved by copywriters triggering the allure of escape to the open road and an appeal to individualism.
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Much of the over-the-top advertising prose from the 1950’s into the 60’s has resulted in a belated appreciation for its kitschy appeal, especially when seen through the cold cynical eyes bombarded by today’s sophisticated and “oh so hip” marketing matrix.

Pegaso 2B car brochure.

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Those actively interested in collecting literature tend to fall into two groups; 1) those who are agnostic as to marque or era, but find the historical context or format of a particularly lavish catalogue intriguing and 2) the more prevalent type of collector who seeks out literature strictly supporting only the cars they own, or remember from their youth.
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Future columns will explore the literature marketplace in more detail and how the intersection of rarity, market fad and fashion determine prices as to what’s valuable and which material has experienced a gradual loss of interest.
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I look forward to exploring in more detail marque specific collecting such as Porsche, Ferrari, and American Muscle Cars, as well as the always fascinating odd and obscure printed advertising of those ambitious but doomed  automobile ventures that flamed out leaving only the examples of printed optimism behind as remnants to mark their place.
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David Kayser

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