Ladies Prefer Buicks.... in 1929

[MrEarl]

I wonder if this is still true today....

 

"In an advertisement appearing in a 1929 issue of Ladies Home Journal, Buick claimed that more female drivers preferred Buick over it’s competition because it offered not only better dependability but also the ultimate in comfort and a smooth ride. To quote a statement within the ad…” Buick offers the highest standard of motoring comfort ever attained; and this is one vital reason why more women drive Buicks than any other fine car“."

Source - http://automuseumonline.com/restored-1922-buick-five-passenger-sedan-photos-specs.html

 

Does anyone happen to have this Ladies Journal advertisement to share?

[avgwarhawk]

I do not have any articles but my experience with Buick is....my mother liked to purchase Buicks. She had 2 wagons(66 and 73).  78 Buick Regal coupe(got tired of the large wagons).  Dad had purchased a 83 Regal.    However, Buick did not keep up with in small cars in the flavor of the Ford Escort wagon(good for hauling dogs)  that she purchased after selling me her 78 Regal.  

[avgwarhawk]

Buick certainly did go after ladies....

 

 

 

 

Edited December 3, 2015 by avgwarhawk (see edit history)

[Fr. Buick]

So what's the guy in the green uniform staring at with a big ol' grin?

[MrEarl]

So what's the guy in the green uniform staring at with a big ol' grin?

 

After being in foxholes for 3 years I'm bettin it's not the Buick seat upholstery.

[RivNut]

After being in foxholes for 3 years I'm bettin it's not the Buick seat upholstery.

 

That grin started getting bigger and bigger while he was still on the boat coming home - just thinking about "it" would make anyone grin.  I'm still alive and I'm going to get laid when I get home.

[JohnD1956]

You are a lucky guy Ed! 

[CarNucopia]

This ad is hanging in my family room. The text doesn't match, but the message is similar. I have another ad hanging in my office for a '29 that might match.  

[CarNucopia]

I found the other one I have via Google. It doesn't match either.

[MrEarl]

That grin started getting bigger and bigger while he was still on the boat coming home - just thinking about "it" would make anyone grin.  I'm still alive and I'm going to get laid when I get home.

  

You are a lucky guy Ed!

JD me thinks Ed is speaking for the guy grinning in the ad... Not his grin in his avatar.... Maybe, maybe not... I have always wondered what that grin was all about ;-)

[MrEarl]

This ad is hanging in my family room. The text doesn't match, but the message is similar. I have another ad hanging in my office for a '29 that might match.  

  

I found the other one I have via Google. It doesn't match either.

I've always loved that springtime ad. Thanks for doing that research and posting. The interesting thing is that In the early motor car years many women never even got behind the wheel of a car. Thinking back, only 3 out of 9 of my aunts ever drove, my mom never did.

[CarNucopia]

   I've always loved that springtime ad. Thanks for doing that research and posting. The interesting thing is that In the early motor car years many women never even got behind the wheel of a car. Thinking back, only 3 out of 9 of my aunts ever drove, my mom never did.

 

What's funny to me is that they call the car "easy to drive". I'm guessing women who did drive were pretty strong back then because the effort required to drive my car is anything but easy.

[RivNut]

   JD me thinks Ed is speaking for the guy grinning in the ad... Not his grin in his avatar.... Maybe, maybe not... I have always wondered what that grin was all about ;-)

Mr. Earl is correct, I'm referring to the GI just back from WWII. 

 

Most of my 20 years in the military was spent in the Kansas National Guard.  I must say that I did a remarkable job at it.  My MOS was 11H40 (Infantry, anti-armor,) and at no time in the history of the U.S. did one Soviet tank ever make it into NE Kansas.

 

I'm grinnin' just thinking about what a hoot it is to be associated with you guys.  Actually that picture was taken when we had our ROA meet in Monterey, CA; the ocean is quite a spectacle for a Kansan.

 

Ed

[avgwarhawk]

So what's the guy in the green uniform staring at with a big ol' grin?

 

 

If you look closely he is fixated on the rear and not of the rear of the car.

 

Let's analyze the advertisement.   

 

1946 the war is over.  

The picture depices a sailor, infantryman, a businessman on the right and what appears to be perhaps a retired gentleman on the left.     There are two women in the car and more than likely not working at the factories for the war any longer.  Who by the way had some money to spend that was saved from factory work.  The advertisement appeals to all for 1946 but mostly the women.   Driving this car not only interest the men in the Buick itself but the lovely ladies inside.   We are witnessing the advertising of  a promising future for all.  Prosperity and a sense of accomplishment.  

 

Note the play on words... Slip into this honey....  Honey as in sweet Buick and honey as in sweetheart.  "It's a fashion plate..."  Obviously pointed at the women.

Edited December 7, 2015 by avgwarhawk (see edit history)

[avgwarhawk]

 

 

It is plainly obvious Buick had their mark in the car selling segment.  

[avgwarhawk]

Look who is driving...

 

 

[avgwarhawk]

This topic made me dig a bit more on Buick and advertising.  I found an interesting article that concerns Buick and The Saturday Evening Post.

 

 

David Dunbar Buick was running a successful plumbing-supply business in the 1880s when he became interested in automobiles and gasoline engines. He sold his business and sank his money into a new company: Buick Auto-Vim and Power Company. Although a gifted designer, Buick was never a great businessman. He repeatedly ran into cash shortages and was always looking for more investors.

After his first company folded, Buick started another on May 19, 1903, and named it the Buick Motor Car Company.

Shortly after the company moved to Flint, Michigan, it signed on William Durant as general manager and director. Durant provided the business skills that Buick lacked, and eventually built the company into automotive giant, General Motors.

 

http://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2015/08/19/art-entertainment/illustrations/vintage-auto-ads-buick.html

 

 

Interesting note:

Buick celebrated total sales of 150,000 vehicles in this 1913 ad, which also mentioned that electric starter motors were now standard equipment.

 

 

The electric starter certainly was a selling point for the ladies.  Handcrank was dangerous and hard.

[50jetback]

1936 advertising seemed to feature women driving the sportier models

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1936-Buick-Century-Convertible-Coupe-Factory-Photo-ad2490-AJJ7CY-/370775104277?hash=item5653eb1b15:g:x7oAAOxyYSJR9mCw

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1936-Buick-40-Special-Convertible-Coupe-Factory-Photo-c5086-GEIY1Y-/370860577490?hash=item56590352d2:g:NVAAAMXQ56ZR9nWh

 

Things look a little crowded in the front seat, some blokes just have all the luck.

Edited December 27, 2015 by 50jetback (see edit history)

[1928Buick]

Believe it or not...Buick was one of the first if not The first automobile brand to market their ads toward women. Starting in around 1915/16. While Buick did not think of this strategy on their own, they did "take the leap" of faith before ANY other manufacturers dared to. The answer lies in New York, and not in the automobile world, but the world of advertising. Psychology as we know it today was a new budding concept in the medical field. To some, it was newfound brilliance in understanding the human condition, to others, the stodgy old 'science' minded establishment...it was hogwash, and snake oil, and had no redeeming value in the treatment of human health. Madison avenue advertising firm(s), started rethinking the nature of "advertising" a product. Perceptive ad-men, read all they could about "psychology" and conjured up what we now call, Market Research. What they found, was what they already knew as married men. Women held the power over buying decisions. How many men lamented to their buddies that they wanted something, but would have to pass it by the missus (the boss) first, for her approval.  Before this time, henpecked husband's never revealed the truth to their buddies or co-workers during lunch hour, about the 'truth' of the power structure at home, preferring to maintain an perception that they were king of the roost, and no woman will ever tell me what I can or can not do. With the explosion in the teens and twenties of new, creative, and 'psycholigical' use of advertising images and text, men realized that they weren't 'alone' with the bossy wife, but that all men had the same issue of the woman controlling the purse strings. Buick was I believe the first car manufacturer to take a chance, and market their product toward women.  Not because women were their true market, no, men were, but because they realized if they could sell the woman of the house, the man would be able to buy the car. As far as Buicks being "easy" to drive for a woman during the 24-28,29 era....that was true.  Many restored antique Buicks do not drive like fresh factory originals. They steer with one finger, they stop with minimal pedal effort, they shift smoothly with low revs, and there is a plethora of photo documentation to prove women driving in the 20's and 30's. Mostly city women, not farm women, but yes, Buicks in factory spec, are 'easy' cars to drive. One must remember what the human experience of this generation of people had lodged in their memory banks. these where people born in the Victorian era. They knew cold, work, and effort like we can't imagine in this 21st century. What we think of as crude, primitive, and effort filled, was luxurious, powerful, and convenient. The marketing to women by Buick, to gain the sale from a man, was daring and brilliant of Buick, and we can be very proud of that fact. Another Buick 'FIRST' !