Vintage Ad: 1929 Ford Station Wagon – The Roots Of The Country Squire
– Posted on August 5, 2021
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I had a model kit (one of scores as a kid) of a 1931 Ford station wagon. I do remember hunting for just the right colors of Testor’s model paint for the wood trim and panels. IIRC, I painted the “metal” parts dark green (my car, my choice) and the seats were a flat desert tan. I didn’t do military vehicles but I was aware there were flat and gloss versions of certain colors and tried to use them appropriately on what were mostly model automobiles.
You remind me that I had one of the Hubley metal models of this car – I think I painted mine dark green too.
“You remind me that I had one of the Hubley metal models of this car – I think I painted mine dark green too.”
I bet many here had all the various Hubley Metal Models back when, I certainly did .
The are works on the boxes was fantastic .
-Nate
“I bought a ’30 Ford wagon and we call it a woodie” — music and lyrics by Brian Wilson
So this is what Jan & Dean were singing about, it sure wasn’t what was in their video.
I’ve never been able to tell if the lyric is “’30 Ford wagon” or “’34 wagon” of unspecified make. The “34” on the door seems to support the latter.
Interesting that the video uses a different recording than the 45 or album version.
That artwork is awesome. Would love to have that in poster size!
Yes. A bit Tintinesque. Not just illustration, but with a modern art aspect to it.
Nice .
-Nate
Both the artwork and the text are masterpieces. Though I’m not sure what attributes make fenders “capable”, aside from their protective capabilities. And I’m not sure I’d have used the terms “speed”, “power”, and especially “alert performance” to describe the Model A engine. But I like the “artificial Spanish leather”. Is that fake leather from Spain, or real leather in a Spanish style, but from American cows?
@ Dman ;
Until you drive a stock ‘A’ model Ford you cannot imagine how peppy they were .
The camshaft profile was very aggressive, they had perhaps too much lift and so wore quickly .
It’s a small four cylinder engine yet very brisk .
-Nate
Fair enough, I was probably stereotyping the thought of a small side valve four in an 8 passenger wagon. Actually, a Model A is on the short list of cars that I’ve never driven, and would love to try (I haven’t driven a huge variety of cars, but my list of desirable ones is pretty short now that I’ve driven a Ferrari, a Porsche 911, a Lotus 7, a Peterbilt 359 and a Tesla). About ten years ago I chatted with a guy who pulled into a curbside parking spot in a Model A sedan while we were waiting outside a movie theater. He had upgraded to hydraulic brakes (and maybe 16” rims? Still skinny tires and spoked wheels, but a bit more modern); he said he would drive the car anywhere; it was much more usable
Yes .
Don’t mistake me for saying they’re perfect as they’re not but when new they were pretty damn close .
The brakes by design were bad : they had 60% braking on the rear because most roads were dirt and front brakes would easily lock up and cause skidding & loss of steering control .
Plus the rollers on the brake shoes was simply bad engineering, the aftermarket Fulton “brake floaters” fixed that as did the easy to change operating lever from front to rear and vise – versa .
There’s no reason to change to hydraulic brakes unless you want to use wider tires as the factory brakes once sorted and properly adjusted (you need to adjust all the operating levers) will easily overcome the traction of the narrow stock tires .
I love the Peterbuilt 379’s and miss our fleet of them .
The other bad thing is the steering ~ it’s _very_ heavy, again because of the rutted and pot holed dirt roads at the time, you can hit a chuck holes at speed and the steering wheel doesn’t jerk in your hands because NO BUMP STEER .
The fix is simple : find a ’53 ~ ’56 Ford F1 pickup truck steering box , it bolts right up, you only need to have the sector shaft machined square to accept the ‘A’ models pitman arm .
Hot Rodders discard freshly rebuilt F1 steering boxes all the time .
There’s a reason so many early Fords were sold and remain on the road t – day .
-Nate
I agree with Nate on the speed – I once read that in its day the Model A could supposedly give any car on the road a run for its money up to 35 or 40 mph. Mine was easily far more satisfactory for modern driving in terms of power than in terms of brakes.
Hooray for **anything** to do with Ford wagons–this is a delightful ad!
Just yesterday the TV told me that one of our Olympians was from “Iron Mountain, Michigan,” which brought to mind Ford’s wood-body operation there.
Several 1920s-40s photos here:
https://www.thehenryford.org/collections-and-research/digital-collections/search-results#tab=artifact-results&terms=%22iron%20mountain%22&years=0-0&perPage=10&pageNum=1&sortBy=relevance
Somewhat of a CC Effect; I drove through Iron Mountain last month, on a 6500 mile road trip, in our new Ford. I knew nothing of its history. My first time in Michigan since a job interview I had in 1976 … with Ford. Thanks for posting this.
Edit: one of the photos in this collection shows the process for “distilling” wood scraps left over from body manufacturing, into chemicals used, among other things, for the “artificial leather” upholstery.
dman, I’m happy that was of interest, and thrilled with everything the Henry Ford Museum puts online for us. Iron Mountain is only four hours from my present home, and I should find a way to visit on some UP trip someday…..
Thanks for reading closely enough to pick out the “artificial leather” & distilling story—very cool!
Thanks for posting that map — I’ve never seen that before, so it’s great to visualize just where Ford’s facilities were located. Plus, we’re considering a trip to Michigan’s UP next summer, so that’s an added bonus for me.
I don’t have with me my Standard Catalog of Ford, but I think I remember that the woodie was quite expensive, probable because of all the materials and labor. But what I don’t know is if it would have been bought by someone in a city or suburb as a primary means of transport just for the sake of the space. I don’t believe it had any kind of status related to a normal A, did it?
During the prewar years, station wagons were bought by wealthy buyers who wanted a car to pick up passengers, and their luggage, at the train station for transport to the country estate. Posh resorts also bought them to ferry guests, and their luggage, from the train station to the hotel, and back.
Wealthy buyers no doubt also owned a Cadillac, Lincoln, Packard or Pierce-Arrow for formal occasions.
A surprisingly contemporary sounding and looking ad for a vehicle that’s almost 100 years old. Makes me wonder if Ford was using the same agency right through the 1960’s.
robadr, the Internet seems to tell me that Ford used the industry’s biggest, J. Walter Thompson (and it’s successor WPP) for some 75 years, up to fairly recently (That wouldn’t include prewar, of course):
https://adage.com/article/agency-news/a-back-ford-s-wpp-relationship/315267
Wooden lifeboat has a prominent place in the ad. This was less than two decades after the Titanic went down and no doubt the ad was trying to tie the sturdiness of wooden vehicles together in buyers’ minds.
The first sentence in the ad claims that this station wagon will meet the needs of “large estates, country clubs and families having summer homes in the country or by the seashore.” Meaning, wealthy buyers who probably wouldn’t have ever bothered with a Model T. But here was a Ford Model A being pitched directly to them.
Last night my wife and I were out for an evening walk, and Model A roadster drove by (pre-CC Effect?). What struck me was the smell of the exhaust after the car had passed us…I could only imagine what it must have been like in the “good old days” when all cars on the road left that exhaust “scent” in their wake.
The “old days” unfortunately were only 40 years ago, pre-unleaded gas and catcons, as I’m reminded whenever I’m in the wake of a 60s or 70s car.
The exhaust of this one smelled far worse than the exhaust of a 1970s car. Federal emissions controls were phased in during the early 1970s, and catalytic converters (requiring the use of unleaded gasoline) were first installed on vehicles during the 1975 model year.
The only way a 1970s car could smell that bad was if it was badly out of tune.
Yes, Geeber, you’re right, I should have said 60s or early-70s cars. The Clean Air Act Amendments bill was signed into law on December 31,1970 mandating a decrease in HC and CO emissions by 90% relative to the 1970 standards for 1975 cars, with gradually reduced levels in the intervening years.
I can tell when a pre-1973 car drives by even without looking. It smells like my flathead carbureted lawnmower. Thank goodness for cats and fuel injection.
This sounds like Ford’s target buyer: “Yaddo” was the upper-crust music/arts festival at Saratoga Springs, NY; it’s 1934, and they’re selling off their 1929 after five years of careful use:
Many ‘A’ Model Ford magazine adverts said “55 ~ 60 MPH !” .
The crankshafts were not balanced (although the adverts claimed they were) so trailing throttle created incredible harmonic vibrations that would buzz the entire vehicle and blur the rear view mirror .
These were Commercial cars so lots of in town hotels and delivery service business used them, not a few thrifty family men bought then to haul large broods ’round it too .
Pickups all came with 4.11 ratio final drive gears, I *think* the woodies did too as they were heavy even unloaded .
They had a manual carburator mixture control on the dash board, some don’t understand it’s proper use so you may have been smelling excess fuel burning, back then as long as it didn’t leave a blue cloud behind it oil consumption wasn’t much concern .
Leaded fuel also has a *very* different exhaust smell, I miss it greatly .
The “Good Old Dayze” means : eye watering smog in every city, there are plenty of 1930’s vintage movies of Los Angeles, Boston, New York and Michigan that all have hazy skies .
Most of that pollution wasn’t from vehicles, it was from manufacturing .
A tall smoke stack pouring out dense clouds if black smoke was considered a very good thing, money, progress & indu$try .
-Nate
Don’t be fooled by the advertising, these vehicles weren’t just for the country club set.
Many Americans back then had a summer place – it didn’t have to be fancy – it just needed to be out of the filthy hot cities during the summers. Many still had roots to the countryside where they grew up, and families living away from factories. Many men were summer bachelors while their wives and children summered down on the farms.
So these vehicles were available to those who needed to move their families for the summer. Those who couldn’t take the trains to their rural homesteads, needed a vehicle like this. Remember, there were still quite a few places in the US where horses were the mode of transportation.
The clothing, style, names and mannerisms presented in these types of ads aren’t much different from the clothing, style, names and mannerisms of any auto ads, in any era.
Thanks for this great stuff. As far as the Iron Mtn. discussion goes, well my Mom was born there. As kids we would visit several times a year. It is a really interesting place with a ton of good things to explore and see. There was a ski area with a great alpine ski jump, and Cowboy Lake, both worth a visit.
These ads, by then Ford ad agency N.W. Ayer were part of conscious effort led by Edsel Ford to portray the Model A as a Baby Lincoln. Not only for the wagons, but all models. They featured similar but not identical illustration styles, and very upscale locations. Legendary art director Charles Coiner was behind it all – he also designed the WWII Civil Defense symbols.