We’re all familiar with the Studebaker Scotsman, that ultra-stripped thrift-mobile. But Studebaker wasn’t the only one playing to that stereotype. This Chevy ad doesn’t come out and actually say the word, unlike the next one.
Vintage Ads: Reinforcing Stereotypes
– Posted on January 11, 2023
There’s also the Nash/Rambler Flying Scot six-cylinder engine
Being a descendent of Highlanders, Clan Gunn of Caithness, I have no issue with the stereotype of “Thrifty” Scots. Have lived all my life comfortably. With all the accoutrements of an upper middle class life without all the outlandish hautiness. we leave that to the Sassenachs.
Speaking of the “thrifty Scot” stereotype — I feel compelled to add the amusing contribution (at least from a 2022 perspective) of the venerable American hifi company, McIntosh.
McIntosh’s early days were marked by truly innovative engineering… and thoroughly contemporary advertising. 🙂
Here’s an example (1950s Mac ad scan from my Flickr account):
https://flic.kr/p/jDL8HY
Today’s McIntosh aims at a rather more upscale and fashion-conscious audience. 🙂 Nary a kilt t’be seen, but the savvy Mac fan can purchase McIntosh towels that look like (very) large blue audio power output meters! 🙂
oops, make that 2023! 😉
As long as I am correcting my error — here’s a link to the authentic 2023-era McIntosh swag I mentioned above. Besides the aforementioned towel, shirts, and a beanie, don’t miss the MCLK-12 clock!
https://shop.mcintoshlabs.com/collections/gifts
McIntosh was in early with high-end audio components, and the only such brand I was already familiar with as a kid. Nowadays you can get a McIntosh sound system in your new Jeep Grand Wagoneer, complete with the iconic blue meters on one of its many screens. I often think car manufacturers like to link up with audio equipment companies such as Bose or JBL more for the value of their famous brand names than any expertise they may have in designing audio systems, but McIntosh was heavily involved in the Jeep setup.
Having been a regular visitor to the UK, I’ve gotten to know plenty of Scots, and my descendants are Scots-Irish, hailing from the southwest corner of Scotland. The Scots I know actually think the image of being thrifty is [as they say over there] “Spot-On!” To them it’s not a slight to their heritage, it’s telling the truth!
I was at a UK vintage car show in the late 1980s, and I met a Scot who had actually bought and shipped a restored Studebaker Scotsman sedan. He said compared to most 1950s British lower priced cars, the Scotsman was better equipped with standard items. For example, he said the seats were more comfortable than an Austin, Standard, or Morris.
Completely agree, my Scottish mum was proud of the thrifty Scottish image, heritage and stereotype.
Thrifty and economical aren’t synonymous with “cheap “, (at least in her opinion) but are more about value. A Scot has the education and awareness to recognize a bargain, and maximize utility.
However, as an advertising trope, it seems to have fallen out of favor, I haven’t seen it used in advertising for at least forty years.
The exception to the rule: Chrysler Highlander.
Bill: I’ve worked with Brits in my life and the phrase “spot-on” was frequently used. In fact “Spot-On” was the brand name of a very British series of die-cast toy cars that competed with (but were not as successful as) Dinky and Corgi. I have a few Spot-On models that I got when in the UK.
I often read or hear “spot-on” described as a Britishism, but it’s been a common phrase in the U.S. too (meaning “super accurate”) as long as I can remember.
…especially in the dry cleaning business…
I think Spot-On die cast cars were made by Tri-ang, a company which over time had ties with Meccano/Dinky and currently is a brand of the French diecast manufacturer Norev.
dman,
You are correct. For decades I was a major collector/seller of antique toys, and you are ‘spot-on’ with the toys having been made by Tri-Ang, from [I believe] 1959 to 1967. What most people don’t realize is they were made in Northern Ireland, not England!
The history of the Tri-Ang company logo is something I find quite interesting. The company was founded by the 3 Lines brothers, so the original logo is of a triangle [3 lines] with 3 Angle corners, inside a circle, and around the 3 sides of the triangle are the 3 words Lines, Bros, & Group.
The 1958 recession probably was why Chevy did a “thrifty” ad. Mid price Buick, Pontiac and Olds lost sales, and DeSoto/Edsel were mortally wounded.
Chevy did OK, though. Maybe ‘mid price’ buyers went to them to save $, but have a ‘fancy looking’ car? Little did most folks know what was coming for ’59!
1958 was the first salvo in what would become the demise of the mid-priced brands in the 21st century. Only Buick survives today, and that’s only because of its popularity in China.
Sounds tempting to go there, but that is really too much of a stretch to claim with any certitude. Before the 1957 salvo – there was the 1953 salvo. Ask Packard how well they did in 1953. Or Kaiser.
Oh wait –
Vanilladude,
Yep, the big Ford — GM price war certainly caused problems with the smaller manufacturers, and some historians believe that had stodgy ‘ol Chrysler not drastically re-tooled their entire line-up for the 1955-6 “Million-Dollar Look”, then the 1957 “Forward Look” cars, Chrysler could have bit the dust as well.
Chrysler is arguably a mid-priced car that survives today; it was positioned below Imperial in 1958 but above other Mopar brands. It went a bit downmarket during the DaimlerChrysler era and hasn’t really recovered.
Could this be a non-offensive stereotype?
This is a culture living in a severely challenging environment, often in abject poverty, left to eating oats, and sheep offal that is washed down with whiskey. Half the inhabitants with carrot-red hair and pale albino-white skin. Forced to use goat stomachs to create “music” from bagpipes. These people are so poor, they can’t afford undergarments under their drafty dresses. They left Scotland by the thousands to avoid famine and arrived here in the US to thrive in Appalachia. Face it, the Scots were “thrifty” so that they wouldn’t die.
It is a cultural stereotype. A dated one too.
I grew up with “Scot Food” labels in our pantry. This was the generic equivalent of “eat this or go without”. Their chocolate ice cream was so cheaply made, it tasted more like a cigarette butt than a chocolate. Scot Food cans of corn included chunks of the husk. As kids, we used to call the brand “Not Food”.
When I read these old ads, I cringe. The idea that a poverty-striken culture that turned scraping by with corporal punishment as “being thrifty” is as hard to swallow as any of that Scot Food products we bought because we were working blue-class poor.
When you bought a Studebaker Scotsman, did you get a free “Dutch Lunch” too to share with your Dutch Uncle and cook in your Dutch oven? Could they “Welsh” on any deals? I bet these were offers only during “Indian Summer”, right?
Paul – you are right, but I’m just cracking up with the responses here!
My dementia bit me again – “Scot Lad” foods were distributed throughout the Chicagoland and Midwest, not “Scot Food”.
In California at least, Safeway stores sold Scotch Buy as their cheapest house brand. Lucerne, another name later used for cars, was their usual house brand. Now it’s Signature. I think Scotch Buy disappeared in the early ‘80’s.
Of those Safeway store brands, Scotch Buy had the best logo:
FWIW, I never said or suggested that it was an offensive stereotype.
I remember Scot Gas stations popping up in the late ’50s at least in the Wash. DC metro area. I believe they were a penny or two cheaper than the standard brands.
Yes! It was the discount gas station of choice when I was a young driver in the DC area…and when my parents insisted that I refill the tank before bringing the car home.
I just cannot remember for the life of me where the Scot station was in Bethesda….
Likely “Old Georgetown Rd/Wisconsin Ave” area.
Next to Tate Lumber evidently, but I can’t find any reference to a current or former business by that name anywhere in Maryland. I don’t recognize anything else in that photo either.
Phone From Car! It’s been a long time since I’ve seen that sign…
It’s sure a catchy-looking building for a gas station though. Wonder what’s upstairs from that prominent staircase.
Jeff,
Now you’ve got me thinking back thru dusty cobwebs in my mind. I was raised in the Bethesda – Chevy Chase – Kensington – Rockville areas starting when I was 5, and as a child of thrifty Scots-Irish parents who usually filled up at the GEM station [where the White Flint Mall was eventually built, then razed 30 years later], I am trying to place that very unusual station, an image that I would have thought impossible to forget!
I don’t think it was on Wisconsin Ave / Rockville Pike [Rt 355] or University Blvd [AKA East-West Highway], & Georgetown Rd. I’m wondering if it might have been on one of the roads connecting Rt 355 & Georgetown Rd, perhaps in the Woodmont Triangle?
I’ve asked the Bethesda historical society for help, will let the group know what they come up with.
I remember “Hess” and something starting with “M”. (“Merit”?) It’ll come to me at some point..lol
The 58 Chevy wasn’t just 9 ordinary inches longer, but 9 lively inches. Which everyone knows are better. 🙂
As one who is not a Scot, I will leave the ethnic stereotype for others to discuss. I’m of Irish heritage myself, so I guess I’ll grab some whiskey and spin some tales before the fighting breaks out. 🙂
LOL
9 lively inches – holy moly – how did I miss that one?
Scrooge McDuck was a rich Scotsduck tighter than any drum.
There’s that stereotype again, courtesy of Disney.
Thankfully, being from Chicago, I am completely unaware of any Irish stereotypes – HA.
A bloated, one-year-only body “For A Reason”.
Ethnic European stereotyping was popular in 1950s US, probably because we’d spent so much unpleasant time over there in the previous 35 years:
HEAVEN is where:
The police are British
The chefs Italian
The mechanics are German
The lovers are French
And it’s all organized by the Swiss
HELL is where:
The police are German
The chefs are British
The mechanics are French
The lovers are Swiss
And it’s all organized by the Italians
Way before my time. I will say that the ranked best Indian/Pakistani food I ever had was in:
1. Bangalore
2. Hong Kong
3. London
Good One!
Thrifty, that’s a term that could have been used for any recent immigrants. Whether they came from impoverished areas of Europe, or other parts of the world. People are thrifty because they don’t have the means to be wasteful, or indulgent. It’s a strategy for survival and eventual financial security. Combine that with an ethic of hard work, and success in America would surely follow. These traits would be valued, and passed on through the first couple of generations. Once they became fully assimilated Americans they would likely loosen up quite a bit. Americans like their comfort and luxuries!
I grew up in a pretty diverse city, and I picked up on the subtle and often unsubtle stereotypes that were attributed to various ethnic groups. Some were kind of benign, like the thrifty Scot, the hard working but inscrutable Chinese, the family tie bound Italians, the unserious nature of the Irish, and the oh so proper WASPs. I didn’t have much contact with Jewish people and didn’t understand why some people didn’t like them. Weren’t they supposed to be thrifty also?
Growing up with African Americans, as well as being Mexican American, I never really accepted the negative cultural stereotypes that were attributed to these groups. Just when it seemed that society was becoming more inconclusive, things seem to be heading in the other direction. Oh well, my family lived the American Dream, and I’m still cautiously optimistic for the future.
All of those South Bay Area Chevy dealers listed in the ad are gone, most recently (under the same name as 1958, at least) Raines in Sunnyvale. When we lived in Mountain View, now famous for Google, there was a Chevy dealer there, only a few miles from Raines, but none in Los Altos another mile or two north, as shown in the ad. Perhaps the Mtn View dealership replaced the one in Los Altos. That 5172 El Camino Real address no longer exists, and is now a multi-unit office building bearing a 5150 street number, and I actually worked in that building briefly in 1989. That’s about my closest link with a ‘58 Chevy that I can think of.
“5150” ~ ha .
Another Scots-Irish man here, I remember anything cheap was sold with some sort of plaid and / or Scot’s connection, so what .
All those base model Highlanders etc. had plaid seats, I liked them but I’m guessing theyre were there to let everyone _else_ know you were the penny pinching typ .
Plaid seat covers in VW & Porsche automobiles were a big fad in the 1950’s .
Haggis ~ I can’t imagine eating it, I hate chitterlings too .
This new years we had the traditional chitterlings, this was the first time I’ve ever not smelled the pig shyte in them .
-Nate
Don’t forget GMC with their plaid valve covers on their V6’s back in the 60’s.
*exactly* .
-Nate
Since 1961, Canadian automotive retail giant Canadian Tire Corporation, featured ‘trifty’ Scotsman Sandy McTire on their in-store legal tender. Canadian Tire money somewhat being a historical Canadian icon. I think anyone who has shopped at Canadian Tire, has bought something at some point, using CTC bills. Denominations have gone from 1 cent to two dollars.
According to Wikipedia: “In the mid-1990s, a man in Germany was caught with up to $11 million in counterfeit Canadian Tire money. It was recovered before he left for Canada to redeem it.” 🙂
The joke was we’d tell visiting Americans that Sandy was Canada’s first Prime Minister.
The actual PM was Sir John A Macdonald, so it wasn’t much of a stretch…..
Wow, I can only imagine how much better your life would be for having purchased $11 million of merchandise at Canadian Tire 🙂 How many frying pans and cheap socket sets can a person stand?
Wow, I never made the connection of the guy on the CT money being a ‘thrifty scot’!
OK, since no one has mentioned it here yet, there’s “Scotch Tape”. Which if you’re my age is the generic name given to all brands of “transparent tape”, but in fact it’s a trademarked name of the 3M company that invented transparent tape. Sort of like Coke or Kleenex.
The real connection to CC is that this name has nothing to do with anyone from Scotland inventing the stuff, but rather ties back to the fact that the tape was originally invented for auto painting purposes, and early adopters complained that the tape was lacking in adhesive. It was said that only a Scotsman would be stingy enough to produce tape with that little adhesive.
https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/history-you-asked/who-invented-scotch-tape
3M took the bait and started marketing the tape with the name Scotch Tape and a tartan logo. And the rest was history. 🙂
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kptp9SmM5Y&ab_channel=SaturdayNightLive
Because if it’s no Scottish…it’s CRAP!!!
The fun part: go say “Scotch tape” to someone anywhere in the UK, including Scotland, and you’ll get the local variant of “Huh?”. Because there, the genericised trademark is Sellotape.
lol just posted the same thing at the same time… (well almost, mine was two minutes later)
Ironically, in Scotland the so-common-it’s-generic brand of adhesive tape is Sellotape, not Scotch.
Courtesy of Politico:
On September 23, 1944 President Franklin D. Roosevelt, campaigning successfully for a fourth term during World War II, derisively defended Fala, his black Scottie, against a Republican political attack.
The campaign of his GOP rival, New York Gov. Thomas Dewey, had been blasting the Roosevelt administration as corrupt and incompetent. It falsely accused FDR of sending a U.S. Navy destroyer to pick up Fala after purportedly he had been left behind during a presidential visit to the Aleutian Islands in Alaska in 1943, following their recapture from Japanese invaders.
In a nationally broadcast speech, the president said: “These Republican leaders have not been content with attacks on me, or my wife, or on my sons. No, not content with that, they now include my little dog, Fala.
“Well, of course, I don’t resent attacks, and my family doesn’t resent attacks — but Fala does resent them. You know, Fala is Scotch, and being a Scottie, as soon as he learned that the Republican fiction writers, in Congress and out, had concocted a story that I had left him behind on the Aleutian Islands and had sent a destroyer back to find him — at a cost to the taxpayers of 2 or 3 or 8 or $20 million — his Scotch soul was furious. He has not been the same dog since.
I am accustomed to hearing malicious falsehoods about myself — such as that old, worm-eaten chestnut that I have represented myself as indispensable. But I think I have a right to resent [and] object to libelous statements about my dog.”
What a load of bullshit. Any man might forget his wife or his kid, but his dog? Never! There, I said it so that you all wouldn’t have to.
In westrn PA, we had “plaid stamps”, to compete with the “S&H Green stamps”. The plaid pattern was definitely a take off of “tartan”.
And don’t let’s forget Scotch Buy, Safeway’s cheapest house brand of everything from pork-and-beans to canned pears to cigarettes to beer.
Why spend big bucks for Budweiser when for a few cents less you can have this?
(Safeway used to have UK stores too, I think some in Scotland; I’m guessing they didn’t use Scotch Buy as their house brand there.)
One of the most researched and politically contentious topics in the social sciences is the accuracy of stereotypes, with Left leaning academics (i.e. most of them) working overtime to demonstrate that stereotypes are nothing but inaccurate disparagements/insults of the group they target, and a few center-Right leaning academics doing more substantive research demonstrating that whether stereotypes are negative or positive they tend to be pretty accurate in describing an overall group trait. Of course you shouldn’t need a PhD in social psychology to understand that if stereotypes were not more accurate than chance in helping to understand the tendencies of the various “tribes” around us they would be dropped or modified from common use, and that any stereotypes that persist over time are likely to be pretty accurate at the group level with obvious variance at the individual level (i.e. most Scotts are at least somewhat tightwads (and proud of it), but a few are spendthrifts and probably have a bad credit rating). In other words, if the Scottish stereotype about being thrifty was widely known to be inaccurate, its helpfulness as a branding or advertising theme to denote low cost would be zero.