April 18, 2010

Vintage Aircraft Advertising


There is something about vintage advertising that has captured my interest.  Vintage cars and airplanes have some of the most unique advertising.   They transport you back to another time and place.  The clothing and hair styles are very telling of the era along with the wording of the ads.  In my collecting I have pulled some of my favorite ads and scanned them to post here and note some of the details that stand out.

Aeronca leads with the heading "Tandem Riding Is Out Of Date" and words the ad with "comfort, convenience, visibility."  Take note that they are talking about their Low Wing and C-3 models!  Comfort?  In a C-3?  Even when they produced their new models of the Chief, was that comfortable??  The side-by-side seating made for a cozy arrangement.  I truly think that people back in the 1930s and 1940s were a lot smaller, slimmer and trimmer!  Having flown my side-by-side Taylorcraft for over 300 hours and being wedged in to the bench seat with riders it makes me wonder why they thought this was a good thing?  Conversations and flight instruction may have been easier by looking each other in the eye but in flying any length of time, like a cross country, it would be tight.  The ad finishes with the words... "Aeronca will never build a cheap ship. Aeronca will continue, as always, to build the best low cost plane!"  Fun ad.

The fact that they went on to build the Champ and Chief for many years to come.... makes me think that the ad was right!

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