ProductsEquipment

Caterpillar Advertising Once Captured Everyday Life in America

By Tudor Van Hampton

the Literary Digest — This ad is representative of the early ads from the Holt Manufacturing Company. The content of the ad is focused on the utilization of Holt products by the U.S. military during World War I.

Date: '18 May 1918

*From the collection of Mark L. Johnson*

The Tractor and Truck Review — An early ad from the C.L.Best Gas Tractor Co. Best did not advertise nearly as much as Holt did. Of the 77 ads in the collection from the two predecessor companies which merged to form Caterpillar Tractor Company in 1925, 72 of the ads are from Holt while only 5 are from Best.

Date: '26 June 1919

*From the collection of Mark L. Johnson*

The Saturday Evening Post — An ad from Holt Manufacturing Company printed in the Post using the companies signature red "wiggly" line . Most Holt ads printed from 1921 thru the merger in 1925 utilized this "wiggly" line as a brand identification in the advertisements.

Date: '23 September 1922

*From the collection of Mark L. Johnson*

Engineering News-Record Market Place — Example of an ad from Caterpillar Tractor Company in a construction industry focused publication. In 1936 and 1937 the company ads focused on the advantages of the Caterpillar diesel engines in a wide variety of applications.

Date: '11 November 1937

*From the collection of Mark L. Johnson*

The Saturday Evening Post 1944 — Example of an ad from Caterpillar Tractor Company during World War II showing the applications of the companies products by the military. This ad is also representative of the initial use of full color in the ads. In general, the company utilized graphic images in ads run during the War instead of photographs.

Date: '11 March 1944

*From the collection of Mark L. Johnson*

The Saturday Evening Post 1947 — The company would generally run an ad with a Christmas focus during the month of December.

Date: '20 December 1947

*From the collection of Mark L. Johnson*

The Saturday Evening Post 1951 — When war broke out on the Korean pennisula in the early 1950's, company ads again focused on supporting the various aspects of the U.S. military effort.

Date: '21 July 1951

*From the collection of Mark L. Johnson*

The Saturday Evening Post 1958 — This ad is representative of the focus of the companies advertising during the decade of the 50's on the construction of the Interstate Highway system.

Date: '08 February 1958

*From the collection of Mark L. Johnson*

The Saturday Evening Post 1960 — Over a three year time frame, in 1959 through 1961, company ads featured an infant named Robert. He first appeared in an ad in October 1959 as a newborn. In each subsequent ad, Robert was a month older. These ads focused on the challenges faced by society to provide a safe, secure and comfortable life for families.

Date: 'September 1960

*From the collection of Mark L. Johnson*

National Geographic 1976 — In the late 1970's, the company ran an ad campaign with the common theme, "There are no simple solutions. Only intelligent choices." These ads all had a similar layout with two opposing sides of an issue featured, with many of the issues focused on environmental challenges.

Date: 'July 1976

*From the collection of Mark L. Johnson*

In a time when The Saturday Evening Post was one of the most widely circulated magazines in America, Caterpillar launched a decades-long ad campaign to promote infrastructure and yellow iron to the American public.

Throughout the 20th century, in rich illustrations, photography and words, the Peoria, Ill.-based manufacturer built up its brand name by showing how its machines were taking part in America’s infrastructure development.

The ads “tell not just the history of Caterpillar but the history of the industrialization of the country during the 20th century,” explains Mark Johnson, a 37-year veteran Caterpillar employee, who has amassed a collection of more than 540 vintage Caterpillar ads.

JOHNSON

One such ad shows a boy playing with model construction machines while adult operators manning real-life tractors and scrapers are visible in the background building a highway. The tagline reads: “It doesn’t take long to grow up.”

Johnson’s collection began in 1996 as a hobby that grew as he visited antique stores with his wife and bid on eBay auctions over the Internet.

“The highest I ever paid for an ad was $35, and I could buy these without my wife getting too upset,” says the 62-year-old retired mechanical engineer, adding, “There’s a fine line between collecting and hoarding.”

As such, Johnson’s collection sticks to Caterpillar ads placed in major consumer publications, though he has kept a few from business journals. One such ad, from the November 11, 1937, edition of ENR, details the benefits of diesel engines, which were still relatively new at the time. In all, the trove of ephemera begins in 1915 and ends in 1980.

“You’ve got a period of history in our country from when it was basically a horse-driven, rural, agricultural economy up through when we put a man on the moon,” Johnson says.

September Display

During September, Johnson will exhibit a series of more than 100 pieces of his collection at the Peoria Public Library. The series this year will cover ads from 1946 to 1959.

“This will be the third of four years displaying his collection,” says Trisha Noack, the library’s spokeswoman. “This is the world headquarters of Caterpillar, so you have many people here interested in Cat,” she explains. Other visitors may be curious to see the ads for their fine-art value, as well.

“You’re seeing the history of the community but also how the art styles changed,” Noack adds. The period on display this year will detail how Caterpillar took part in the construction of the Interstate Highway System.

Not all these ads may seem politically correct today—such as those showing dead bodies on the side of the road, Johnson notes.

“Many of these ads were focused on trying to convey the message to folks that they needed to support the federal and state governments spending money to improve the safety of the transportation system,” Johnson says. “It was basically a sort of public relations.”

Next year’s exhibit will show samples from the collection's later years spanning 1959-1980. Open the slideshow to see a selection of representative Caterpillar ads through the decades.

After a short stint as a freelance contributor to ENR, Tudor joined the editorial staff in 2002 and was a managing editor. His areas of expertise included construction equipment, trucks, tools, materials and global construction. He was a certified crane operator and reported heavy construction news in the U.S. and outside—including Europe, Dubai, India and China.

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