Model A Advertising (Whitewalls?)

R

Ron/IA

Well-known member
I have read with interest the advertising articles written by Jim Thomas in Model A News. I have found them interesting, and can only imagine the design and work it took to illustrate them for the various newspapers and magazines.

I noticed in the latest article for MAN that all the ads had white wall tires on the cars (except for the General Tire ad which had white letters).

Why would the ad-execs at Ford put whitewalls on the cars in an ad, when we know that all A's coming from the factory were dressed with black walls?

I personally like only black wall's on a Model A, but can respect an owner who wants whitewalls.

By the way, the tires were white on both the outside and inside. So the ad-execs must have thought about it.
 
Because they knew that a car looked better with whitewalls ! ! ! ! Blackwalls were cheaper and there was competition between manufacturers to sell a car cheaper than the competition, JMO
Paul in CT
 
Whitewalls are and were more expensive. They simply wanted the car to look more upscale in the ads.
 
to go along with brent
how many ads from Firestone,Pep boys,Western auto,Good Year,Good rich ,have you seen in the model A era that actually sold white walls?
i would love to see some
 
I remember seeing some ads for cars-non Model A-that had the double sided white walls. If I remember they more upscale cars, which would be correct.

Mike
 
jkeesey said:
Brent, do you have any ads that actually have pictures of the A? All of the sales ads Ive ever seen are artist renderings.
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There is one I know of in Boys Life Magazine in B/W, A Coupe..I think there are more also of Cars.. There is quite a few with all kinds of Trucks..
 
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jkeesey said:
Whitewalls are and were more expensive. They simply wanted the car to look more upscale in the ads.
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exactly, they do it today showing some car (lets take the Ford Fusion) yea their going to show the SEL version with dual exhaust fancy 17" alloy wheels, low profile tires, 3.2L V6 with 6 speed automatic trans in the most expensive color and option package they offer. Hard to sell a car with a 4 banger with cheap cloth seats and stamped wheels haha.
 
Good points by all. To Brent's question; factory photos I have seen of the A all had black wall tires.

I respectfully disagree that whitewalls look better on an A. To me, there are certain classics and higher end antiques that scream for whitewalls; but not the A.

Henry thought the automobile was a machine to be used, not enjoyed for its looks/style. It was only when the public forced him through lesser sales of the T and their demands for a more stylish/faster car (there were now roads to drive coast to coast) he made the switch to the A.

Of course, I respectfully summit this is just my opinion.
 
Not to start another round on whitewall vs. blackwall, but does anyone make a double whitewall anymore? I know that Denman used to make these back in the 60's, but I haven't seen any other manufacturer or vender produce a similar product since. By the way, they were always a pain to clean the inside sidewalls.
 
In another thread it was mentioned that Coker does, but I am going off of memory only because I couldn't bring up said thread and verify.
 
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