Caterpillar Advertising Once Captured Everyday Life in America
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
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
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
A very early ad from Caterpillar Tractor Company, only 17 months after the company was formed through the merger of the Holt and Best companies. This ad still featured the recognizable "wiggly" line carried over from the previous Holt ads, but now in the color orange.
Date: '31 July 1926
From the collection of Mark L. Johnson
Another early ad from Caterpillar Tractor Company during the early years of the Great Depression. This ad is also representative of the change from graphical illustrations to black and white photo images used in the magazine ads. This change to photographs began about 1927.
Date: '15 November 1930
From the collection of Mark L. Johnson
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
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 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
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
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
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
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
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.
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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.
