A message to boys

Last week’s Vault dive into the psychological secrets of Fascinating Womanhood, or, The Art of Attracting Men was certainly engaging, but don’t think we forgot about the fellas.

 

This ca. 1905 pamphlet aimed to recruit “live boys” (what?) to assist General Motors in a viral marketing campaign for their Oldsmobile Runabout, Touring car model, delivery vehicles, and Wagonette. Successful children would be eligible for cash prizes and the most successful child was promised a Runabout of their very own.

 

The pamphlet is part of Hagley Library's collection of Z. Taylor Vinson collection of transportation ephemera (Accession 20100108.ZTV). For over sixty years, Zachary Taylor Vinson (1933-2009), a senior lawyer with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 1993-1995 president of the Society of Automotive Historians, and 1995-2009 editor of Automotive History Review amassed a large and comprehensive collection of printed material documenting on the history transportation, particularly automobiles.

Our Digital Archive offers a small selection of materials from the Vinson collection documenting the history of the automobile and transportation. Click here to view them online. The Library also offers Collecting Paper Cars: Z. Taylor Vinson's Collection of Automobile Advertising, a digital exhibit that explores Vinson’s work as a collector and the remarkable collection he dedicated his life to building.