Hi folks -- when I dealt with the importance of Ned Jordan and the Jordan Playboy "Somewhere West of Laramie" ad of 1923, it seems that this copy popped out of nowhere and had little or no antecedents. That is patently false, as Ned Jordan gradually shaped and reshaped his words until the now-famous ad appeared. ONE MIGHT ARGUE THAT THE REAL SHIFT THAT TOOK PLACE IS AS MUCH IN THE IMAGE AS IN THE WORDS -- THAT THE IMAGE EVOKES A SENSE OF MYSTERY AND POWER ABSENT FROM PREVIOUS ADS. Note above Jordan ads, and how the static gives way to the dynamic.
a 1922 ad copy for the Playboy:
A spirited companion for a wonderful girl and a wonderful boy.
It's a shame to call kit a roadster. So full is this brawny,
graceful thing of the vigor of boyhood and morning.
It carries two passengers with a cockpit-swanky seat behind.
It revels along with the wandering wind and roars like a Caproni
biplane. It's a car fora man's man -- that's certain.
Or for the girl who loves the out-of-doors.
It's true -- there's some of the twang of that rare old English ale
that was brewed from the smiles of youth and of old boxing gloves.
How did we happen to think of it?
Why a girl who can swim and paddle and shoot described it to a
boy who loves the roar of the cut-out.
We built one and slipped it away from the quiet zone.
And stepped on it.
And the dogs barked.
And the boys stopped to cheer.
And the people we passed stopped and looked back.
And we were boys again.
The Playboy will be built in limited numbers -- frankly because we
love to do it.
From 1918 ad for the Jordan Sport Marine
The Jordan Sport Marine is the first completely equipped motor car ever offered as a stock model by a manufacturer. It is a custom made car at a stock car price.
The new continental motor, introduced by Jordan, eliminates vibration, accentuates speed, increases power and affords a degree of economy and smoothness that is far in advance of the times. The aluminum body is fifty pounds lighter, free from rumbles and ripples and takes that beautiful velvety finish.
Two optional colors, Briarcliff green and Liberty Blue. Upholstered in special hand buffed, genuine leather, with velvet tonneau rug. Rim wind sport clack and tonneau light empancelled in Honduras mahogany.
Because of its completeness, its ultra comfort, its smartness, the Sport Marine is essentially a woman's car.
It is fashionably low with five 32x4 wire wheels and five Silvertown Cord Tires, special gear ratio, sport windshield, taileored top, traffic bumper, motometer, Macbeth green visor lenses and Lin-Rhubber on running boards as standard equipment. Curtains open with the doors.
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