In
establishing a “Call of Cthulhu” setting,
you and your players will inevitably fall back upon the elements of history and
society in order to re-create the world in which your story takes place. Of
these, history is probably the easiest to form a consensus over and to take as
read. Social aspects of a past milieu
are sometimes trickier to ascertain; however, the world of advertising can provide
valuable insights.
There
are two main accoutrements which
players will acquire for their Investigators in order to provide both
capability and period flavour – these are cars and guns. Weaponry of pretty
much any kind is fairly useless against anything that most “CoC” narratives will throw at a character, but cars lend something
which is of an actual benefit – getaway power. A car has the twin
advantages of grounding a character within the time of the story and also of
ensuring that they can get their buns out of the fire when it all comes down.
The
other day at the shop where I work, a punter came in to try and sell me some
books. There was one on early Twentieth Century cars which looked promising;
however, when I took a closer look at it, I discovered that a bunch of pages
had become detached and that these had then been torn in half (for some inexplicable reason). Obviously, we could
do nothing with the book in that condition, and so we refused to buy it. The
punter got angry and yelled a bit and then stormed off, taking his books with
him – except for the damaged, detached pages. By the time we noticed, he was
long gone. We kept the pages around for awhile but the fellow never came back
to claim them. Inevitably, they went out with the trash.
Before
binning them, however, I decided to take a closer look. The pages contained a
number of black-and-white adverts, culled from magazines dating from the 1910s
to the 1930s. Each focuses upon a different make and the many models of associated cars
and trucks, with accompanying details about prices, ordering and performance. I
felt there was enough simple information of value to a “CoC” gaming crowd that I thought I would delay the recycling and
present it here. And so, here are a bunch of ads for period cars: use them in
creating documents for your games, or winnow the details from them, if your
Investigators are looking for a new set of wheels.
*****
The Studebaker “40”
Apparently
this car was made by a different company called Garford, for whom Studebaker
were organising the marketing and promotion. This unannounced re-naming of the
vehicle heralded the soon-following takeover of Garford by its marketing arm in
1911.
The Nyberg Six
This
refers to Nyberg’s range of six-cylinder engine cars. These ranged from two-passenger
roadsters to seven-passenger saloons, depending on preference. Nybergs were
very popular vehicles in 1912 – from which year this range derives – mainly due
to their low-pricing policy.
Cadillac, 1913
These
were the days when advertising copy could make any outrageous claim and not
have to provide proof. In this way, Cadillac could blatantly claim its cars to
be “the Standard of the World” as much as they could claim 100% sales on all
its stock before the mid-point of the (northern) fiscal year. The prices would
speak somewhat against this optimism, however.
Maxwell, 1915
In
stark counterpoint to the lavish ideals of the Caddie world, Maxwell dials it
down a notch and focuses upon what it perceives the main goal of the would-be-driver to be – economy. Not only is the car cheaper than the Caddie models, but
– according to the copy - the upkeep is cheaper as well.
REO Dealers, 1917
Did
anyone else out there wonder where 80s supergroup REO Speedwagon got their name from? I guess now we know.
This
advert takes us right into the marketing and distribution heart of the REO
Dealers: retailer sold-out where you live? They can ship from a nearby
dealership. REOs are known across the country: there are no “bare spots” of demand in any of the ‘States. REO won’t let you down; they will keep on lovin’
you…
The Hudson Runabout Landau
This
1918 model is a six-cylinder engine pushing a trim two-seater chassis – that’s
almost too much getaway power!
Further, the copy claims that no adverse changes in technology will affect the
buyer – the car is well-nigh perfect and will remain so from hence forth, even
in the face of World War One shortages! And in a range of colours to suit your
individuality!
The Dodge Six
Dodge
Brothers created a “smooth, vigorous” vehicle with a “squeakproof, rattleproof”
Mono-Piece Steel body for less than $900. Unfortunately, they did so in 1930,
at the height of the Great Depression, which must have knocked the shine off it
a little. Rest assured, however, a Dodge can get you and your family in close-range of cult communities across the country, if this ad is anything to
go by!
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