1920's Car Advertisements

The following is a selection of 1920's car advertisements taken from my vintage automobile Ad collection that illustrate the beautiful cars and fantastic color illustrations that are typical of automobile advertising during most of the 1920's era.

Prior to the advent of television and radio advertising, print media was the most popular form of advertising. Popular periodicals of the 1920's almost always contained car advertisements from the major car manufacturers - that even included women's magazines since women were, and are still, a major influence in car buying! You will see from the 1920's ads below that the marketing methods used by car manufacturers way back then are still being used just as successfully today.

The period between 1925 and the end of 1929 was the peak period for color in car advertisements. Prior to 1925 most car ads were black and white, and following the Stock Market crash of October 1929, many of the magazine car advertisements reverted to black and white again. Only the more expensive and profitable car brands could afford color ads during the depression years as car makers struggled just to survive.

Nothing stays the same forever. Toward the very end of the 1920's and especially in the early 1930's, color  photographs  began to be used in advertisements, and to me, the magic of the advertisements was gone.

This is a celebration of 1920's car illustrations before photo's destroyed the magic. These beautiful illustrations by talented American illustrators, showcase the wonderful cars of the roaring twenties.