In 1939, DeSoto offered Walt a new car if he would advertise their latest model. At first, Walt did not want to do the advertisement because he did not drive a DeSoto. However, his mother Flora said that she and Walt's dad would like a new car so Walt did do the ads that appeared full sized and in color in LIFE magazine. He gave the car to his folks who loved it.
For years, everyone assumed that there were only two ads: Walt in a suit walking out of his Woking Way house to the car and Walt sitting on a lawn chair while a butler appeared on the other side. Just this week, Disney Historian Jim Korkis uncovered there was a third ad.....Walt with a tennis racket in front of the car. Walt's pants and shoes are the same in all three photos so it is reasonable to assume they may all have been shot the same day in the same general location with Walt just changing his shirt.
"I have never seen this third ad ever before in all my years of collecting which, of course, brings up the question if there is even another version of the ad out there. The text copy in all three ads is exactly the same. Only the picture is different," said Jim. "I wasn't even looking and just stumbled across the ad by accident which is how alot of new Disney history is being discovered these days."
1 comment:
Forgive me for patting myself on the back, but I'm new to the whole Disney History thing (although I have wanted to learn more for years).
I recognize that car! There is a similar one parked in Disney's Hollywood Studios. If you walk down Sunset Blvd. and look to the right just before you get to the first building on the right you will see a black one. I never knew the significance of that car until now. I had always thought it was just something they added in there for the theme of old time Hollywood.
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