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Editor-in-Chief
Mona Nath
Technical Editor
Robert McLellan
Photo Editor
Anil Nath
:: LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
  LITERATURE INVESTMENTS
:: Personal Insights
:: Literature Life
:: Looking Both Ways
:: Golden Eras
:: Good Investment? - Yes!
:: Buying For Tomorrow
:: Good Investment?
:: Profitable Portfolio!
:: Unanticipated Investment
:: Tomorrow's Treasure
:: What Is It Worth?
  CONCEPTS & RUMORS
:: GM Concepts
:: The Future: 70 years ago
:: Annual Concepts
:: Concepts — 1930s
:: Fisher Body Craftsman
:: GM Probes The Future
:: Happy 50th Birthday Corvair!
:: Diamond T
:: Rolls-Royce for India's royalty
:: Original Paint Chips
:: Pontiac Dream Cars of 1953, 1954 & 1955
:: Wallace Wyss - Artist Profile
:: America's Packard Museum
:: Ford's Road Leads To Mustang
:: My Super Beetle
:: Citroen SM (1970)
:: Unanticipated Investment
:: Quality Control
:: How To Decide Which Car You Should Restore
:: The End of the Affair
:: Printed brochures soon to be a memory?
:: Don't Forget Dealer Literature
:: Automotive Books
:: The Fisher Body Craftsman's Guild — An Illustrated History
:: GM Concepts
:: Change Creates Nostalgia
:: Racing (Part 1)
:: Collecting Automotive Literature
:: Investing in Literature
:: Pre-World War II Brochures
:: Showroom Postcards — 1930s through 1950s
:: Ferrari SP1. More Than Unique
:: Fiat
:: The Making of Shelby Cars in Detail
:: Unusual Postcards
:: German Press Kits
:: Everything Cadillac
:: Plymouth Nostalgia
:: Loving Mercedes-Benz Quality
:: Dealer Posters
:: Mercury's Glory Years
:: Racing & Show Programs
:: Buyer's Guide To Brochures
:: 356 Porsche Literature FAKES!
:: Ford Trucks
:: Books And Magazines
:: The Best Increase in Value the Most
:: The Making of a Ford Collection
:: Austins
:: Cars and Literature of the 1970s
:: First Impressions
:: Electric Vehicles
:: Goodbye Viper
:: Land Rover
:: Collectibles vs. Recession
:: See a Classic Car Show, Take a Nostalgia Trip
:: Times Are Changing...
:: Lamborghini's
:: Collectible Tractors
:: From Boxy to Fins
:: How I Met John Conlon
:: One Historian Mourns the Passing of the Black and White Glossy
:: Thanks Dad!
:: My Story
:: Review: Two Press booklets on the Rolls Phantom Drophead coupe
:: Collecting for Fun and Relaxation
:: Rolls-Royce and Bentley
:: Packing for Shipping
:: Dodge Trucks
:: The Family Station Wagon
:: Collecting 'Down Under'
:: Owner's Manuals
:: Press Kit Review
:: "Buy Me a Ferrari"
:: Your Literature
:: MG in America
:: Dealer Stamps
:: Commercial Vehicles
:: Ask the Man Who Owns One
:: Enhance Your Collection
:: The Early Books
:: Triumph
:: Coachbuilder's Literature
:: Wolseley
:: International Opportunities
:: The Innovative Hudson
:: Chevrolet Literature
:: Buses/Engines/Fire Trucks/Tractors/Trains...
:: The Schödel Collection
:: Beyond the Mustang II
:: Kaiser-Frazer
:: Sunbeam & Sunbeam-Talbot
:: The Dawn of the Auto
:: Taxi Cabs, Police Cars & Emergency Vehicles
:: U.S. Postwar Econocars
:: Jaguar in the 1950s
:: Inquiring Minds
:: Exotic Dropouts
:: Rare Maserati Find
:: The Beautiful Brute
:: Dune Buggy/ATV Escapes
:: Remembering Oldsmobile
:: Original Paint Chips
:: Vintage Bentleys
:: Trucks of the 1930s and 1940s
:: BMW
:: Collecting Memories
:: Auto Books - 50 Years
:: Imperial is Back
:: Mitchel DeFrancis: Automobilia Enthusiast
:: Lincoln As Art
:: The Golden Age of Press Kits
:: Iron Curtain Literature
:: Toyota Sports
:: Planning an Advertising Campaign
:: Happy Halloween
:: Styled — For — Tomorrow
:: Automotive Archeology
:: Paint, Upholstery, Data & More
:: 14 Steps: From Our Shop To Your Maildrop
:: Cadillac Memories
:: British Luxury
:: My IHC Fever
:: A Collector's Story - Fifty Years and Counting
:: 1907 "Washington Times" Race
:: Postwar Studebaker
:: The Popularity of AMC / Nash / Rambler
:: Mazda Miata Memories
:: 2020 'Think Tank' Results
:: Letteratura Di Automobile
:: Magazines Are Literature
:: Camaro Fever
:: Grandad's Cars
:: Star Cars — Year 2020
:: Australian Auto Literature
:: Jeep History
:: Porsche on Parade
:: David Greeney: Automobilia Collector
:: Building Dreams
:: Flathead V-8 Fords
:: The Japanese Invasion
:: Touring India
:: Auto Shows
:: The Buick Flashback
:: Meeting Tarun Thakral
:: The Mysterious Dale
:: Ford Overseas
:: Swedish Brothers
:: Pre-War Orphans
:: Pinto or Corvette?
:: Fisher Body Craftsman's Guild
:: Rick Lenz - 10 Years Later
:: Best of Buick
:: Comments on Packing
:: Diamond T
:: 1959+
:: AC In The News — AAA
:: Getting Home Alive!
:: Motorizing The Army
:: Posters & Transparencies as Automotive Art
:: Contemporary Automotive Photographs
:: Convertible Fever
:: French Auto Literature
:: MoPaR
:: Automobile Quarterly Collections
:: History of the Ambulance
:: Oddities
:: The Traveling Salesman
:: Ultra Luxury
:: Finnish Brochures
:: Postcard Paradise
:: Limited Editions
:: German Thoroughbreds
:: Auto Galleria LUCE
:: Fisher Guild Reunion
:: Them VS. Us
:: The Corvair Legend
:: RR - World's Best Car
:: Recreational Vehicles
:: Datsun Z Literature
:: Ford Flower Power
:: News You Can Use
:: Connoisseurs' Choice
:: Automotive Books
:: Pate's Hidden Treasure
:: Every Boy's Dream
:: Jeep Literature As Art
:: My Beloved Hillman
:: Adios Cuba
:: Reprint News
:: British Sports Cars
:: International Customers
:: Corvette: A Legend
:: Automotology
:: Literature In Norway
:: Salvage Literature
:: Volkswagen As Art
:: Brass Era Literature
:: Society: Auto Historians
:: Pontiac Art: Insights
:: Truck Literature?
:: Quality Control
:: Bentley
:: The Exotics
:: Kit Cars & Replica Cars
:: Pontiacs as Art
:: High Speed Pursuits
:: Robert's Tips
:: Honest Reprint Lit
:: Literature on Lincoln
:: Dealer Stamps
:: Original or Fake?
:: The Rolls-Royce
:: Counterfeit Literature
:: World of Auto Literature
:: Z. Taylor Vinson
:: Junichiro Hiramatsu
:: Ed Whitt
 
 
 
November 2004 Issue
 
LITERATURE INVESTMENTS
 
By Robert McLellan
 

Back 50 years ago average literature collectors made their rounds to auto dealerships getting the latest brochures. In 1954 there were no swapmeets except for Hershey which, at that time, was quite small. Consequently, old literature was rare unless you found it in someone's attic.

The "Auto Maniacs" were the sole organization that devoted itself to literature. Reviewing the "Auto Maniacs Bulletins" for 1954, will open your eyes to what was available through their club store and advertiser.

Keep in mind that the DOW Jones Industrial Average Index, in September 1954, was at 350 and, in 50 years, has increased to 10,000 (an increase of 2,757%). How would automotive sales literature compare over the same period? The following items were found in 1954 issues of the "Auto Maniacs Bulletin":

 
BROCHURE
Click for larger view
STATISTICAL INFORMATION* GRAPH
Click for larger view
*1954 prices at Auto Maniacs; 2004 prices at McLellan's Automotive History


B28379
1927/28 Pierce Arrow
(Click for Description)
1954 Price: $2.50
2004 Price: $375.00

DJI Increase: 2,757%
Brochure Increase: 14,900%


B3551
1930 Hupmobile
(Click for Description)
1954 Price: $1.00
2004 Price: $75.00

DJI Increase: 2,757%
Brochure Increase: 7,400%


B27819
1930 Packard
(Click for Description)
1954 Price: $6.00
2004 Price: $1,500.00

DJI Increase: 2,757%
Brochure Increase: 24,900%


B27807
1931 Lincoln
(Click for Description)
1954 Price: $2.75
2004 Price: $475.00

DJI Increase: 2,757%
Brochure Increase: 17,173%


B15799
1933 Rolls-Royce
(Click for Description)
1954 Price: $4.00
2004 Price: $950.00

DJI Increase: 2,757%
Brochure Increase: 23,650%


B27813
1934 Lincoln
(Click for Description)
1954 Price: $0.75
2004 Price: $155.00

DJI Increase: 2,757%
Brochure Increase: 20,567%


B27816
1934 Packard
(Click for Description)
1954 Price: $2.00
2004 Price: $475.00

DJI Increase: 2,757%
Brochure Increase: 23,650%


B18798
1935 LaFayette
(Click for Description)
1954 Price: $0.75
2004 Price: $100.00

DJI Increase: 2,757%
Brochure Increase: 13,233%


B30490
1936 Oldsmobile
(Click for Description)
1954 Price: $0.50
2004 Price: $150.00

DJI Increase: 2,757%
Brochure Increase: 29,900%


B7290
1937 Chevrolet
(Click for Description)
1954 Price: $0.25
2004 Price: $85.00

DJI Increase: 2,757%
Brochure Increase: 33,900%


B25664
1937 Chrysler
(Click for Description)
1954 Price: $2.50
2004 Price: $300.00

DJI Increase: 2,757%
Brochure Increase: 11,900%


B7284
1937 Nash
(Click for Description)
1954 Price: $0.65
2004 Price: $70.00

DJI Increase: 2,757%
Brochure Increase: 10,669%


B30497
1937 Pontiac
(Click for Description)
1954 Price: $0.75
2004 Price: $125.00

DJI Increase: 2,757%
Brochure Increase: 16,567%


B6137
1938 Cadillac
(Click for Description)
1954 Price: $1.00
2004 Price: $175.00

DJI Increase: 2,757%
Brochure Increase: 17,400%


B18840
1938 Lincoln
(Click for Description)
1954 Price: $1.00
2004 Price: $225.00

DJI Increase: 2,757%
Brochure Increase: 22,400%


B16741
1939 Hudson
(Click for Description)
1954 Price: $0.75
2004 Price: $100.00

DJI Increase: 2,757%
Brochure Increase: 13,233%


B7289
1939 Hudson
(Click for Description)
1954 Price: $0.50
2004 Price: $70.00

DJI Increase: 2,757%
Brochure Increase: 13,900%


B1402
1940 Buick
(Click for Description)
1954 Price: $3.00
2004 Price: $285.00

DJI Increase: 2,757%
Brochure Increase: 9,400%


B18779
1940 Chrysler
(Click for Description)
1954 Price: $1.25
2004 Price: $155.00

DJI Increase: 2,757%
Brochure Increase: 12,300%


B4032
1940 Dodge
(Click for Description)
1954 Price: $0.50
2004 Price: $90.00

DJI Increase: 2,757%
Brochure Increase: 17,900%


B30453
1940 Ford
(Click for Description)
1954 Price: $0.35
2004 Price: $70.00

DJI Increase: 2,757%
Brochure Increase: 19,900%


B24530
1941 Ford
(Click for Description)
1954 Price: $0.50
2004 Price: $90.00

DJI Increase: 2,757%
Brochure Increase: 17,900%


B17335
1941 Nash
(Click for Description)
1954 Price: $0.50
2004 Price: $100.00

DJI Increase: 2,757%
Brochure Increase: 19,900%


B14837
1941 Plymouth
(Click for Description)
1954 Price: $0.25
2004 Price: $70.00

DJI Increase: 2,757%
Brochure Increase: 27,900%


B30461
1945 Chevrolet
(Click for Description)
1954 Price: $0.25
2004 Price: $145.00

DJI Increase: 2,757%
Brochure Increase: 57,900%


B30613
1947 Frazer
(Click for Description)
1954 Price: $0.20
2004 Price: $70.00

DJI Increase: 2,757%
Brochure Increase: 34,900%


B3953
1948 Oldsmobile
(Click for Description)
1954 Price: $0.50
2004 Price: $60.00

DJI Increase: 2,757%
Brochure Increase: 11,900%


B5425
1948 Packard
(Click for Description)
1954 Price: $0.40
2004 Price: $75.00

DJI Increase: 2,757%
Brochure Increase: 18,650%


B8350
1949 Kaiser
(Click for Description)
1954 Price: $0.10
2004 Price: $70.00

DJI Increase: 2,757%
Brochure Increase: 69,900%


B4001
1949 Plymouth
(Click for Description)
1954 Price: $0.15
2004 Price: $50.00

DJI Increase: 2,757%
Brochure Increase: 33,233%


B30619
1950 Ford
(Click for Description)
1954 Price: $0.10
2004 Price: $50.00

DJI Increase: 2,757%
Brochure Increase: 49,900%


B3827
1950 Lincoln
(Click for Description)
1954 Price: $0.25
2004 Price: $50.00

DJI Increase: 2,757%
Brochure Increase: 19,900%


B5393
1950 Pontiac
(Click for Description)
1954 Price: $0.25
2004 Price: $75.00

DJI Increase: 2,757%
Brochure Increase: 29,900%


B5390
1951 Chrysler
(Click for Description)
1954 Price: $0.25
2004 Price: $75.00

DJI Increase: 2,757%
Brochure Increase: 29,900%


B17753
1951 Ford
(Click for Description)
1954 Price: $0.10
2004 Price: $50.00

DJI Increase: 2,757%
Brochure Increase: 49,900%



B30871
1951 Hudson
(Click for Description)
1954 Price: $0.10
2004 Price: $50.00

DJI Increase: 2,757%
Brochure Increase: 49,900%


B4671
1952 DeSoto
(Click for Description)
1954 Price: $0.25
2004 Price: $60.00

DJI Increase: 2,757%
Brochure Increase: 23,900%


B30473
1952 Dodge
(Click for Description)
1954 Price: $0.10
2004 Price: $50.00

DJI Increase: 2,757%
Brochure Increase: 49,900%


B3557
1952 Kaiser
(Click for Description)
1954 Price: $0.15
2004 Price: $50.00

DJI Increase: 2,757%
Brochure Increase: 33,233%


B3934
1953 Buick
(Click for Description)
1954 Price: $0.10
2004 Price: $65.00

DJI Increase: 2,757%
Brochure Increase: 64,900%


B10104
1953 Chevrolet
(Click for Description)
1954 Price: $0.15
2004 Price: $50.00

DJI Increase: 2,757%
Brochure Increase: 33,233%
 
*1954 prices at Auto Maniacs; 2004 prices at McLellan's Automotive History
 
 

While sales literature has had a constant and even rise in value over the last 50 years, stocks cycle up and down, sometimes dramatically. Literature is, consequently, a predictable, desirable and risk-free investment. Good investment? It is a great investment!

 
 
 
LITERATURE INVESTMENTS
 
Literature Life
Looking Both Ways
Golden Eras
Good Investment? - Yes!
Buying For Tomorrow
Profitable Portfolio!
Unanticipated Investment
Today's Bargain Can Be Tomorrow's Treasure
What Is It Worth?
 
 
 

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in the "Automotive Chronicles" are those of the writers' exclusively. Information contained in the articles has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but we do not guarantee the accuracy or completeness. When considering literature as an investment keep in mind that past performance is not a guarantee of future results. Some literature will not increase in value, and other literature varies in potential and results. Condition and desirability are important factors in considering any literature for investment.

 
 
 
The Automotive Chronicles, November 2004
 
 
 
 
 
 
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