Cadillacs in Popular Culture (music)
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Cadillacs in Popular Culture (music)
I am part of a team conducting an academic research project that will be presented at a popular culture conference. The topic of our paper is how Cadillac was able to establish the image it did through popular culture pre 1955. We believe music of the time (as well as movies of the time, and who was seen driving or riding in Cadillacs during that time) was very crucial to the development of this image. Through our research thus far, we have discovered something very interesting. While Cadillacs can be seen often in popular music pre 1955, we cannot find any competitors of Cadillac during that time (Packard was its main competitor) that are mentioned in music. Could anyone provide any information on this topic? What cars other than Cadillacs can be seen in music/other popular culture pre 1955? Why were Cadillacs mentioned so often? What made people choose to sing about them?
Any help would be really great!!
Thank You
Any help would be really great!!
Thank You
Super Moderator
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 1,461
From: Toronto, CANADA
The war effort
"Cadillac became directly involved in the design, development, and manufacture of the liquid-cooled engine that was used in P-51s, P-63s, P-39s, and in a plane the Germans called der Gabelschwanz Teufel (the fork-tailed devil), the Lockheed P-38 Lightning. Of course, the lasting irony was that the P-38 was to have a continued impact on Cadillac design long after the war (the '48 tailfins being one example).
Advertising during the war touted the Cadillac drivetrain's contribution to the retreat of the Axis powers. The division's engineering and manufacturing know-how was a major weapon, the ads said, in the Free World's fight against the ***** and Japan as Cadillac engines and transmissions proved themselves in battle. Perhaps the ads worked a little too well, because after the war some people tried to adapt the military-version units to their cars and other machinery -- often with less than satisfactory results.
When peace returned in 1945, there was a great hunger for cars by returning GI's and a public weary from the protracted war effort. The desire for Cadillacs was especially strong because many people had had their horizons and expectations widened by the global conflict -- and their pockets deepened by long overtime hours worked during the war. The lengthy Depression that had preceded the war had made the thirst for automobiles even more intense for many. The problem was that there just weren't enough Cadillacs -- and few cars of any make for that matter -- to be had. Many dealers would take deposits, but filling those orders was another matter.
Ending a hurried production run that had begun four years earlier, just after Pearl Harbor, the last M-24 tank rolled off the Cadillac assembly line on August 24, 1945. Amazingly, the first '46 Caddy was produced on October 7, 1945."
Lincoln was Cadillac's major competitor being established by Cadillac's founder Henry Leland
after a fight with Durant who headed GM.
Source: www.motorera.com
Advertising during the war touted the Cadillac drivetrain's contribution to the retreat of the Axis powers. The division's engineering and manufacturing know-how was a major weapon, the ads said, in the Free World's fight against the ***** and Japan as Cadillac engines and transmissions proved themselves in battle. Perhaps the ads worked a little too well, because after the war some people tried to adapt the military-version units to their cars and other machinery -- often with less than satisfactory results.
When peace returned in 1945, there was a great hunger for cars by returning GI's and a public weary from the protracted war effort. The desire for Cadillacs was especially strong because many people had had their horizons and expectations widened by the global conflict -- and their pockets deepened by long overtime hours worked during the war. The lengthy Depression that had preceded the war had made the thirst for automobiles even more intense for many. The problem was that there just weren't enough Cadillacs -- and few cars of any make for that matter -- to be had. Many dealers would take deposits, but filling those orders was another matter.
Ending a hurried production run that had begun four years earlier, just after Pearl Harbor, the last M-24 tank rolled off the Cadillac assembly line on August 24, 1945. Amazingly, the first '46 Caddy was produced on October 7, 1945."
Lincoln was Cadillac's major competitor being established by Cadillac's founder Henry Leland
after a fight with Durant who headed GM.
Source: www.motorera.com
Super Moderator
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 3,945
look at these ...
https://www.cadillacforum.com/forum/...ead.php?t=3696
https://www.cadillacforum.com/forum/...ead.php?t=2028
Keep in mind the connections between Cadillac, GM, Ford , And Lincoln .. read on..
https://www.cadillacforum.com/forum/...highlight=ford
Summary -
The very 1st Cadillac was a car built by the Henry Ford Company, a partnership of sorts. The company was renamed CADILLAC after Henry Ford was outsted by the partners.
The partners kept the assets and the said car but H. Ford removed and took his engine. He was also given $900 in severance pay and allowed to keep the design of his next car.
The directors lost no time in renaming the company Cadillac.
Leland then installed his powerfull 10hp, single cylinder engine and the car become the 1902 Cadillac - that specific car was completed on October 7, 1902 and the following January (1903), it was shown at the New York Auto Show where it SOLD OUT at $750 each.
Leland, on the 2nd week of the show, announced that no more orders would be accepted. He feared the company might not be able to meet the orders for the 2,000+ cars that had sold on week one.
Leland sold Cadillac to General Motors on July 29, 1909 for $5.6 million but remained as an executive until 1917.
He left in dispute over the company's involvement in the war effort and formed the Lincoln Motor Company
In 1922 Lincoln became insolvent and was bought out by the new Henry Ford's Ford Motor Company.
.
https://www.cadillacforum.com/forum/...ead.php?t=3696
https://www.cadillacforum.com/forum/...ead.php?t=2028
Keep in mind the connections between Cadillac, GM, Ford , And Lincoln .. read on..
https://www.cadillacforum.com/forum/...highlight=ford
Summary -
The very 1st Cadillac was a car built by the Henry Ford Company, a partnership of sorts. The company was renamed CADILLAC after Henry Ford was outsted by the partners.
The partners kept the assets and the said car but H. Ford removed and took his engine. He was also given $900 in severance pay and allowed to keep the design of his next car.
The directors lost no time in renaming the company Cadillac.
Leland then installed his powerfull 10hp, single cylinder engine and the car become the 1902 Cadillac - that specific car was completed on October 7, 1902 and the following January (1903), it was shown at the New York Auto Show where it SOLD OUT at $750 each.
Leland, on the 2nd week of the show, announced that no more orders would be accepted. He feared the company might not be able to meet the orders for the 2,000+ cars that had sold on week one.
Leland sold Cadillac to General Motors on July 29, 1909 for $5.6 million but remained as an executive until 1917.
He left in dispute over the company's involvement in the war effort and formed the Lincoln Motor Company
In 1922 Lincoln became insolvent and was bought out by the new Henry Ford's Ford Motor Company.
.
Last edited by Stealth; Feb 12, 2009 at 11:01 PM.
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