Nash Motors Dealer Archive

Detroit, Michigan: Associated Sales Co. / Nash Motors Company, 1942. Unbound. Near Fine. An archive of photographs and recordings related to New England Nash Motor Car Dealers. The collection includes two framed black and white photographs, measuring 20" x 10" and 31.5" x 8", of Nash Dealers attending a "service clinic" in 1927 and a convention in 1941, along with a copy of a Nash Dramatized Selling Service kit consisting of a wooden carrying case covered in coarse woven cloth with a leather covered handle and three metal clasps housing 10 filmstrips (or "slidefilms") and seven 33 1/3 RPM records. Overall near fine with the photographs unexamined out of the lightly rubbed frames but both images sharp and unfaded though both with very light creases from once being rolled; the selling kit has a bit of wear to the exterior, a touch of oxidation to the metal lids of a few of the filmstrips, and two of the smaller records are a bit wavy.

The first photograph, taken by Glines & Slater and dated January 19-20, 1927, shows a group of Nash Dealers standing outside a Nash Showroom located at 640 Commonwealth Avenue in Boston for a Nash Service Clinic with vehicles in the windows and workers inside looking out. The second photograph, dated August 28, 1940, captures a room full of dealers seated at tables in a large hall, many wearing paper hats, with a stage and musician to one side and a dais facing the stage on the opposite wall.

Possibly not as eye-catching but certainly as interesting is the Nash Dramatized Selling Service kit no. 3 for 1942. A small mimeograph sheet laid in explains: "This is a copy of a 1942 revision of last spring's Trip Through The Factory slide film entitled, 'Creation in Steel.' Simply throw away your last year's slidefilm print and use this film print with the recording which you now have." The hinged box contains seven 33 1/3 RPM albums - three 12" and four massive 16" - along with 10 filmstrips. The kit was produced by the Associated Sales Co. of Detroit, Michigan but recorded, pressed, and manufactured by RCA Manufacturing Co. of Camden, New Jersey. The records instruct salesmen on various approaches to attract potential customers - "A New Kind of Car - Now Newer Than Ever," "The Car for the Times," "The Invisible Rider (Resale Value and Service)," Care Makes the Car," and the aforementioned "Creation in Style (A Trip Through the Nash Factory)." The filmstrips undoubtedly correspond to some of the recordings though their titles differ and are divided evenly between sales strategies ("Closing the Sale and Overcoming Objections") and mechanical concerns ("Trouble-Shooting The Valve Train").

An interesting collection of items from the once thriving Nash Motor Company,which was ultimately acquired by the Chrysler Corporation.