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The
Cadillac
Phenomenon
by William H. Whyte Jr.
l 06
FORT1JNE fbruory
I QSS
The showmen
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:A
How did it all happen? To make the obvious point..that ;~
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to the "classics"
year s ago neit her Cadillac nor any other luxurymaker would have dreamed of. such a goal. In the early
t he luxury-car mer ch andising was st ill aimed at
FOlUNE
..J>,_., 1~55
}07
of
108
The newcomers
So much for the management decisions that
to Cadillac's ascendancy. During all this time, howeve1,
lot of things were happening outside Detroit that
equally important to Cadillac's success. Most important,
new kind of consumer market was emerging. The new
rich-butts of so many Cadillac jokes- attracted the
attention, but the significant arrivals on the postwar s
were the new well-to-do. Each year additional thousands
consumers were b eing elevated into the $25,0
income brackets. Furthermore, while taxes were
off top-bracket incomes, they also stimulated a growth
" business expense" perquisites, and a further, if less
able, increase in the number of people who were able
enjoy the good life.
For psychological as well as economic reasons, many
these people had an affinity for Cadillac. In a society
their own and others' positions had been shifting so
No. 1 salesman is
v-Iour-ve:ar-.ota Gener&l ManAhrens. H e a cq).lired his
the public tast e early; he
to be a car salesman himself,
in the early Thirties ran up
a record as head of CadilNew York retail branch. In
he became Cadillac's sales
and i n 1950 became top
phone on the left gets
wolrKo m:: Ahrens claims he
22,000 owners personally,
i s seldom too busy to keep
happy with a little chaffer.
of happiness,
has been writing
advertisin g copy for
twenty-five years, but it is
World War II that he has
the "symbol of achieveapproach . Though the
is heavily p sychological,
doesn't bother w ith "depth
or su ch; he finds that
talking to owners--or better
driving his own Cadillac-is
inspiration he needs. "I
a mechanism," lie
"I sell a stat e of mind."
".'W'='-"'e v~""
l\ Gallery of Distinguish
1923 Pierce-Arrow--Coupe
:.
1IO
can Motorcars
1940 L i'ncoln
Continen~oupe .
In the Twenties and earl:~ Thirttes Packards . dominat ed the luxury field. "Ask the Man Who Owns
One," Packard suggested confidently.
1955
I ll
Cadillac
continued f rom p age 109
-with
c~
,.
~~!l!!
e!!!!!!!!!!!!!
DE.MPSTER BROTHERS
42o DEMPSTER BLDG., KNOXVILLE 17, TENNESSEE
174
!.
Peace of mind
Man economizing
Ther e is, of cour se, one
disadvantage in the symbol
p eal: What would the n
think ~ Tl!e m an shou lcl OWT~ a
ilhc. Ib:s rwcomplishments
him to it. Bu l he feels that if
11nrdw,,u l " Cadillac, some of'
jrie1d~
Cadillac c.ontin~
It
o;(
Small enough to fit in you r poc k,~t , the world's fi rst commercial
trans is tor r1dio is a big milestone in Texas Instruments twentylive years of planned growth. Pleasantly audible proof of Tf's
leaders hip in electr ~ ni cs, thi ~ superb li~t lc i n s tr~rnent ~e t s
better performa nce !rom a t lu mbl e!ul ot TI trans1stors than
manv larger sets get from a handful of vacuum tubes.
TEXA S INSTRCMENTS
INC ORP ORATFO
6000
}.76
LEMMON
AVENlJ<:
DALLA S
TEXAS
Cadillac continued
40keysTo
LATIN AMERICA
MARKETS
buying coffee in producing countries has_given Otis, McAllister & Co. a sound
knowledge of the wants and needs of the Latin American
Republics. That's why manufacturers of U. S. products look
upon the network of Otis associated organizations in 40
cities as so many keys, opening doors_to Latin American
markets.
As the world's largest distributor of green coffee and a leading exporter to these countries, Otis has gained an intimate
knowledge of the language, customs, exchange restrictions
and distribution methods of countries who use their coffee
dollars to buy U. S. products. Export divisions of Otis sell
to Latin America widely diversified cargoes, stamped "Made
in U. S.A."-products like priri.ting presses, processed foods,
plumbing fixtures, textiles, and lumber products.
Chicago
Motor-vehicle-bureau regist1ation lists reHed the "busi nes~ experose" trend. A surprising p roportion of Cadillaes are registered,
n ot in . the names of individuals.
but of compan ies, a.nd u sually
small on e~ . Of all Cadilla'1 registrations in :M:anbatta.n, f or example,
37 per cent- are in firm names; in
Philadelphiu, 20 p er cent.
Registrat ions also show a strong
p er capita concentration of Cadillacs in the urban Jewish business
and professional world.. In part this
is due to Cadillac's affin ity with upward mobility-ill the dress industry area along Manhattan's St>vent.h .Avenue, for example, there
are probably more Cadillac jokes
per square yard than anywhere
else. But this is only part of the
story. "You hear a lot of talk," one
.Jewish observer says, " about people on the way u p buying Cadillacs
because they are psy"chologi('ally
insecure. .A. lot of that is t rue but
it i ~ n ot all so psychological as
that. Jews have a healthy love of
good living an d Cadillac seems the
mos t comfortable and luxurious
car. So if a man can a fford it, why
should he deny himself just. b ecause h e is worried about what
people might. think?" Who, he
asks, is being inseeurc ?
Among professional owncx-s,
doctors predominate; r oughly i %
per cent of the Cadillac registrations in Philadelphia are h eld by
doctors- The gxeatest concentration is usually assumed to be
among specialist s but the general
practitioners have he~ n coming up
fa st. "If we didn't chive Cadillacs,
the patients would think lt>.ss of
u.s," says one practitioner, without
twi tching a muscle. "They ~crure
something must be mcong wit h a
doctor these days who can't afford
on e.''
The hard core of the Cadillac
mark et , in sum, is a group of fairly solid citizens. They are well off ;
- only 18 per eent of Cadillacs are
sold on the installm-ent p lan vs. an
average for all cars of over 60 p er
The cross-up
In styling, Cadillac
genius for matc;hin g the
a.lity" of the car with that
market. From the jutting
mars" on the front bumper
leviathan rear deck, the nar
breathes the same spirit
Adams' eopy. It is a a o'nL111am
"It has a sort of r aw
Wb.ilto t he latter i~ a.
envious judgment, Cadillac
not argue the basie point.
is a ha ndsome cae and its
ers take g reat _care with
of deta.il -it h as, they like to
"the Cellini look." They are
careful, howe1er, not to get
ba.sic design too refined.
Cadillac has managed to
u.n unusual continuity of
its car is never confused
somebody el>e's. Yet at the
time it has disp layed an
ability to come up with a
that makes the bystander
himself,_ the hell they say.
stylist Bill )iitchell, who has
a lot to do with the design
postwar Cadi!lacs, explains
"It takes a con tr oversial
be a success. If it is
don't like it. We lik e
kind of dissonance, is en
in accord: "You have to
out somehow. You've got to
little brutal about it."
The fishtail
Cadillac, being Cadillac, can
away with it. Take, f or
iy,
the fin, It h as long been ruthat in desper ation the comy hurried up designs on a finr eaJ: fender . T he rumoT is
; the company did . ]3ut somealong th e Line ' opinion beto change. The more fins that
on the r oad, the more
got used to them, a nd finally
began to like thc.w.. " W e would
b~en murdered," a competitor
in open admiration.
th~ rear deck. Too long,
complained when Cadillae
it out on the 1948 Sixty
Ca dillac took the hint and
as there is in f ront.
Before long Cadillac slipped a
of ver tical cluome on the
door. Again people protest.e d
Ca dillac had really gone too
didn' t they know the vertical
broke up the horizontal sweep
of the ear ? .As it happens, Cadillac
did know it, but it figured this
was in order, and '.vith
or ninet een feet of hori~
sweep, Cadillac could afford
break that, on smaller cars,
look a little silly.
. In the l 952 rnodel C~dillae's deset dual exhausts in the
lfi!AR~H~NT -/lPsuRJMATIC
0 EASY TO OWN
@ EASY ON YOUR TIME
J,i.ny way you figure -IT'S . MARCHANT!
-r- .
:' - ~
...-:
Your business, your office- whatever: its size- can tum time.into
ffiARCHA1IT
~ :
AMERICA'S FIRST
181
Cadillac Cl)71~inued
Give Your
Materials Handling a
"FOUR POSTER"
,.
THB
COBPOBJITION
Elyria, Ohio
in
~ 11d
in e:ld J
c;l~t'
stw.rilit:e ~o n octloi n g to
tasr e- it could lw
they nmi't
su ti~ fy
tloat
Cadillac continued
lacs on the "road grew steadilyand so did the proportion of r eadp h ase m ay dim Cadillac's appeaL
ers n ominating Cadillac; by 1953
Says Ini ng Sachs, who boasts h e
t he number w as up to 61 per cent.
is the country's " Largest UnauPreliminary returns from the '54
th orized Cadillac Dealer," "It's the
survey indicate about the same
only hot (lar around and the
propor tion . W hile p eop le think the
Sf:~ucity's one of the r easo!lll. If
other f ellow may dislike a c<ir t}mt
Cadillacs get too easy t o get,
is too p opular , they don't neeesm aybe p eople won't be so am:sarily act on thac basis when t hey
ious to buy."
"
themselves buy.
For all t he r eady agreement that .
For the immediate future, at
quantity lessen s a prestige car's
any rate, Cadillac should be ahle
app eal, however, there is n o proof
to keep its vise gTip on the Ameriof the fact, an d some to the concan pulse, and, if i t sells those 150,trary. F or the past seven y ears
000, tighten it up a bit. The com-
F ORTU:-11<: has b een making a n nual
pany has been earning t he grit> ..
surveys of its readers, whi~h,
and lik e the Carlilhw o vner at the '
among other things, p r ovide a
stop light, i ts peop le can't help but
running study of shifts in thc.i1 smile just a little. Even at all those
nttitudc to\vard
Tn 1948, 44.8
j okes about Cadillac : as long as .:
per <:eut o:C Ue J:!,ORT"C~E readers
the j ok es a r en't about Lincoln
queried n amed Cadillac as t he car
and Packard and Chrysler, Don ,
in the high-pricP.d field they ''~"ould
Ahrens
and
his
lieutenants
"most like t o have." In the in tlr- couldn't f'huckle more. The public
has to y ell uncle somehow.
vening y ea.rs tl1c number of Cadi!-
"'"'S.
- A
M.D. for Troubled Compames
ft~.
Owner:
Da niel Ce!viM::rn
General Consro<:.to::
Charles. H. Tompkins
Co.
MKhonkol Co()ltor:tor:
Norair
Engin e~ring
Corp.
Arc,., if'1<:#:!
Ev-
311
NEW
CIRCLE APARTMENTS
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7m ounted a big se1ling campaign.
Wit hin eight een months he increa,.ed gross fr om $12,000 to $50,000 a month, and then he sold out.
His next venture was Burroughs
Brothers Manufact uring Co., a
ninety-year-old Bal timore pharmaceutical company in difficulties
b ecause of man agemen t changes.
Mailman and a brother-in-law '
(Ben Gaboff) pu t up $70,000 in
cash, borrowed $160,000 on longterm notes, and bought the company. T he annual brross is now up
from $350,000 to some $1 million.
In 1951, when the hundred-andtwenty- year-old family-owned
John Chatillon & Sons, Inc., New
York m aker of wei ghing equipment, became h andicapped by
family feuds, Mailm an bou ght
over 50 per cent of the stock and :
moved in as chief execu tive. Tl)e
company was in debt, had too
much inventory, and was over-
expanded. Mailman retrenched ,
by selling off one division (cut- "
lery), and closin g one of t hree :,
plants. H e also ended the hick- .
erin g between management factions. Chatillon stock re~;ponded :
to the M ailman . treatment
doubling in book \' alue from $86
to $170. T he company~s future .
looks so bright that Mailman bas
n o intention of selling out. Inst ead, he is looking around for another ailing company that he can ,
restore to h ealt h and merge wit h
Chatillon.