Wiles, I. L. - Editor

Buick Magazine: Vol. 16, Nun.11, May 1955. [Automobile] [Transportation]

Flint, MI: [Buick Moter Division], 1955. A representative mid-century issue of Buick Magazine, combining corporate branding with lifestyle journalism that reflects how American automobile culture framed travel, leisure, and cultural aspiration in the 1950s. This issue emphasizes destination travel and transportation history, pairing Buick advertising with editorial features that situate the automobile as both facilitator and symbol of postwar mobility.

Physical description: Quarto, stapled pictorial wrappers. Approximately 8.25 × 10.5 inches. 14 pages, including covers. Illustrated throughout with black-and-white photographs. Buick advertising on front and rear covers. Editorial content interspersed with promotional material.

Condition: Bindings firm. Staples secure. Text clean and legible throughout. Light, even handling wear consistent with age. No tears or losses. Overall a well-preserved example of a lightly handled mid-century corporate periodical.

This issue contains seven feature articles, including illustrated pieces on Nova Scotia, Shiloh, Rockaway, a narrow-gauge railroad, a California high-school music festival, and a dog show in Garden City, Long Island. Collectively, these articles demonstrate how corporate house magazines functioned as soft cultural guides, blending regional history, tourism, and lifestyle reportage with brand identity. As such, Buick Magazine occupies an important niche within American advertising history and corporate publishing.

Contextual note
Corporate magazines like Buick Magazine played a significant role in shaping mid-century perceptions of travel and leisure, reinforcing the automobile’s central place in American life. Issues such as this are increasingly studied as primary sources for advertising history, consumer culture, and postwar mobility.

Subjects: Buick Motor Division, automobile advertising, American travel writing, corporate publishing, transportation history, 1950s leisure culture, Corporate magazines, automobile history, mid-century Americana.

Item #17920

Price: $15.00