The Duesenberg He/She Drives Ad Campaign - 1934/35

John Leschak
Jan 4
2 min read

During 1934 and 1935, Duesenberg ran a creative and understated ad campaign referred to as the "He / She Drives a Duesenberg" using illustrations by Paul Gerding (Chicago illustrator). They focused more on the posh lifestyle of the owners and less (or non) on the actual car or performance of such.

These ads ran in many magazines including Vanity Fair, Country Life, Esquire, and Spur - or at least these are the magazines that I have been able to locate them. Acquiring the set can take weeks or months and pricing really varies depending on the source any any given time. I will list the source magazines below but you can also find some single ads outside of the magazine for sale for a wide range of prices. I find that getting the magazine is the preference but you will pay a price ranging between $40-$80 per issue. Some of the more rare ones such you just have to wait until they become available. There is a little risk with buying the magazine in full as the ad may be in poor condition, so I always try to get the seller to send me a picture of the ad. On average, it costs $300-$400 to acquire a full set of quality ads.

But you can go get them yourself! Here is where some are located at.

He Drives - Horse in bottom right, Country Life, 6/1935

She Drives - Woman in top hat, Vanity Fair, 4/1934 and Spur, 5/1934

He Drives - Captain in white with pipe, Vanity Fair, 5/1934

He Drives - Man by fireplace, Vanity Fair, 6/1935

She Drives - Woman in pencil dress, Vanity Fair, 6/1935

He Drives - Hunter, Vanity Fair, 8/1934

She Drives - Woman in black dress with fur, Esquire, 5/1935 (I wasn't aware of the Esquire ads until, but they are original and they did place ads in that magazine as well)

The last series of cars rolled out of the factory in 1937.

We also have them for sale here!