Photos by the author.
This past weekend I came across this “Oldsmobile Complimentary Tape Cartridge,” and for 99 cents, it had to come home with me. We already know that many automakers produced demonstrator 8-Track tapes to illustrate the attributes of their factory and/or dealer-installed tape decks from the 1960s into the 1980s. So of course it stands to reason that they would also provide cassette tapes in the same manner when that technology overtook the 8-tracks.
This Olds example appears to be from 1983, since that’s the newest copyright date on the tape. Looking back to that year, things were very different from now, especially for the dearly departed Oldsmobile Division. It marked the return of the Hurst Olds, which I though was one of the best looking cars ever made. As a15-year-old, I remember craning my neck as we drove past any Olds dealership just to hope to get a glimpse of one. I collected the road tests and anything else I could find in print. The Cutlass was still the best selling mid-sized car in America according to their ads, which also claimed that a 1979 Cutlass Supreme could possibly be sold (in 1983) for 90% of its original purchase price.
One of the ad taglines was “Have one built for you.” The brochures proclaimed that Oldsmobiles were “At home anywhere in America…At home anywhere you are.”
Now back to the tape. Like the most of these types of promotional items, it features artists and music types as varied as Champaign and Chopin. There are pop songs, country western tunes and classical music. Oddly, however, there’s no Rock and Roll! Of course the tape opens with the Oldsmobile jingle because you need to know who gave it to you, right? What better way to pass the time during the daily commute in your new 1983 Oldsmobile than singing along to the Oldsmobile jingle?
This cassette takes me to a bygone era when Oldsmobile was not only a vibrant GM Division, but also an industry leader in some areas. Though Oldsmobile is no longer extant, we can still celebrate it through the many legendary, desirable and collectible cars it produced and…little remembrances like a 99-cent complimentary tape cartridge.
What automaker promotional items have you come across that instantly evoked memories of the cars it built in that era? Here’s the place to share your story.
More gadget review in www.mamaktalk.com
