Flying Grocery Store has Successful Career
One of the most effective airplane advertising campaigns [yet undertaken] has been staged by Reid, Murdock & Company, of Chicago, with its “flying grocery store.”
The plane – a Ford transport from which the seats had been removed to provide room for display of the company’s Monarch brand products – was operated for more than two years, contacting points in almost every state and in Canada and Mexico. It was definitely a part of the company’s advertising campaign, all expenses being charged to that department, and is considered by the company as eminently successful medium. It was withdrawn from service last spring largely because the company considered the more than 450 airports visited included practically all those desirable to contact.
Routing of the plane purposely eliminated long jumps,
the daily time in the air rarely exceeding an hour and a half. As a rule the
plane party stay over only one night in a given community, except in the
case of weekends. The plane was sent on some of the organized air tours,
also, such as the 1930 National and 1931 Florida tours. Expenses of plane
and personnel averaged between $75 and $100 per day, not including newspaper
advertising, publicity material, and allied items.
Interior of Flying Grocery Store
A visit to a community was always preceded by local newspaper advertising and the cooperation of the local grocer representing the Independence Grocers. The plane was called “The Independence,” by the way, in honor of this group. Attendances at airports often ranged between 15,000 and 30,000, and in many instances the airport attendance records were broken with the company’s plane the only attraction. The flying grocery aided tremendously in securing the generous allotment of newspaper space, which in aggregate exceeded the amount of space bought for advertising.
Arrangement of the foods on the racks in the style of a grocery proved an extremely forceful method of attracting attention to the brands produced. The pleasant relations established with the public at many points accounted for persons at later stops greeting the crew as old friends whether they had seen them before at Oklahoma City, Huron, or Burlington, VT. During the period of service there was no accident of any kind and the company claims that there was no landing sufficiently rough to dislodge the display jars from the racks. The pilot was V.N. Johns.
(this article originally appeared in Aviation )
An article by Scott Hartzell in the April 23, 2003 edition of the Florida newspaper, St. Petersburg Times included the following notice of the above-mentioned air service:
While touring the nation in 1930, a flying grocery store taxied into Albert Whitted Airport. "The tri-motored Ford Independence . . . was viewed by thousands," the St. Petersburg Times wrote on March 11 of that year. "A special runway was constructed, making it possible for spectators to see the interior of the pilot's cockpit as well as the food display."
One other interesting note resource regarding this
plane and its unique service was found in William Larkin’s book on the Ford
Trimotor:
Two children dressed as a general and a policeman, and known as
“Teenie
Weenies” accompanied the plane on some of the tours.
The "Teenie Weenies" on the wing of their Flying Grovery Store
This Ford also had the most lettering on it of any ever built. From the rear one scould see the large words “MONARCH” on the top of the left center section, “TEA” on the top of the left elevator, “COFFEE” on the top of the right center section, and “COCOA” on the top of the right elevator. The large name “INDEPENDENCE” was in billboard fashion on both sides of the fuselage with the Monarch Lion trademark on both sides of the nose and rudder.
In addition, under the cabin windows, in letters about four inches high, were the words “Monarch Teenie Weenies, Sweet Pickles, Peanut Butter, Wheat Hearts, Pop Corn, Toffies, Sardines, Peas, Asparagus, Lima Beans and Corn.
The Ford made a tour of several states and was visited by ten to fifteen thousand people, including students from the high schools in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, which closed so their pupils could inspect the plane. A former Ford employee, who wishes to remain unnamed because of guilt, fondly remembers looking forward to the plane coming to the plant for service as those on the night shift could help themselves to the jars of Toffies.
(From: The Ford Trimotor 1926-1992.
William Larkins. West Chester, PA: Schiffer Aviation History, 1992.)
