Somewhere west of Laramie

The rail journey so far had been uncomfortably long, dusty, and incredibly dull. Wisconsin seemed a lifetime ago. And San Francisco - journey's end - felt as far away as ever.

As the locomotive rattled its way through yet another railroad station - its painted name sign weather-worn and illegible - Ned Jordan turned to one of his fellow travellers. “Where are we now?” he asked, as much to make conversation as from any real need to know.

"Oh, somewhere west of Laramie", came the yawned reply.

Instinctively, Ned took a pencil from his pocket and jotted the phrase down on an old envelope. The power of words fascinated him, and these sounded pure gold.

As he began to write, movement caught his eye as a young woman riding at full gallop came whirling into view.

Transfixed, Ned watched as the horse, startled by the moving train, suddenly reared up and shied away. Quickly steadied by its fearless rider and with barely a pause, she was on her way again in a cloud of dust. Ned smiled as he thought of his young daughter, Jane - she could win prizes at rodeos, too.

The scene immediately sparked an idea and he hurriedly continued to write.

From that seemingly innocuous yawned reply and the mystery rider displaying her rodeo skills, came Ned Jordan's iconic 1923 ad you see below. Renowned commercial artist Fred Cole added the finishing touch with his dramatic illustration providing a sense of speed to match the evocative words.

As you'll see, Ned Jordan was no ordinary copywriter.


Today, his ad might raise an eyebrow or two. But when he wrote 'Somewhere West of Laramie', the female car buyers it was aimed at thought it was his best ad yet. Some even sent him fan mail!

Mind you, back in 1923, the word 'Playboy' didn't have quite the same negative connotations it has today in 2023.

So who was Ned Jordan?

Edward S. Jordan was born in 1882. Known to all as Ned, he was raised singlehandedly by his mother, Kate, in the town of Merril in the US state of Wisconsin. And was the only male in a family of six.

It was Kate who introduced him to the world of advertising - albeit perhaps unintentionally. Kate Griffin-Jordan ran several stores to support the family and knew a thing or two about the psychology of people when it came to the art of selling. So much so, that she regularly regaled the family with tales about her customers and how she often hooked them into buying something. Only later did Ned realise just how many of her stories he'd taken in.

His realisation came when he began working his way through University as a junior reporter with the local newspaper. Suddenly, he found he had a talent for words - especially storytelling - and could see his mother's influence. On leaving University, Ned began working for National Cash Registers (NCR). And it was here that he truly mastered his copywriting skills.

He was fortunate to be mentored by NCR's owner, John Henry Patterson, and gained a wealth of ad-writing expertise that ultimately helped shape his trademark writing style.

In 1907, Ned married into the Jeffery family - a wealthy family of car makers. With his advertising background it was only natural he should become the company's Advertising Manager. But after seven years, Ned decided to leave. Writing to sell cars was no longer enough, he wanted to make them too.

And so, in 1914, the Jordan Motor Car Company of Cleveland, Ohio, was born.

For Ned, all current cars were dull and drab. His would be very different. Instead, the emphasis would be on appearance, style, and comfort. His ads would be written differently too.

Selling adventures behind the wheel

His competitors' ads always focused on the technical specifications of their cars. For Ned, that was far too mundane and a wasted opportunity. He much preferred storytelling to spark a reader's imagination - writing so they could almost feel themselves behind the wheel.

It worked, and by 1918, the Jordan Motor Car Company were building 5,000 cars a year. 1918 also saw women buying more cars than ever before. Seeing this as a golden opportunity, Ned began writing ads aimed exclusively at female buyers. A common theme was to evoke a sense of wanderlust and adventure. And out of all of them, 'Somewhere West of Laramie', was his most successful and best remembered ad.

But Ned wasn't afraid to push boundaries as some of his ads were quite risqué for their time. And once pushed his luck a little too far.

Falling foul of the censors

It was 1920 when he finally came unstuck. With one newspaper ad aimed firmly at men, censors at the Evening Post took exception. In particular, they didn't like the strategically placed pale red spot. And the accompanying tagline didn't help matters either. For the censors, the combination could only imply one thing.

Ironically, it was for their very latest model - the Jordan Playboy - and struck a very different tone from the later 'Laramie' advert. In an interview some years later, he recalled how he'd roughly sketched its layout on a piece of paper as a guide for Fred Cole - the company's artist...

...a lonely roadside inn ... a big, walloping moon, ... a couple of stars, ... a two-seater Playboy roadster parked outside ... and one pale spot of red behind the curtain of one window...

Accompanied by just five words... The Port of Missing Men.

Without the 'pale red spot,' it might have been approved. Writing to the newspaper to apologise following their rejection of his ad, Ned had rather cheekily suggested they may have viewed things differently had he asked Fred to place a red spot in several windows.

However, the Port of Missing Men tagline wasn't completely forgotten.

After a suitably long break, Ned reprised it in another ad for the Saturday Evening Post. This time, there was nothing controversial. Instead, its focus was on the spirit of youth and written in Ned's hallmark storytelling style.

The end of an era looms

In 1926, the company built 11,000 cars. It was their best year ever and also saw the introduction of two new Playboy models: Line Eight and Great Line Eight. Both were promoted in Ned's inimitable way as illustrated below in an ad for the Great Line Eight Playboy.


Although both models proved popular, the company's fortunes were about to change. If 1926 was a year of celebration, 1927 heralded something very different. It was the year when both Ned's health and marriage failed. And his love of cars began to wane.

Another blow came when their big-volume competitors changed their sales tactics. Something they couldn't compete with. And then, two years later, in 1929, came the disastrous Great Wall Street Crash. After such a tumultuous string of events, it's perhaps hardly surprising Ned's motoring dream came to a stuttering halt in 1931.

From cars to railways

Ned never reentered the world of cars. Instead, he went to work for MacArthur Advertising where he wrote copy thousands would see every day in railway stations across America, albeit without his trademark storytelling.

Ned's car ads were anything but mundane. In his own words, Jordan cars "were ethereal chariots, imbued with the spirit of young romance and old boxing gloves." With all his ads, he wrote to evoke the thrill of driving - to create a sense of adventure.

In an interview given shortly before he died in 1958, he explained how "the best ads are always written as you feel ... or you compose with an effort, hoping to make others feel".

Sadly, Jordan cars have not become a motoring legend eagerly sought after by classic car collectors.

But Ned himself is seen as a legend: a copywriting legend. Someone best remembered for his classic ads rather than the sporty cars he made. Written with a groundbreaking style all of his own, storytelling was always at the heart of the copy he wrote.

Storytelling can be just as effective today.

And so, if you'd like your audience to be inspired by some characterful copy, please get in touch and tell me more.

Jordan car illustrations courtesy of Collectable Automobile.


© Andrew Baskott 2024. All Rights Reserved.