Showroom on Wheels

次回この記事の日本語版を投稿します。

Japan recently marked the 80th anniversary of the end of WWII.

After the end of WWII in 1945, in the same year, GHQ (General Headquarters of Allied Powers) issued permission for Japanese vehicle manufacturers to produce trucks, but production of passenger cars was banned.  Thus, bicycles were in great demand.

Special trucks were designed to enable manufacturers to take their product to the masses.  These were known as SENDEN-JIDOUSHA (宣伝自動車）, literally translated it means campaign or advertising vehicle.  Mobile showrooms traveled the country; whereby, potential customers could see firsthand the manufacturer's lineup and purchase one.  

These promotional vehicles are from the Yamaguchi Bicycle Manufacturing Co., Ltd.

Note how the vehicle is divided into three sections.
First, all the way up front is the driver/crew member and broadcast compartment.  These promotional vehicles were equipped with loudspeakers.


Second is the sales compartment located in the mid-section, equipped with table and chairs to discuss purchase and payment details.


Third, in the rear half is the showroom area where bicycles are displayed.

These showrooms on wheels came in various designs.  

A few other examples of bicycle promotional vehicles.

Mayam (Nittei)


Hikari

Kofu


Tsunoda

It is interesting to note that promotional vehicles were not limited to bicycle companies. There were a wide variety of products promoted this way, including: ham, curry, chocolate, powdered milk, soft milk candies, toothpaste, ice cream, cotton goods, blankets, yarn and sweaters, sewing machines, spark plugs, radios, televisions, milk, milk caramels, sauces, whiskey, beer, wine among many others.

The following link (Japanese only) contains six pages of various promotional vehicles.
Japanese Promotional Vehicles

Also, refer to the following You Tube videos via the links below.
Promotional Vehicles Part 1 
Promotional Vehicles Part 2

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, as the television gradually became a common household item, television commercials did the advertising; thereby, making promotional vehicles obsolete and ending a unique era in Japanese sales promotion methods.