How to Think Small
Air-cooled Volkswagens are some of my first and fondest automotive associations, dating back to the 1971 Squareback in which I rode home from the hospital in 1974, and the stories I heard of the 1962 Sedan that was my mother’s first car.
Vroom, vroom…
The baby blue ‘62
So it was with gleeful delight that I unwrapped the book think small, as part of a wonderfully auto-themed birthday gift.
This hardcover book, printed in 1967 by Volkswagen of America, was an obvious play on the hugely famous and beloved 1962 Doyle Dane Bernbach advertisement of the same title:
“Our little car isn’t much of a novelty any more.”
The book appears to have been a give-away for VW dealers to increase goodwill with their customers.
It is a compilation of Volkswagen-themed cartoons and stories from well-known illustrators and authors.
Editor Herb Valen contributed the first story, “What’s So Funny About A Volkswagen?”
The cartoons alone are worth the price of admission.
“It’s given him an inferiority complex. Now he hardly ever mentions going seven days without water.”
“Which way to the Autobahn, old woman?” – Henry Martin
And getting top billing is the incomparable (and noted car guy) Charles Addams:
Included are contributions from writers like “A Christmas Story” author Jean Shepherd.
“My Dream Car”
Good to the last drop.
think small is not a rare volume; in fact, a web search turned up many copies available from booksellers all over the country. If you’re a fan of vintage Volkswagens and enjoy clean, honest humor, you’ll do well to pick up a copy for your own bookshelf.