Here’s a detailed look at the national advertising campagn that launched the new Chevrolet line for 1937.

This 1937 Chevrolet film opens with an annual American custom that we genuinely miss: gossiping about the year’s new cars in the weeks leading up to their official introductions. Yes, this was once a great national pastime, back in the days when dealerships lined their front windows with butcher paper to thrwart prying eyes and ramp up the anticipation. The practice was given its comic sendup in the 1980 film, The Blues Brothers, when, as the brothers are leading a car  chase through a shopping mall, leaving a path of destruction behind them, Jake turns to Elwood and says, “The new Oldsmobiles are in early this year.”

Of course, the automakers’ advertising teams did everything they could to nurture and exploit this custom, as we see in this classic Jam Handy film. Presented as a behind-the-scenes look at the advertising campaign for the 1937 Chevrolet line, the movie details the crafting of the extensive print and radio campaigns, including a unified national theme and slogan, reaching their crescendo with the official launch on November 7, 1936. The tagline: “The complete car, completely new.”

This was no idle boast, actually, as the exterior styling was indeed all new, the chassis was redesigned, and Chevy’s trusty Stovebolt six-cylinder engine, first offered in 1929, was given a comprehensive update. (Read about the game-changing 1929 Chevy six here.) There were two model lines, Master and Master Deluxe, and together they amounted to more than 825,000 total sales—America’s best-selling car that year. Enjoy the movie.