Talk:Maxwell Motor Company

Mr Benny

I reverted the removal of the "references in popular culture section, mostly because it removed all mention of Jack Benny. The Jack Benny reference is far from "trivia"; probably the single most famous thing about Maxwells for the half century + after brand went out of businesss. Suggestions on reworking this so it doesn't look like one of the dreaded "trivia" sections? -- Infrogmation (talk) 22:56, 20 May 2009 (UTC)

As it wass removed without any thoughts, I will allow the Mr Benny part to stay but what about the other two; after reading, these appear to be pretty trivial. Donnie Park (talk) 23:07, 20 May 2009 (UTC)

I rethought these issues after Donnie's reversion of similar items in Studebaker. Mr Benny's ownership tells us plenty about him, but nothing at all about the Maxwell car (though the pic is a beauty!). Therefore, imho, the pic should be added to the Jack Benny article, alongside one of the two uncomplimentary references to his decrepit Maxwell car. Sorry, Infrogmation, but Donnie was right the first time. If your perceived notability does not apply to Mr Benny's article, it certainly has no place here. That whole section must be excised to discourage future similar indulgences. Cheers Bjenks (talk) 23:49, 20 May 2009 (UTC)

I second that. Donnie Park (talk) 21:07, 21 May 2009 (UTC)

Maxwell is mentioned and linked on both the Jack Benny article and The Jack Benny Program article. Is that the "percieved notability" you're refering to?

The topic of Benny and his Maxwell can certainly be expanded on-- I agree that the Jack Benny article is a better place to go into it in detail. (For example there is at the moment no mention of the advertising campaigns of Jack Benny in his Maxwell, which were pretty ubiquitous in the USA for a few decades.)

As a suggestion, perhaps a shorter mention of and wikilink to Jack Benny as the caption of the photo of him in a Maxwell? If there's no mention of Benny in the Maxwell article at all, I expect that such will regularly be added by new users. Cheers, -- Infrogmation (talk) 22:55, 21 May 2009 (UTC)

Imho, the photo could be justified on the page only if it's a genuine Maxwell and the caption identified and cited the year and model as well as mentioning Benny and Truman. The car has some similarities with the depicted 1911 model but is also significantly different in, eg, the scuttle, bonnet and radiator. It may be a Maxwell in name only, having been put together for the TV studio by the equivalent of a street-rod merchant. Until we really know, the pic is really more suited to Benny's own article. Cheers Bjenks (talk) 00:10, 22 May 2009 (UTC)

The Truman Library describes the car as a Maxwell [1]. Yeah, it looks like an early one, maybe even earlier than 1911. It's neither the 1916 Model 25 nor the 1923 Tourer that Benny was usually shown with on tv, film, and ads. I'd guess its something a local auto collector brought by for the event in Kansas City. (Benny was so associated with the Maxwell that if news got out that he was visiting town I wouldn't be surprised if a call went out to see if anyone could round up a Maxwell for him to ride in. I've seen number of other old publicity/news photos of Benny in various locations with various Maxwells; this is the only one of the photos that I can confirm is PD.) -- Infrogmation (talk) 01:11, 22 May 2009 (UTC)

The car in the Benny & Truman photo looks a good deal like the 1908 Doctors Roadster shown at [2] via the first external link in our article. If that's not the same model, I think we're very close. -- Infrogmation (talk) 01:22, 22 May 2009 (UTC)

Yup, well done! That's good enough for me. Keep the pic and the link, but no spam/trivia, eh?! Cheers Bjenks (talk) 12:31, 22 May 2009 (UTC)

Okay, I'll add some material to the Jack Benny article to make a paragraph about Benny and the Maxwell, then edit down this article but including a photo and link to the Benny article. I think I'll have time to do this a little later today. -- Infrogmation (talk) 15:03, 22 May 2009 (UTC)

Reworking

OK! I expanded the Maxwell material in the Jack Benny article to a 2 paragraph section, linked here via the Benny photograph caption. As the article was rather image heavy for its length I removed some of images (galleries of multiple images are one of the things we have Commons for). The three images I have left show one car each from the 1900s, 1910s, and 1920s; one tourer, one roadster, and one sedan; and one color photo, one black & white photo, and one advertising illustration. Trilateral symmetry, no? :-) Maxwelly, Infrogmation (talk) 17:42, 22 May 2009 (UTC)

Alice Huyler Ramsey

Should be mentioned that the first woman who drove across the United States from coast to coast used a Maxwell car? It was Alice Huyler Ramsey. -- 193.25.183.52 (talk) 17:56, 19 December 2012 (UTC)