Willy’s Jeep

By Jane M. Gibbs

I first found the little man, who I named “Motorcycle Man,” in Boston Harbor in 2013. I had no idea what it was from. About four years later, I saw a photo of the glass jeep in the book Sea Glass: Rare and Wonderful by C. S. Lambert, and realized that it was a “Jeep Man” and not a motorcycle rider.

The glass curio, labeled “Willy’s Jeep,” was made by the J.H. Millstein Company of Jeannette, Philadelphia, during the WWII era. It was sold as a candy container. The Willys-Overland company manufactured the first Jeeps for World War II.

In 2015, I found another piece of a Willy’s Jeep candy dispenser, this time the cab of the Jeep, with the man at the wheel, but without his head. Recently, I purchased a new intact Willy’s Jeep on eBay to complete the collection, and so that I could capture what it looked like before and after spending years in the waves.

All photos by Jane M. Gibbs.

This article appeared in Beachcombing Volume 36: May/June 2023.