...Your Husband Will Not Telegram "Love" To You!

From Good Housekeeping Magazine, 1940.  Poor dear.  If only she had put on that stank-purty.

Halitosis Does Not Announce Itself to Its Victims!

Marry Me!

This little piece of hilarity appeared in the November, 1934 issue of Physical Culture magazine.  Hey You!  Yeah, you! The 5 million women who want to get married!  How's your breath today?  Go wash your mouth out!

Only 25 Cents!

Hope they can breathe in that envelopeThis little ad appeared in the November, 1934 issue of Modern Mechanix.  Not sure what modern mechanics needed with chameleons back then, but we sure do have a glut of them today in all walks of life.  This ad even incorporates the word of 2008, "change".  Be sure to click the image for a larger version.

Click to enlarge

Vintage Ad of the Day - Lipton Iced Tea from Woman's Day, August 1, 1949

Since it's my wedding day, I felt it appropriate to feature a vintage ad surrounding brides, weddings, matrimony.  I love the comic strip format of this ad, and I know Budd will too, as he is an avid comics collector.  I especially love the 4th box, with the 2 children getting spanked at the same time by their mother, while she orders the groom-to-be around.  Makes me think of my mother, who was famous for multi-tasking in such a manner.  And I never knew Lipton Iced Tea was such a great stimulator.  I guess Lipton Tea of the 1940's was equivalent to Red Bull or other energy drinks of today.

And I also never knew that tea could make one feel "fresh as a buttercup" - I thought that was caused by other products we'll not mention here today, but I can assure you I have plenty of those ads queued up and ready to be posted for your amusement at a later date.

Click for larger imageVintage Ad of the Day - What a Gift!

Back in 1950, there was no greater gift for the men in your life than a carton of cigarettes or a bottle of booze.  Ads like this one were so common throughout magazines such as Life, Look, The Saturday Evening Post, and so on.  And it sure helped that, in this one, you had all the crooners pitching a specially wrapped carton with Bing Crosby as "Poppa Santa Claus".  How much more festive could you get? 

If you're about my age (early 40's), you probably remember someone in your household opening up cartons of cigarettes as gifts on Christmas morning.  I know I do.  We even have home movies of such gift-giving traditions, with us kids hollering, "Hold it up for the camera, Dad!"

Say what you want about the product, but tobacco advertising through the years has given us some of the most memorable images, and, in the so-called "golden age" of Hollywood, nearly every major celebrity advertised for tobacco.  Tobacco advertising has always been my personal favorite to study.  Interestingly enough, in this day and age, major cigarette manufacturers are discontinuing magazine and newspaper advertising, so these ads are truly representative of an era gone by.  It's almost a shame about that, seeing as how tobacco is still a legal product, but let's not have that discussion here.

Funny how it's still acceptable to give a bottle of booze for a holiday gift in 2007, yet I doubt too many people are giving cartons of cigarettes.  And I also chuckle when I see alcohol advertising, particularly on television, that always ends with their corporate social responsibility statement, "Please enjoy (insert brand here) responsibly", while they show rivers of liquor or beer flowing. 

Please, enjoy today's Vintage Ad responsibly.  And stay away from anyone calling themselves "Poppa Santa Claus", because he may be hazardous to your health.

From Woman's Day, June 1, 1941.  The things women would do in 1941 to get their leftover dishes to turn out brown every time.  Nailing horseshoes not working?  Get some GravyMaster!  There's a joke in there somewhere, and I bet Budd could find it.

Well, here's a great ad from the 1960's from American Airlines.  Think of her as your mother.  Kinda creepy for some, might be a turn-on for others.  "Every passenger gets the same professional treatment."  Wonder if they also got a happy ending.

Click ad to view full-sizeThe blogger who posted this ad said something to the effect of "Apparently, in the 30's, it was a punishable crime not to play an instrument."  Well, considering Budd and I have a banjo and violin, respectively, that are collecting dust, we might be looking at some time in the big house.  Our goal was to learn both instruments and compete in the annual Charlie Poole festival, which is a great event in Eden every June.  Alas, I don't think 2008 will be our year for competition at Charlie Poole. 

We also, this year, went to the Alleghany Fiddler's Convention in Sparta, NC and enjoyed so many young people playing old-time and bluegrass music.  It was really refreshing to see teenagers who have a love of that type of music in the Spears/Timberlake/Diddy era.  Some names to remember - Full Throttle - a bluegrass band out of Statesville, NC where the members range in age from 12-19, I believe - they brought the house down at Alleghany.  Another one is Broken Wire, with a 16-year old female fiddler who also sings who doesn't even read music.  Maybe there's hope for Budd and me yet.  Or, maybe you'll have to come visit us in the Big House since we can't entertain.

Today has been about cleaning, which it almost never is, so I found a vintage magazine cover from 1912 with a smart young housewife making her way home.  Ads from this period were quite interesting too.

Well, yesterday, men could kill for money.  Today, you can find money in worms.  Kinda makes me think of Peter Fonda in Easy Rider stuffing that money in the plastic tube.  From the July, 1955 Popular Mechanics.