I have a couple of old Good Housekeeping magazines up on the top shelf of the closet in my
office.
Both are from 1923—one from
April of that year, one from October—and I spent some time this morning leafing
through the back sections, looking at advertisements.
I
was amazed...so many of the products advertised in 1923 are the same products I
have in my kitchen cupboards today: Jell-O, Sun-Maid Raisins (not the seedless
variety, though), SOS scouring pads, Pyrex ware, Pillsbury flour, Bell’s
Seasoning, Lipton’s tea, Campbell’s Soup, Gulden’s mustard; all manner and kind
of toothpaste, including Ipana.
Most
of the ads are in simple black & white; they’ve got solid block lettering
and a simple collegiate border—quite boring, actually.
But the others?
Oh, goodness!
What marvels they are!
The artwork is gorgeous—lush, full color
paintings or line drawings, various typefaces (mostly serif faces, but a few
sans as well); splashy, full-page blasts of color and copy!
And
the copy is incredible...Will you have
good teeth in 1933? Have Hair that
Thrills...Teachers and Mothers are Allies in Fighting Dirt...She never really knew why...(the ad
implies she had halitosis and hadn’t yet discovered Listerine)!
I love the bride, rouged and vague, sipping
her Maxwell House!
“It may not actually surprise him,” the copy reads, “to find the rich Maxwell House
aroma tempting his masculine appetite—but it will please him so much...”
“Every cell in the human body is made up of
elements derived from food...you should always be careful that the food you eat
is really nourishing—not merely filling,” screams the Grape-Nuts ad copy.
“Where you don’t find Grape-Nuts, you won’t find people.”
Hmmm...
...my
old logic professor from college would have an absolute field day with this
one!
I
can hear him now, questioning: Valid or True?
You are quite right. At first one is drawn to all those adverts for products that are long gone, but the surprise really is how many products that found a market 80 or 100 years ago are still finding a market today. And if I am what I eat ..... best wishes from a large plate of French fries!
ReplyDeleteSo...you're a giant French fry? The last thing I ate was a bowl of pears and strawberries! Does that make me a Bosc?
DeleteThat must have been a good year for advertising. I especially like the Jello ad.
ReplyDeleteI know; isn't it wonderful? The two respectable ladies reflected in the mirror, the maid serving Jell-O?
DeleteThose picture ads are really works of art, representing the times. I like them. Very nostalgic.
ReplyDeleteI agree -- they're lovely. There's something sweet about them: the color, maybe? The softness? Whatever...they're special.
DeleteI'm not sure a new groom is thinking that much about coffee . . . but at some point in the marriage I'm sure it could matter? A nostaligic post!
ReplyDeleteAnd we ALL know that the new bride surely isn't sipping Maxwell House in full regalia! It's funny...but sweet, too.
DeleteCan you tell me what grape nuts were? Interesting post.
ReplyDeleteIt's a breakfast cereal; little nutty nugget-like things that taste (quite frankly) like hard cardboard morsels...I hated them when I was a kid...but very "healthy," as they say.
DeleteI love the old adverts. I can spend hours looking through old newspapers and magazines.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what the future generations will think about our adverts now?
I imagine it's pretty universal, don't you? We all look back, we all smile, we all move on.
DeleteI have to agree with your description of these colourful adverts. They remind me of some found in old Readers Digest magazines too.
ReplyDeleteInteresting that you call them "adverts," and we shorten it up to, simply, "ads." I wonder how that happens...
DeleteThough subtly worded, Maxwell House managed to link coffee with sex by using the phrase "masculine appetite."
ReplyDeleteInteresting! Have to admit that I never thought of it that way...but now I've got to put it all in a different light!
DeleteI love these old adverts.
ReplyDeleteMe, too. They give me plenty to think about when I'm writing...how to incorporate some of the old products into my novel, etc. It's great fun!
DeleteI've also never heard of grape nuts - don't think we had them in Australia as far as I know.
ReplyDeleteBelieve me, Jo --you aren't missing much. I think they're awful, although some people really like them...little pebbles of cardboard, really!
DeleteSome of the old advertisements look almost like works of art (well, illustrations, really), and they're still appealing to some folks today. Thank goodness I don't have to decide whether an ad is true or valid. I just assume all the ads are at least slightly inaccurate. Great post. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you, Nancy...I think most advertising is on the slippery side! But those old ones sure are beautiful!
DeleteWow, that means whole families must have died since they didn't have Grape Nuts. I really do like grape nuts and grape nut flakes.
ReplyDeleteAhhh....but I'm living proof that you could live without eating them! Still think they taste like little rocks of cardboard -- you can eat my share anytime.
DeleteOnce I thought about things like: why such information is for free here? Because when you write a book then at least on selling a book you get a percentage. Thank you and good luck on informing people more about it!
ReplyDeleteFree Christian advertisings