Let’s go back to calling influenza “the grippe”.
Did you know acid phosphate was one of the original ingredients in Coca-Cola and essential at soda fountains?
Continue reading“It’s just the flu.”
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Tag Archives: advertising
Nice cans.
A magazine ad for… cans… from 1985 — Canned Food Information Council
Somebody in the 1980s really wanted to put a sexy robot in an ad.
Why the Can Opener Wasn’t Invented Until Almost 50 Years After the Can
Continue readingAlas, I was born too late.
Bugles are still around, but I totally missed out their snack siblings — “Whistles – a cheddar-flavored corn product in the shape of a whistle and taste like grilled cheese on toast, only crunchy; and Daisy*s – a flower-shaped snack that had the flavor of puffed popovers.”
Dang it
Continue readingDeath of a traveling salesman
Avis might’ve reached advertising legend status with its “When you’re only No.2, you try harder. Or else.” ad and eventual “We try harder.” tagline, but I gotta tell ya, this 1967 Hertz ad is its own kind of awesome. I never knew it existed before picking up a short stack of old Newsweek magazines at a local flea market this weekend. And the word count in this single print ad? 385.
Avis v. Hertz – a history.
Continue readingBeep beep! It’s a ‘Jeep’.
The 1946 Willys Jeep station wagon was the first 2-door station wagon.
This was just seven years after the first Jeep prototype (“Quad”) was delivered to the US Army. It was designed in just 75 days.
The History of the Station Wagon
Continue readingAre you into Amelia memorabilia?
Print ad for Amelia Earhard Luggage from the January 1947 issue of Holiday magazine.
According to online calculators, $600 in 1947 would be $7,781 today (2022).
Five Things You May Not Know About Amelia Earhart, including her own clothing and luggage lines.
15 Fascinating Facts About Amelia Earhart
Let’s learn about crocodile and alligator leather!
Continue readingThat’s hot.
Introduced in 1923 by François Coty.
What the heck is dusting powder?
Of curious note is that they show the range of prices from high to low instead of low to high like many of us these days are more used to. Perhaps to help seal the deal it was high-end stuff.
Continue readingSay goodbye to girdles!
The answer to a maiden’s prayer.
Wanna see the Blue Swan Mills factory? Just scroll at bit at the link.
Continue readingDon’t hate the player piano; hate the game.
Alas, my summer home is also my fall, winter and spring home.
Aeolian is defined as “relating to or arising from the action of the wind”. If only I had known this word as a child.
The Aeolian Company was once the world’s largest piano supplier, later going out of business in 1985.
A brief history of the pianola, or player piano.
Continue readingI feel the need for seed. Wait…
I thought I had a chance at this Northrup King Northern Grown Tested Seeds box at Saturday’s North Star Auction, but I’ll skip the middle part of the story and say it ended at $775 and I didn’t even get my hand up. One of the best vintage illustrations and designs I’ve seen, and also one of the best preserved. Magnificent!
