I’m sorry, but Lady Nettleton can’t come to the phone right now. She’s having tea with Mrs. Nesbit.
I’ve heard of gila monsters, and Gilly, and ghillie suits, but I never knew that a ghillie was also a type of shoe. Who knew!?
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Did you know the original snake oil was actually good for something?
“Colorful names and even more colorful claims.”
Learn some signs of medical quackery.
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What a lovely and fashionable girl.
What do you suppose the 1913 ad she was featured in was selling?
Go ahead, take a guess.
An upscale department store?
No.
The season’s latest fur styles?
No.
A vacation to exotic Canada?
No.
Embalming fluid?
What are you, some kind of wise guy!?
Oh, wait…
You’re right!
It’s an ad for embalming fluid.
D-uh. It’s so obvious now!
Bone Shards:
Ripley’s has a lovely handful of weird embalming stories just waiting for you.
The next time you’re in Houston, don’t forget to stop at the National Museum of Funeral History. Slogan: “Any day above ground is a good one.”
I know! I’m sad I missed out on this auction too.
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This product has gone through a few name changes, from Happy Jax to Sugar Crisp to Super Sugar Crisp to Super Golden Crisp to Golden Crisp.
Bone Shards:
In 2008, Consumer Reports revealed a study that found two cereals that were more than 50% sugar. This was one of them, the other being Kellogg’s Honey Smacks (the one with the frog).
Bears have quite a history of liking the sweet stuff.
The first Ferris wheel was built for Chicago’s 1893 World’s Fair by… George W.G. Ferris Jr.
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Yes, yes they are, because I said so.
I believe this ad also promoted the horror movie, “Attack of the 50 Foot Magic-Plaid-Wearing Woman”.
In 1948, this company made dresses available in sizes 10 to 18. Did you know that dress sizes have changed dramatically over the years?
$6 in 1948 is equal to $65.89 in 2020.
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He’s totally going to accidentally kick that other bottle over… 62 years ago.
Fun facts: Wyoming was the first state to give women the right to vote. (1869)
A higher-end fringed suede jacket could set you back over $1,600.
Copywriters really liked ellipses back in those days.
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Fun Fact: This ad came out a month before the first episode of The Addams Family on TV.
Another Fun Fact: Gent magazine was once subtitled “Home of the D-Cups.”
Continue readingFearless Fosdick was a comic strip parody of Dick Tracy that existed inside another comic strip, Al Capp’s Li’l Abner. He became so popular that he got his own TV puppet show, inspired the creation of MAD Magazine (allegedly) and became the spokesman, in his own way, for Wildroot Cream-Oil hair tonic.
Also, he was stupid, broke, had terrible aim and was frequently shot. Not quite a Dapper Dan, but he did the job.
Abraham Lincoln
his hand and pen.
he will be good but
god knows When
Historical note: The poem in the ad is a Lincoln original written in his math book when he was in his teens. Would you like to know more?
A bit of Inkograph history can be found here.
(I’m assuming that the “lickin’” has something to do with old-timey writing instruments to get the ink flowing, but I could be wrong. Also, I’m trying to keep things clean.)
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Odds and ends:
A portière (mentioned at the bottom of the ad) is a hanging curtain placed over a door or doorway. I am not sure if a beaded curtain officially qualifies as a portière, but why not, eh?
Online, I found a couple of variations of the Lewando’s mother cat delicately and lovingly hanging the chicks up to dry, and when in color, each of the clothespinned chicks is a different color. Probably because of their dyeing services, but maybe just because it’s cute. Dye hard.
“Cleansing” sounds much more elegant and thorough than “cleaning”. You can probably charge more for it.
Sometimes Lewando’s has an apostrophe, and sometimes Lewandos doesn’t have an apostrophe. Lewando does what Lewando wants.
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