Tag Archives: vintage advertising

Christmas at Bernie’s

1944 Coca-Cola / Coke Christmas ad

I wonder how long it took them to realize that the father in this 1944 Coca-Cola Christmas ad was dead?

He’s pining.

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Smoking is for Squares!

Hey, kitten. There’s a lot going on in this 1964 comic book anti-smoking PSA by DC Comics.

Smoking is for Squares! 1964 DC Comic Book PSA from an issue of Tales of the Unexpected

I’m still not quite sure why Paulette Breen suddenly turns into a 53-year-old truck stop waitress in the fifth panel. Probably from all the pointing. Continue reading

This shit is bananas.

1954-ish magazine ad for United Fruit Company (now Chiquita Brands International) that I found in a box of scraps.

It starts off innocently enough. Vague, nice-sounding, feel-good advice on how to live better and longer. And then… BANANAS! EAT BANANAS! DID WE MENTION BANANAS?

It’s a double-truck ad from United Fruit Company, one of the companies quite literally responsible for bringing the term “Banana Republic” from fiction to the real world.

(Her yellow gloves were a very nice touch.)

So eat lots of bananas, kiddos, or Miss Chiquita will cut ya.

Banana Fun Facts: There is no such thing as a banana tree. Bananas come from a herbaceous flowering plant with a pseudostem often mistaken for a tree trunk.

The tiers of a banana cluster are called hands, and each banana is also known as a finger.

If you hate those gross stringy things you find on a banana after peeling it, then you hate phloem bundles.

Lastly, bananas are naturally radioactive. Yay! Continue reading

Because who doesn’t enjoy pointy bras from 1961!?

Earlier this year, an antique shop owner in town was retiring and winding down her store. I picked up a pretty good batch of vintage magazines at a nice price on the last weekend, and went back after work on Monday, the final day, just to see if I had missed anything.

Well, turns out I was recognized and she had an impressive stock of vintage magazines in back that never made it out on the floor. She made me a great offer and I took it. And on top of that, she had a collection of various things she had cut out of other old magazines — random photos and illustrations from ads, stories and features — that she had started on for an unspecified “girly project” but decided after a while that it was too much work. She had this particular collection stored in the cover/lid from a case of office copier paper and it was filled to overflowing. She offered it to me for five more bucks and I said yep.

I still haven’t made it to the bottom of her cutouts, but so far have found a plethora of full, intact vintage ads, and also many partial ads where she was only interested in the primary photo or illustration and saw no need to cut out or keep the rest (headline, body copy, logo, etc.). The image below is one such example.

I am Spartacus.

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Umph?

Umph!

1981 magazine ad for Triumph 100s cigarettes.

Umph.

Back when Harley riders wore Lacoste polo shirts.

I gotta say, “The Great American Freedom Machine” is a great tagline.
Harley-Davidson should bring it back.

Harley-Davidson ad from a 1974 magazine.

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It’s 2017, but I would totally wear these glorious shoes from 1974.

Not even gonna rip on this ad, because those are awesome shoes. Somebody please make these shoes again!

A most groovy Pedwin ad from a 1974 magazine.

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Why? Because the neighborhood’s gone to hell since Santa showed up, that’s why.

Jews for Jesus 1984 magazine ad

This headline would have benefitted from a comma.

Keep the Y’shua in Y’shuamas, y’all, or the giant hand of God will grab and smite thee. Continue reading

Polite or Desperate?

Carlton cigarettes magazine ad from 1984

Or rather, polite desperation or desperate politeness?

Blowing Smoke

For those of you who still believe that corporations always have the best interests of Americans in mind, here’s a nice little something from 1984.

(cough) (cough) Bullshit! (cough) (cough)

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