A Look Back At Some REALLY Old Ads.

For some time now I have been doing a series called "The Advertising of Yesterday." Most of the ads I feature come from a stash of magazines I have from the 60's and 70's. Most of the time it is quite interesting how our views, values and attitudes have changed over the last 3 or 4 decades.

The other day a friend emailed me about a post on Purple Slinky that featured some REALLY old ads that take us further back and REALLY demonstrate the evolution our society has undergone.

The author, Paula Mitchell Bentley has put together an excellent collection of ads that would never see the light of day in today's world.


Ahhh yes, the wonderful benefits of beer for infants.



Make sure you don't abuse your kids, light up first. I think that the use of babies to promote cigarettes was discontinued just a couple of years ago.



And to think that we are trying to stop our kids from watching TV. Between Xbox and TV, the parks seem kind of empty nowadays.



This one is my favorite. "How Soon is too soon? Not soon enough." It will help you kids "fit in" and gain acceptance during those pre-teen and teen years. They even go so far as to guarantee lifetime happiness if you start drinking cola.



I wonder when the word "chubby" made the transition to a derogatory term. It's now "plus-sized" thank you very much.



Yes, the all new safety razor. So safe that you can even let your infants play with it. Give this little tyke 2 or 3 more years and he will be ready for the stitching line at the textile factory down the street.



Out of all the ads featured, this is the most disturbing. It says that the revolvers are not toys, the shoot straight and they kill. At the same time they are promoting how safe they are and claiming that accidental discharge is impossible. I just happen to know quite a bit about these Iver Johnson revolvers. There weren't that safe. "Papa says it won't hurt us." Wow. Granted this and many other firearms ads, featured here, here and here, came way before the gun was designated as evil, but you have to admit this ad is reckless and irresponsible. A big Booooo and a thumbs down for this ad.

There are a couple of others included in her post but I think you are getting the picture. The point is that as we look back over time and see how advertising has evolved, we can paint a picture of how society has changed as well. Remember the Playtex "Cross Your Heart" bra commercials? Remember how they never use to show the bra on a woman? Instead they demonstrated it's features, advantages and benefits on a mannequin.



Today's television is a completely different story. All bets are off and so are the clothes. In 30 years, I wonder how we will look back at the ads of today?

Thanks again for stopping by The Big Bald Blog! Have a great weekend everyone.