Friday, May 16, 2014

Still Here, Part 2

NineteenTeen readers seemed to be amused by the first round of ads for products that are still with us after a hundred or more years that I culled from my research magazines, so here are a few more for your viewing pleasure:

Sunkist Oranges (Ladies’ Home Journal, June 1917):


Waterman’s Pens are now advertised as a luxury item, but in this ad in the June 1917 edition of St. Nicholas, the popular children’s magazine, they’re a tad less upscale:


Mm, mm, good! Campbell’s Soup (The Metropolitan Magazine, June, 1917):


Dental hygiene has come a long way since this post! Pepsodent (The Delineator, May 1917):


This one kind of surprised me. How about you?  Underwood Deviled Ham (Ladies’ Home Journal, June 1917):


For the record--it's pronounced "WUSS-ter-sher." Just in case. Lea and Perrin’s Worcestershire Sauce (The Delineator, May 1917):


It would appear that 'candy is dandy' has been true for quite a long time now! Whitman’s Chocolates (Harper’s Weekly, February 22, 1902):


And this ad takes this week's prize for inventiveness. I thought "Oh, chewing gum saved a pilot's life by helping him stay awake...but no, nothing so prosaic. You can click on the ad to enlarge it...or here's the text: "It Saved His Life!  A British Flyer was up in the air, over the enemy. A piece of shrapnel pierced his petrol tank. He was chewing WRIGLEY'S (Soldiers, sailors, and aviators are strong for it!)  Quick as a flash he plugged the hole with his gum...and got back alive to camp, thanks to it! We'll send you a copy of his letter on request. It just goes to show how, when you're "up in the air" under nervous tension, you'll find WRIGLEY'S a tonic-bracer--a refershing, lasting pick-me-up. It allays thirst, helps appetite and digestion and soothes mouth and throat."  Might this be the origin of the expression, "held together with chewing gum and baling wire!"  Wrigley’s Gum (The Red Cross Magazine, August 1917):


Which is your favorite ad?



2 comments:

Heather Kelly said...

Delightful! What enthusiastic voice these ads have. And I love the saving his life by gum story. :)

Marissa Doyle said...

That one is priceless, isn't it? :)