Boiled Baby, Hardy Har Har
Product: Waterbury Watches
Date: 1893
*scratches head* You kinda have to wonder what the folks at Waterbury watches were thinking when they ran this 2″ x 2″ plain text ad with its small off-center headline in 1893. Though, honestly, the layout seems to be the least of their worries. I mean, who wrote this??
Maybe their target market was grumpy old men who found the acerbic retort of Charles Lamb, a British essayist and lifelong bachelor, to be the height of hilarity.
And maybe if you lived in the 19th century, you wouldn’t have to read the ad three times before understanding what the hell it meant.
Yeah, that must be it. I’m just not their target market.
Technorati Tags: antique advertisement, Waterbury watches, Charles Lamb, old jokes, bad advertising
Smoking Sucks
Product: Ohio-Tuec vacuum cleaner
Date: 1920
Don’t you just hate it when your man leaves his cigarette butts on the good carpet?
Click to view full ad.
Technorati Tags: vintage advertising, 1920 household appliances, vintage vacuum cleaner, Ohio-Tuec, cigarettes, smoking culture
What Is Your Part in the War Effort?
I collect postcards for the images on their fronts. Most people do. But every so often, the message penned on the back is far more interesting.
Take this linen postcard of the George Washington Bridge. Here’s the front.
Nothing too exciting. But flip it over and read the back, postmarked Oct 21, 1943.
This is a new set of New York City views and everyone seems to like them. Hope you have been well. What is your part in the war effort? I’m making ship plans for Henry J. Kaiser to use on the West Coast. Thanks for church view. - HWN
Henry J. Kaiser owned seven major shipyards along the American west coast. Together, these yards made more ships for the US war effort than any other company, including many of the famous Liberty ships.
And our postcard writer contributed plans to those yards. Pretty cool, huh?
Technorati Tags: vintage postcard, George Washington Bridge, New York City views, WWII, World War Two, Henry J. Kaiser, draftsman, American war effort, shipbuilding, 1943
Toothsome Graphic Art
Product: Dental Graphic Art
Date: 1883
When I was editor of my high school newspaper back in the 1980s, in addition to collecting all of the content, I was also tasked with laying out each edition.
Luckily, I had professional mentors, graphic artists who worked for the same company as my mom and helped me out with tips and materials.
They let me pore through their huge catalogs of clip art — you know, the stuff you actually had to clip out and paste onto your page — to pick out images that would liven up the newspaper.
I remember choosing a pair of sunglasses to sit at the top of an interview we’d done with a local rock DJ. The same image came in multiple sizes, from tiny to big, so you could pick the one that fit best into your layout.
I hadn’t actually thought of those clip art catalogs in years, not until I came across this page advertising graphic art pieces for dentists to use in hawking their services.
Click to enlarge.
I think the dentist selected the image of his choice at the size he wanted, and then probably received it as a wood cut or metal engraving (anyone know for sure?) so he could print all those lovely teeth on his marketing material and letterhead.
This one would make a nice tattoo, don’t you think?
Somebody had a sense of humour here: A banner promising “painless” dentistry from the fictitious O.I. Payne on Forcep Avenue.
But dentists, may I make a humble suggestion? Piece No. 8, with all the forceps, wrenches, picks, knives, corkscrews and whatnot on display? Not really selling the whole dental experience.
Technorati Tags: antique clip art, dental history, dentists, teeth, antique advertising, graphic arts
Got Bedbugs?
Product: Niagara Squirter
Date: ca 1900
Bedbugs got you down? No problem. The Niagara Squirter is a “great thing to kill bedbugs with.”
Plus it’s nickel plated.
Nice.
Technorati Tags: bedbugs, Niagara Squirter, water squirter, antique catalog, antique advertising, J. Lynn & Co.
