War Pie, Oh My!
Product: None Such Mince Meat
Date: 1918
During World War I, None Such Mince Meat advertised its mincemeat pie filling by encouraging housewives to serve their country by baking “war pies” — pies baked without the top crust to save on flour. Such exhortations to be patriotic, make sacrifices, and save supplies were common in that era, as well as during World War II.
Can you imagine any company–or even the government–making the same kind of request today? People would be up in arms. Pardon the pun.
Post-script: I’m currently reading Jeff Rubin’s book, Why Your World Is About to Get a Whole Lot Smaller, about peak oil and what it will mean to our gas guzzling culture. The price of energy is going to go up, along with the cost of food, clothing and other essentials — all of which rely on oil for production, storage and transportation. It occurred to me that we’re already seeing the kind of conservation requests that None Such was putting forth in 1918, just not in support of a war effort. Instead, the requests today beseech us to do our part for the environment.
As prices for just about everything rise in the coming years, we’ll see more and more information about how to save and stretch what we use. Who knows, maybe War Pie will make a comeback as Green Pie. What do you think?
Technorati Tags: vintage advertising, WWI, World War One, war-time advertising, None Such Mince Meat, mincemeat pie, war pie, rationing
Harry Potter, Eat Your Wizard Heart Out
Product:Wizard’s Purse
Date: ca 1900
The description of this purse is an epic paragraph made entirely of awesome. I don’t even know where to begin in telling you how awesome it is. I guess you should just read the whole thing for yourself.
The Wizard’s Purse which has just been placed on the market is the most mysterious production of the ages, and is acknowledged by all the great professors of magic and legerdemain to be the greatest little wonder and mystery the world every produced. A marvel of Japanese skill that puzzles them all, makes ministers nearly profane, doctors neglect patients, lawyers forget cases, and affords everybody lots of sport, also furnishes never failing amusement for all, defies and baffles all, and deceives the sharpest eye. Can you open it? You may say you can, but can you? It is without a rival — delights and astonishes both old and young. For the seeker of curious and difficult puzzles, its mysterious method of manipulation invites the most careful examination and investigation. This purse can be filled with money, and, with perfect assurance of safety, you can offer anyone its contents (if not in the secret) providing they will open it without cutting, ripping, or injuring the purse in any manner. To those understanding the secret, it can be quickly and easily opened, while to the uninitiated it appears impossible. As the purse is tightly double-stitched all over by both hand and machine, nothing so tantalizing was ever offered to the public. Elegantly made of fine imported morocco leather in a variety of handsome colours, and beautifully trimmed with silk, a perfect beauty, sure to please all. Full directions accompanying each purse.
Click to view full ad.
Technorati Tags: antique advertising, wizard’s purse, novelty purse, ladies purse, 1900s fashion, copywriting
And You Thought YOUR Phone Bill Was High!
Product: Bell Telephone long distance
Date: ca 1952
Think your cell phone rates are high? Or that long distance costs too much? Then thank your lucky stars you don’t live in 1952. Back then, Bell Telephone was trying to convince people to make long distance calls by touting these “low” per-minute rates:
| Pittsburgh to Cleveland | $.45 |
| Boston to Philadelphia | $.70 |
| Atlanta to Cincinnati | $.85 |
| Dallas to Denver | $1.10 |
| San Marino to New York | $2.00 |
And these were the off-peak rates for calls made after 6pm or on Sundays! To put those rates in perspective, I ran them through an inflation calculator to see what you’d pay for the same calls in 2011 dollars. Here are the staggering results:
| Pittsburgh to Cleveland | $3.63 |
| Boston to Philadelphia | $5.73 |
| Atlanta to Cincinnati | $6.95 |
| Dallas to Denver | $9.00 |
| San Marino to New York | $16.36 |
Can you imagine paying $16 per minute? I don’t think I’d be making too many calls to the grandkids at those rates.
Click to view full ad.
Technorati Tags: Bell Telephone, vintage advertising, ads from the 1950s, grandparents, long distance rates
