Saturday, January 9, 2010

Waxing On About Cezanne Blue In Black & White

This ad appeared in my pontificating post about kitsch and I thought you might enjoy seeing it, even if you don't want to discuss the meaning if kitsch.

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Friday, September 11, 2009

Craft-Scan Friday: Women Are Delighted By Shills

Err, Shillcraft -- women are delighted by Shillcraft.

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Thursday, August 6, 2009

Meet The Exciters!

Buy them even!

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Lucky Strikes

Now with new mirrored carton!


From Gillian Atkinson's photos at TEN.

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Monday, August 3, 2009

Modern Woman Monday: Women "Over 40" Wanted

I'm not sure what's up with the "over 40" in quotes business... But I guess the overall intent of this ad is to remind women that though they be barren & undesirable they are not useless; old sad-sacks can create gay floral arrangements for much prettier persons & for parties they are too poor to throw themselves.

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Friday, June 12, 2009

Craft-Scan Friday: "It's A Thrilling Fad Of The Month Selection!"

I just love truth in advertising! Admitting "the lovely Ballerina Boudoir Doll" was a fad was one giant step forward for humanity. But we went two steps back when we learned that so many would be seduced by the concept...



Ad from the February 1952 issue of The Workbasket; a magazine which was very fond of presenting advertorials as content.

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Thursday, June 11, 2009

Early Product Placement

An ad for ice in the official magazine of the ice industry, Modern Woman Magazine (1941, V10 n5), with very recognizable beverage bottles.

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Sunday, June 7, 2009

Don't Poop Out

Nobody likes a quitter.


Fluidmaster ad found in the December 1977 issue of Workbench.

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Friday, June 5, 2009

Craft-Scan Friday: Before There Was The BeDazzler...

There was the Spanglette.



Ad found in the March 1951 issue of Profitable Hobbies.

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Friday, March 13, 2009

The Nightmare That Is Sandy Mac Underwear

The opposite of how I envision underwear sales, for I neither want sandy undies nor the word "Mac" associated with my butt.


And why would it be cute to see a toddler in his underwear skating on thin ice?

Via KnittingTogether.org.

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Saturday, March 7, 2009

Before Snap, Crackle, Pop...

There were the Ajax elves.

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Friday, February 27, 2009

Vintage Bridal Shower Party Games

Inside the front cover of Bridal Shower Party Games, ads for baby & bridal party games and products by Leister Game Company, Toledo, Ohio.

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Friday, January 16, 2009

The DECCA Navigator


Inside that 1961 BEA "About Your Flight" Booklet.

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Wednesday, January 14, 2009

She Can't Believe She's In Reader's Digest Either



Ad from a 1968 Reader's Digest magazine; via Flickr.

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Monday, January 12, 2009

Kitten Soft?

It could just be me... But is this Lady Buxton Leather ad for The Regal Set suggesting that the "touching story" regarding this leather's softness is that it's made from real kittens? ...I guess we have to touch it know, but I'm not going to.

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Magic Trick Fan



An ad in an 1890 issue of Peterson's Magazine.

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Sunday, January 11, 2009

Have A Coke & A Smile




Seeing as old Coke came with more than a glimpse of thigh, I can see why New Coke just couldn't make it.

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Thursday, January 8, 2009

Baby Midget Velvet Grip Hose Supporter

Vintage hose support for baby that's just like daddy's; I have nothing else to say. Except that as any parent will tell you, baby will remove the garter -- along with a sock and shoe -- whenever he wants to. Especially out shopping in a crowded mall.



The ad was found in a 1921 issue of Modern Priscilla.

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Sunday, December 28, 2008

Hires Root Beer Package, 1890

Make five gallons of beer for just a quarter -- and it's medicinal!



Ad in the December, 1890 issue of Peterson's Magazine.

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Sunday, December 21, 2008

Skin Cancer For Christmas? You Shouldn't Have!

A holiday ad from 1967 for the GE Tanity Case -- a vanity case, but with everything for a tan: sunlamp, holder, eye shields & sun cream.

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Friday, December 19, 2008

Giant Thinks Jack A Killer-Diller

A 1936 Dentyne gum ad.

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Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Into The 60s With Air BP

Another ad from inside 1961 BEA "About Your Flight" Booklet.

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Tuesday, December 9, 2008

7 Maids A-Milking -- To Music


Ad for Bag Balm found in the February 1943 issue of Farm Journal and Farmer's Wife magazine.

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Monday, December 8, 2008

Trouble Keeping Your Hose Up?

Start pulling at the neck.


1921 ad for Wilson Garters, found in The Modern Priscilla magazine.

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Saturday, December 6, 2008

Girls Who Do Needlework Are Heterosexual

And they're proud of it too.


Boye Needle Company proclaimed "Girls Like Boye's" and proffered a tee-shirt which read "Every Girl needs a Boye" on the back cover of McCall's Needlework & Crafts, Spring 1978 issue.

Thinking I just might be willing to kill for one of those shirts, I did a search at eBay for Every Girl needs a Boye -- and finding just one (irrelevant) result, do you know what eBay suggested I might have meant?
Did you mean... every girl needs a bone ?

Now that's funny. And redundant.

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7 Years Of Constipation

By then I think you'd be dead.



Ad found in 1936, True Confessions.

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Friday, December 5, 2008

You Still Have A Chance To Get Into The Movies

Well, Hold-Bobs did offer you the chance to get a free screen test in Universal Pictures "Search For Talent Movie Truck" back in 1936. It's not their fault if you weren't born yet. Or maybe your parents just warned you about talent searches in the back of trucks... Mine sure did.

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Thursday, December 4, 2008

Retro Alfa Romeo Ad

vintage French car ad
French ad in 1961 Maxim's Booklet

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Everything's Better When It's Kitsch On A Ritz


Retro ad for Ritz Crackers from the June 1968 issue of Family Circle via Flickr.

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Warning: Your Male Bosom Is Bunchy

That's news from The American Shirt Front -- at the informal dance, anyway. You can avoid this and other shirt mishaps this holiday season by wearing Arrow Shirts. At least the 1941 variety, as this ad was found in that year's Liberty magazine.

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Monday, December 1, 2008

1921 Doll Lamp


Ad for the "Cute Lite" found in the April 1921 issue of The Modern Priscilla.

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Eyelashes Like Fork Tines

Maybe it's Maybelline.



In January 1936, True Confessions.

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Sunday, November 23, 2008

Yeast, The New Way -- And You'll Like It

You'll like yeast this new way -- um, why is she lifting her leg like that? What kind of yeast are we talking about here?



From Liberty, February 22, 1941.

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Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Correcting Ill-Shaped Noses At Home

And where else would you do it?



An ad in Beautiful Womanhood, Edited by Mrs. Bernarr MacFadden, November, 1923.

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Sunday, November 16, 2008

Would You Believe A Talking Dog?

Teach your dog to talk! Record & book tells the whole 'doggone' story.



Ad found in the February 13, 1979 National Enquirer (which explains why the dog looks a lot like Benji).

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Saturday, November 15, 2008

Remember When You Could Smoke On A Plane?

Me neither. But this page inside my 1961 BEA "About Your Flight" Booklet reminds us not only could you smoke on an airplane, but that airlines would actually supply the smokes.

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Monday, November 3, 2008

Cuddle & Kitschy Coo The Swan

This ad for Swan Soap & features Joan Davis and CBS as well as mentions Davis as the star of "George White's Scandals", an RKO Radio Picture. I just dig the adorable swan.


The ad appears on the back cover of Calling All Girls, December, 1945.

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Mail-Order Monkeys

Man, before the internet and the ability to download 'virtual' crap, you could get all sorts of real things via mail-order:


Yes, squirrel monkeys could actually be mailed to you, in a tiny little box (sundress not included), and you could have a best friend with a prehensile tail. I mean, other than Roger Coulter from 5th period, because he's just creepy. The squirrel monkey was guaranteed delivered alive, so if a dead monkey appeared in your mailbox, you had some sort of recourse. If you wanted two Minneapolis monkeys -- two monkeys!?! -- you could save a fivespot on the deal. Hopefully, you'll be well-prepared for its arrival; otherwise you might end up with angry parents and an arm full of stitches. My ad came from a 1963 issue of McCall's Needlework & Crafts.

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Sucaryl On This

Slenderella, packed by Richmond-Chase Company, featured Sucaryl® -- "the magic sweetener that doesn't add one single calorie". The cutie-patootie in the ad exclaims, "...so finally I tried slenderella low-calorie foods... and look what happened to itty-bitty me!"



I look slimmer when I wear my tablecloths too, bitch.

But seriously... Sucaryl ® is Cyclamate, and was banned in the US for cancer. Which sort of begs the question about just what would be the cause of any weight loss.

If you can stand more strange factoids about Sucaryl®, check this info from Wikipedia:
Like many artificial sweeteners, the sweetness of cyclamate was discovered by accident. Michael Sveda was working in the lab on the synthesis of anti-fever medication. He put his cigarette down on the lab bench and when he put it back in his mouth he discovered the sweet taste of cyclamate.
Just how do lab rats manage to survive at all?

Ad found in The Dakota Farmer, "Dakota's Own Magazine", April 18, 1959.

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Wednesday, October 29, 2008

When Illustrations Collide

Jay Hyde Barnum's illustration of a sexy songbird with a lifted hem shares the page with an ad for Perfect Circle Triple-Action piston rings.



The incongruity of such juxtaposition of pinup with what I lovingly call 'racing troll babies' makes me stare long and hard at this vintage magazine page for clues... At first I thought sex appeal was being applied by Perfect Circle, but the three babies, a regular gimmick used by the company, are drawn by Pete Hawley. Why the editors decided to print the pinup facing the ad is unknown to me -- but I'm sure it helped Perfect Circle sell piston rings.

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Thursday, October 16, 2008

How Much Is Your Spare Time Worth?

You can earn up to $1.50 an hour, representing Curtis Publishing. Or at least you could according to this old ad.


This ad was a lot funnier pre-financial melt-down, when I found & scanned it. Now we're all just wondering if we'll be lucky enough to make a $1.50 an hour.

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Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Sani-Flush Your Gunk Away

We've all heard how Lysol's been used to clean the err, "female engine"; but did you know that Sani-Flush was once peddled as the do-it-yourself car radiator flush?

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Friday, September 12, 2008

No White Spots On Your Scottie Dog

We know it's after Labor Day so you may be adhering to the old "no white" rule, but FYI, if you need a product to whiten your shoes that won't rub off on your dog...



We don't think Carbona Shoe Whitener should have promoted kicking or "rubbing" dogs with shoes by making such product claims, but it was 1941. Things were different then.

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Friday, September 5, 2008

The Unknown Comic - Artist

From The Saturday Evening Post, June 14, 1941, a full-page ad for Hotpoint electric refrigerators and ranges. The top portion features a comic, Just Around The Corner: Ed And Alice Open Up The Summer Cottage, which extols the virtues of having appliances in your summer cottage "just like in town." So much for getting away from it all & roughing it.

And no one ever shows up to help me move.


Having a title seems to signify a series -- be it a regular comic series or an ad campaign -- but it's unsigned. The style is so familiar... Capp? Marge? I honestly don't know; neither does Google. If you do, please share.

Here's the bottom portion of the ad, in case that helps.

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Monday, August 25, 2008

Modern Woman Monday: Bra Retardation Is Real People; The Figures Don't Lie

Oprah says eight out of 10 women are wearing the wrong size bra today. Well, 50 years ago, 47 out of 100 women didn't wear the right fitting bra either.


I don't quite know how to do the math... that's 50+ years to add another 37 percent points, times two breasts -- carry the nipple... At this rate, we're gonna have to carry our nipples.

The bottom line is, ladies, we're not getting older & wiser; we're getting older & saggier.

See another Formfit ad, likely from the 40's, boasting the same sad figures to boost lagging sales along with sagging boobs.

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Sunday, August 17, 2008

Ladies Don't Argue With A Burglar

They pack heat in their nighties.



Via Flickr.

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Sunday, August 3, 2008

Sshh... It's Contraband

An ad that ran in the UK for the 1968 Contraband Pantee -- yup, two "e"s. It smuggles years off your figure -- presumably then they and the bulges are stowed away on some pirate ship where they don't care if a gal jiggles or how old she is; it only matters that she's a gal.

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Friday, July 25, 2008

Choo-Choo Charlie & Me

We love Good and Plenty!



Via Flickr.

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Sunday, July 20, 2008

Hooray! Whee! For Chef Boy-ar-dee!



Still on my quest for more information about this ad, I discovered Chef Boyardee was real. Who knew?

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Friday, July 18, 2008

Dimple Dot Kleenex Box Cover Kit

I never knew they had an official name.


Seeing this ad reminds me of when I was young, someone gave this to my folks as a gift -- :eek: -- and our dog used to bark at like she was rabid (the dog, not the Dimple Doll). My folks would put it away, and then every now and then bring it out to see if the dog still hated it; she did. Eventually, the dog got a hold of it and destroyed it.

Whenever I see them at sales, I want to buy them and set them all in a row on a shelf -- maybe even fill and entire book shelf with them, in all the colors and variations.

I did get one once, but sent it to my sister; one part memory, one part freak factor (she hates dolls so opening a box with a doll head, well, that would be super freaky). But no affordable ones since.

Feel free to send me some, if you don't want them.

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Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Back When Paper Publishing Had Profits To Spare

You know there had to be BIG money in publishing magazines back in 1960 when The Saturday Evening Post gave sent you a bowling ball in the mail just for soliciting four subscriptions.



I know we're talking 1960's postage, but still -- it's a freakin' bowling ball.

It would have been cheaper to mail folks a voucher along with the authorization, but I guess they made enough money from the advertisers -- the ones I mock here relentlessly.

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Monday, July 14, 2008

Before You Decide About A House...

Investigate improved Asbestocel.
Removing it must be hell.



Via Flickr.

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Saturday, July 12, 2008

Who Invited The Chubby Girl? (Or, She Was Happier Because She Could Eat)



Via Flickr.

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Girls Are Doing Wonders With Saxaphones

They just put their lips there and blow, I guess.



Via Cheripop at Flickr, who says this comes from the April, 1928, Cosmopolitan.

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Friday, July 11, 2008

Miss MoPar Says

When I was 14 or 15, just prior to sneaking into bars at 16, me & my teenage gal-pals went down to our local "strip" to cruise for guys -- who were cruising their cars. Back then, all the cool boys were "MoPar men".



As I learned nothing about cars (but plenty about boys) during this time, I have nothing to say about the ad -- other than I would have loved to be Miss MoPar, at least the Miss MoPar of our town.

Via Flickr.

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Thursday, July 10, 2008

They Quickly Learned To Keep The Knives Away From Susan



Via LJ's Vintage Ad Community (we're still crediting them, hoping they'll credit us with the stuff they score here).

UPDATE: Hey, StumbleUpon folks -- there's a lot more at KKC, so start at the beginning and get so dizzy with the delights that folks will need to keep the knives away from you too.

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Drink That Takes You Into Orbit

"You must have been on another planet if you haven't tried smooth, flawless Smirnoff."



We think she's a drinker because with that hair, she's never had the space helmet on.

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Monday, July 7, 2008

Before Wonka, The Umpa Loompas Made Coats




Naturally, they would have to change the spelling of their names from Umpa Lumpa to Oompa Loompa.

Vintage ads for Umpa furs, via eBay (1 & 2).

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Friday, June 27, 2008

Vintage French Maidenform Ad Features Vulcan Model


Via eBay.

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Wednesday, June 11, 2008

The Big Cigar Means...

Xavier Cugat is happy to see you.

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Monday, June 9, 2008

For The Man Who Has Everything - And Wants To Get Rid Of It

Sunbeam gifts equal divorce.

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Thursday, June 5, 2008

Let's Face It... A Slow Death Is Better?

You could be hit by a bus tomorrow, go on - have a fag!



We're not (just) making fun of the gay humor; the ad is queer no matter how you look at it.

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Friday, April 4, 2008

Meat-za Pizza


Some assembly required; not available in all 50 states.

(Tell us how to serve and eat that, Louella!)

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Thursday, March 13, 2008

Thursday Thirteen: Hello, 1964!




13 More Magazine Scans To Mock, From The Year I Was Born
(I skipped TT last week here, so you can't be sick of me.)

#1 Musical Jump Rope with clown head handles?! No matter how fast you skip and run, those clowns follow you!



#2 Amazing any of the Breck's solitaire game boards, made of "feather-light Dylite" (aka Styrofoam) survived. (I know they have, every once and awhile I spot them at thrift stores -- even without being in a box. Which means someone had to carry it in gingerly, separately, from the other donated goods. Amazing.)



#4 Vicks: Where huffing begins.




#5 & 6 For those that believe in the separation of Church & State, 15 Religious Figures and 35 Presidential Statues -- each with their own display.




#7 Arthur Godfrey says Tintex takes the guesswork out of fabric dying.



Now that you've seen the ad, let's talk. What's the deal with this celeb endorsement? Was Godfrey a big ol' butch male crafter -- the Rosey Grier of his time?

(Well, it does look like Godfrey's has his experiences with dying... Look at those splotches on his face.)

#8 Black Eyed Suzie Flowerkins. I saw her live on stage at CBGB's.



#9 & 10 In an issue of Workbasket we find Women Who Make Cents. Some ingenious gal gives away her secrets for making money by using her left over netting to make hair nets. I'd say selling her business idea to the magazine for $2 is more money than she ever made or would have made from the sale of hair nets, no matter what decade.


Also in this column on ways for women to "add to the family income" are directions for bronzing baby shoes at home:
Fill a pair of baby shoes completely with plaster of Paris. Allow to dry or set. Then spray with gold or bronze paint, giving them 2 or 3 coats. Then sell for $2.50 to $3.50 per pair.
OK, I won't argue the cost v. profit ratio (I'm too lazy to research the cost of baby shoes, plaster of Paris and paint in 1964), but isn't the point of bronzing baby booties to both preserve your own child's booties (memories) and to actually bronze them?

#11 If you can't see the bleach container for the pig and actually need instructions and a pattern to make Pretty Priscilla, perhaps you've moved from huffing Vicks to snorting Clorox.



#12 Royal made a "nutty new flavor" in 1964 -- "a proud new pudding that combines the creaminess of caramel with the crunch of toasted bits of cashews!"



I can't won't am not allowed to speak for pudding pride, but the reasons why I've never hear of caramel-cashew pudding was either:

A) cashew quickly pudding became as pricey as cashmere pudding & out-priced anything in the boxed dessert (including the other Royal flavors, by the case)

or

B) like me, few desired crunchy pudding.

#13 Just when you thought pudding couldn't get any nuttier...

My-T-Fine pudding pushed a pudding and pantyhose promo.



I'm at a bit of a loss here because hubby keeps me to the PG-13 rule, but naturally, when I hear of pudding and pantyhose I think of a control-top -- and a breathable cotton crotch. The ad mentions neither.

Nor does it actually state pantyhose, but rather reads "nylon fashion hosiery." Not that pudding in my stockings sounds much better.

...But now I'm treading on the too-thin PG-13 ice. I don't want to skate the issue; he makes me. You, however, may play with "pudding" and "ladies' hosiery" and "My-T-Fine" and see what you come up with.

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others' comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!



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Thursday, March 6, 2008

Golliwogg, Guili-Guili, de Vigny

A vintage ad for Vigny Perfumes, Paris, featuring some fanciful & kitschy perfume bottles.


Shown here are the charming, but oft misunderstood, so they say, Golliwogg perfume "of romance" and Guili-Guili, a fragrance sold as "the tropical god of good fortune" but in truth was Guili-Guili was (according to Perfume Intelligence) named after "the real-life Egyptian illusionist from Alexandria".

While Golliwogg is highly collectible, both as a perfume and a character inspiring annual events, it is found with relative ease; Guili-Guili is much more rare.

Due to age, these bottles often have their labels missing, so along with this vintage ad image, and this image from dgaudit to guide you, look for bottles matching this description from Perfume Intelligence:
Presented in flacon designed by Michel de Brunhoff with the head and foot of the bottle carved from mahogany; the head covered the stopper while the foot held the delicate crystal bottle to stand upright
The ad also mentions other fragrances, such as Chick-Chick, and Vigny lipstick. For more on de Vigny perfumes, see this guide at eBay and this post about Michel de Brunhoff.

Additional Golliwogg de Vigny photos via Rago Arts:




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Sunday, February 24, 2008

The Girl Most Likely To...



She is most likely to:
a) Let the boys go all the way.

b) Spend a year visiting an 'aunt' -- she'll return a little chunky, a little blue, but she'll have nothing much to say about her visit.

c) Be on uppers.

d) Be on downers.

e) All of the above.

Grading will not be on a curve. Extra credit will be given in Get Out! Awards.

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Saturday, February 23, 2008

Chantilly Lace

And a squirt in the face.


Chantilly Lace, by The Big Bopper
Chantilly lace and a pretty face
And a pony tail a hangin down
That wiggle in the walk
And giggle in the talk
Makes the world go round
There ain't nothin in the world
Like a big eyed girl
That makes me act so funny
Make me spend my money
Make me feel real loose like a long necked goose
Like a girl, oh baby that's what I like
My mom used to sing this song -- everywhere. My kids even know it now. Hence my darn-near-hatred of the Chantilly fragrance.

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Monday, February 18, 2008

Boxed Dinners

Upon spying this 1957 ad for Chef Boy-Ar-Dee's box-O-pizza I not-so-fondly remembered eating the stuff.


Why was eating Kraft Macaroni and Cheese grand, but just spotting a box of this stuff in the pantry a sign that you were indeed among the poor kids?

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The Center

Isn't creamy.

Isn't molten lava.

It's a Melmac center.



Vintage ad from 1957, sporting all the current flavors, including design names for you Melmac collectors.

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Monday, February 11, 2008

All The Good Ones Are Married Or...

Drinking Pepsi.



Via No Smoking In The Skull Cave.

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Tuesday, January 29, 2008

A Reminder About Clean Coal

I don't remember homes heated with coal, but I just thought while they push clean coal at us via commercials we should take this trip down memory lane:


Via a vintage Timken oil heating brochure.

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Saturday, January 19, 2008

"A Poor Workman Blames His Tools"

That's what Dad always used to say (still does), so in the spirit of equality and feminism, secretaries who blame their typewriters must be measured by the same, broken, yardstick.



So, blogging chicks, you can't blame your keyboard -- or Sally Hansen either.

Via LJ's Vintage Ads community.

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Craft-Scan Friday: Retro Woolite Ad

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Friday, January 11, 2008

Who's Home Crocheting?



Yeah, you and American Thread wish.

"Sunshine days
Minutes to spare
A time to create
Anything."

I wish.

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Thursday, December 27, 2007

13 Toys That Made Noise In The 60's


Thirteen Things That Made Noise in Wards Catalog in the late 60's

Pierre Poodle is a 6-transistor radio, with the controls on his tummy:


Big Plush Talkers are stuffed animals with chatty rings & talking strings. There's Bugs Bunny; Sniffy the Skunk who talks and smells like mint; and Montana Mouse, who, while "shocking pink" is "dressed like a real frontier hero" and "talks with a Western twang" as he shares "10 secrets".


There are several talking circus toys here, Larry the Lion, Patootie the clown, and my favorite, Chester O' Chimp who says, "I speak English, can't you talk Monkey?"

Hey! Hey! They're the Monkees! (And they "talk to each other just like on TV!)

These talking hand puppets feature pull strings so that each chats up a storm. There is Tom the cat with Jerry the mouse in his hand, King Kong, and Bugs Bunny.


This one is abso-frickin-lutely my favorite. Her name is Scooba-Doo, and she says, "I'm Scooba-Doo. Come on, let's get with it!" because she's a "member of the swinging generation" -- which may explain her "striped mini-dress and mod necklace", but should she really say, "Dig my crazy black stockings!" -- really? Me thinketh someone wasn't as hip as they thought daddy-o.


Not only does the dressed in red Baby Secret doll say, "Hold me close and whisper!" but they stress that her lips move and that she can be put in any baby-like position. (My mind is seriously in the gutter.)


"Nobody can out talk us!" Danny O'Day ventriloquist dummy comes with a record by Jimmy Nelson to teach you "instant ventriloquism". Rowlf Muppet is just a puppet. And while both require your own voice, I had to show them off here too. Consider them, numbers 14 &15, as a bonus. *wink*





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Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Winky Wanky Do? I Didn't


Winky or Wanky, the safety cat was spotted by hubby and one of the kids.

One time I should have run errands, huh.

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Monday, December 10, 2007

Ripping On Toys From The 60's

Because I'm evil like that -- and because I'm old enough to do so -- I'm mocking toys advertised in the 60's.

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Tuesday, October 30, 2007

"When He Thinks Of You..."

he'll think of nice things."

That's what this 1956 ad for Lees Carpets says. So I guess atomic husbands dug sleeping on the rug. It's a nice thing.



Huh. I always suspected those 1950's housewives dommed, but that the print mags would show the Mistress in her bed with her slave husband on the floor was surprising.

Then again, maybe they just couldn't show a husband & wife in the same bed.

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Friday, October 19, 2007

Polite Smiles Abound

The polite smile - Perfect response when receiving a lovely gift like this young lady has:

"No, really, thank you Mrs. Dating-Your-Son-Just-Six-Weeks! Oh, my...flowers trapped in a spider-web are my favorite vest motif. This, gosh, well, you're right, it does look great on me -- I'm certain your son and I will be the best-dressed at his law-firm's Christmas party tonight, you're absolutely right. No, really, your comments on the ease of estimating my bust size really make me feel good about myself. "

See, she learned on Week Four that she should always wear her own stocking cap to his family's house, lest his mom provide one from her crafting closet. The knitted choker necklace, well, she couldn't refuse that, no matter how beltless her mustard slacks were. The 1970s were stylish, you know: the more polyester and wool against your raw, chafing skin, the cooler you were.

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Sunday, October 14, 2007

The Macho Cold Remedy

From a 1970s Popular Mechanics -- The "Macho" Cold Remedy!

Sadly, this "cold remedy" doesn't involve passing out at the dinner table and falling into the throes of a psychedelic nightmare where my nose begins to melt. Not that there's anything wrong with that, of course. It's just not what THIS ad is for.

From a time in our history where our idea of "Macho" was embodied by the Village People (as opposed to macho, unquoted, which was embodied by the Marlboro Man who also graced these old magazines), these Working Man's Body Vests were the pinnacle of keeping everything but your head, arms, hands, hips, legs, feet, and neck toasty-warm. The kind of thing that looked like a life preserver to the 1950s would, a short time later, be considered manly enough to be worn, unironically, by ambiguously gay lumberjacks flashing a "F You" sign to the Brits in the audience. Oh, "Two" you say? "Protection the active outdoor man needs," "Whether you work hard or play hard," -- it's sounding more flamboyant as we go. Not that there's anything wrong with that, of course. It's just not what THIS ad is for. Popular Mechanics was a Men's Magazine without the wink-wink-nudge-nudge misogyny of its naughier cousins. Me, I'm from a more cynical, sexually-enlightened time, where this sort of display of raw masculinity is suspect. Not that there's anything wrong with that, of course.

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Thursday, October 11, 2007

The Beauty Secrets of Russian Women

It's Sharms, make-up that's good enough to write on mirrors!

If that doesn't sell you, how about the electronic version of Peggy Sue which plays in this 1976 cosmetics ad from the Soviet Union?

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Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Being Creative With Vintage Ads


Slip of a Girl has fun with vintage lingerie ads; no paste is required, just a wry sense of humor.

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