Boing Boing » vintage ads

1970 ad: "A waste of mail... and female."

Xeni Jardin — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 00:25:05 +0000

This ad was published in the year I was born, 1970. It's funny how unapologetically sexist so much marketing was, back then. These plastic plates "won't get tired or confused" like a dumb old woman always does, and they get the job done "for a fraction of her paycheck," which was of course a fraction of *your* paycheck, if you were a guy. 1970 wasn't that long ago.

From the photostream of "SenseiAlan."

Scan of 1960s novelty catalog

Mark Frauenfelder — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 18:38:27 +0000

Karswell is co-editor of the Chilling Archives of Horror Comic Books series (including Zombies, excerpted on Boing Boing). He also runs the fabulous blog, and everything else too. He recently scanned a circa-1960 novelty catalog, which is loaded with intriguing objects from a bygone era.

If you've ever read a silver age comic book in your life, chances are you've seen the ad for World Wide Diamond Co., once located in windy wacky Chicago IL. And if you sent away for one of their smallish, 48-page, newsprint mail order catalogs then you absolutely uncovered a world of REAL hidden treasure! For buried there among all the other pages of cheap, gaudy jewelry and marked down wristwatches are the NOVELTY gift and gag pages, crammed packed with a jaw-dropping assortment of magic tricks, prank gadgets, monster masks, 'bop' style glasses, toys and other various instruments of endless enchantment and far-out fun! Man, there's seriously so much good stuff to share from this guide that it'll take two entire posts to deliver it all-- ENJOY!!

I wonder how many people bought the tiny donkey tie clip, which emits a loud fart when the wearer squeezes a rubber bulb?

WWD Co., Novelty Catalog (PT. 1) | WWD Co., Novelty Catalog (PT. 2)

What is this bizarre Indian "health gadget" from 1950s Bombay?

Xeni Jardin — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 15:07:40 +0000

Crate-digging for old records on eBay, my brother found this bizarre health gadget identified as having been produced in Bombay in the 1950s. The seller writes:

Very rare and old Twin Transilluminator in Box from India 1950 in good condition. Its medical Instrument for sinuses and Eye therapy. Its made of steel and backlit. its electrical. on box has some description and photos about how to use this Instrument. Its rare and unique medical Instrument and must for medical instruments collectors. The size of box is 9 inch in length, and its width is 5 inch.

What the heck is the history behind this gizmo? More photos below.

Great moments in pulp fiction: "Lady, That's My Skull"

Xeni Jardin — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 04:24:47 +0000

Cover scan link.

John Elmslie of Toronto shares this in the Boing Boing Flickr pool and writes,

Vintage paperback. "A Harlequin Book", Toronto, 1951. So Harlequin was publishing more than romances in 1951. The original paperback book is quite faded looking. The scanner pepped it up quite well, even though I hadn't asked it to. I'll have to look into that. :)

The Four Leading Electric Novelties of 1897

Xeni Jardin — Sun, 25 Nov 2012 15:56:09 +0000

Scanned and Flickr'd by Captain Geoffrey Spaulding, an ad for Ohio Electric Works, 1897.

In Truman's day, this was tofurkey for a meatless Thanksgiving

Xeni Jardin — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 18:20:59 +0000

Full view in larger size here. If by "glamorous" you mean "explosive diarrhea," then, sure. A vintage ad nightmare scanned and Flickr'd by bluwmongoose, during an era when meat was comparatively expensive, and rationed. As a photo commenter says:

Holiday", "vegetable" and "loaf" are three words that don't belong together - just like "pedophile", "kindergarten" and "nudist", or "mom", "masturbating" and "surprise."

Photo biz ad, 1926: Take Thanksgiving snapshots, before everyone you love dies

Xeni Jardin — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 00:15:29 +0000

Get a load of this print ad from the Master Photo Finishers of America, 1926.

Text: "Save the day with snap shots. Thanksgiving, the day of the year which brings most families together, is a splendid opportunity to take snap-shots of the entire family, both singly and as a group. Next year may be too late. Have your camera and a few extra film ready."

Scanned and Flickr'd by Alan Mays, whose photo stream is full of wonderful vintage weirdness.

Camel cigarettes help with Thanksgiving digestion

Xeni Jardin — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 00:09:05 +0000

A vintage ad for Camel brand cancer-sticks, scanned and Flickr'd by SA_Steve. Remember, folks, "Camel Cigarettes aid with your Thanksgiving Digestion!"

Make science your obedient servant (vintage ad, 1946)

Xeni Jardin — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 17:12:22 +0000

A wonderful old ad for Bendix corporation, lovingly scanned and Flickr'd by Paul Malon. You really gotta see a larger size to read the copy in glorious detail.

In the year 2000

Xeni Jardin — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 19:06:23 +0000

Illustration from a 1960 Cinzano ad, shared on Flickr by photographer and vintage ad aficionado Paul Malon of Toronto. His collection is extensive and excellent.

1950s Data storage ad

Xeni Jardin — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 15:55:09 +0000

How Don Draper's firm might have saved client data. From OrangeCats' Flickr stream, referenced in "History of Modern Computing" (Ceruzzi).

Cheesy video for AT&T's Frame Creation Terminal, a 1982 graphics workstation

Xeni Jardin — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 23:42:49 +0000

The Bell Labs-produced Frame Creation Terminal (FCT) was an all-in-one graphics system designed to generate the types of pages used by the Viewtron system.

Price: $34,000 in 1982 dollars, or about $81K today. The first customer for this system was Viewdata Corporation, the company jointly owned by AT&T and Knight-Ridder.

More about the system here, and more awesomely cheeseball videos in the AT&T Tech Channel on YouTube.

Back Yard Air Bubble, 1961

Xeni Jardin — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 21:07:48 +0000

Only $50! Scanned and uploaded to X-Ray Delta One's photostream, and shared in the Boing Boing Flickr Pool. View larger sizes here.

New skyway spans nation with words, pictures: AT&T's wireless data plan, ca. 1951

Xeni Jardin — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 20:16:56 +0000

"The demands of defense are heavy and urgent." A Bell Telephone ad from 1951, lovingly scanned and posted to the Vintage Advertising Pool on Flickr by James Vaughan, whose collection of vintage ads is astonishingly awesome.

Boppo the Bad Breath Clown (vintage ad)

Xeni Jardin — Sat, 29 Sep 2012 15:27:18 +0000

Image Link. A cheerful, totally non-creepy ad from days of yore, scanned and uploaded to the Boing Boing Flickr Pool by reader v.valenti.

Nude Psychotherapy (vintage seventies magazine ad)

Xeni Jardin — Sat, 29 Sep 2012 00:22:40 +0000

"Be the first on your block to know about nude psychotherapy." A 1970s-era magazine ad, scanned and shared in the Boing Boing Flickr Pool by Boing Boing reader v.valenti.

How to write with style, by Kurt Vonnegut, the 1980 edition

Xeni Jardin — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 15:55:46 +0000

Larger size here, so you can read all the text. Writing Tips from Kurt Vonnegut, 1980, sponsored by International Paper Company. Shared in the Boing Boing Flickr Pool by vintage ad archivist MewDeep.

Update: Oooh, here's a PDF of the whole ad series.

Ad, 1970: Use Dixie Cups, ladies, and you will never grow old

Xeni Jardin — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 09:44:58 +0000

"Think of it. You'll have more time on your hands (...) to make a pantsuit. To live a little."

Shared in the Boing Boing Flickr Pool by vintage ad archivist MewDeep, and larger size here.

Late '60s ad for space jobs at NASA JPL

Xeni Jardin — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 15:36:15 +0000

A late-1960s ad that ran in Scientific American, scanned and shared in the Boing Boing Flickr pool by fdecomite.

The look is true to Mad Men, and the copy is true to life: I bet the Mars Curiosity team say stuff like that to each other all the time.

Give that dude a mohawk—oh, and increase NASA's budget so JPL can hire, instead of lay off?—and the ad could run today.

Vintage AT&T ad, 1967: "Your Brain and Our Phone System Are a Lot Alike"

Xeni Jardin — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 22:17:09 +0000

Your Brain is Like a Telephone (1967), AT&T. Lovingly scanned, posted and shared to the Boing Boing Flickr Pool by MewDeep.

Sad Schlitz Beer Clown is Sad (vintage ad)

Xeni Jardin — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 19:50:38 +0000

Image Link. From the excellent Flickr collection of MewDeep (lots of '60s-'70s ad scans), via BB Flickr Pool.

Sleep in a Sandwich

Xeni Jardin — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 02:29:50 +0000

I would totally buy this right now. "Includes one pickle and one tomato (pillowcases)." A vintage ad from 1970, in MewDeep's excellent Flickr stream. (via the Boing Boing Flickr Pool)

Underwear bomb, 1973: vintage ad for "Dynamite" men's briefs

Xeni Jardin — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:57:58 +0000

"Dynamite" by Munsingwear, 1973, shared in the BB Flickr Pool by MewsDeep.