You've come a long way, baby. Read the rest

TV ads for kids' toy weapons like this 1964 spot for “Johnny Seven OMA (One Man Army)” were so much more barbaric in the 1960s--but gun violence numbers in America were lower back then. Read the rest

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." Read the rest

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) Read the rest

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. Read the rest

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. :)

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

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."

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. Read the rest

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

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. Read the rest

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. Read the rest

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

"Whatever your attitude toward use of the atomic bomb, you must live with the fact that it exists," commands this ad. About the self-protection steps it details, "The wise citizen of this atomic era will memorize them so thoroughly that their use would be almost instinctive."

A vintage Mutual of Omaha insurance company advertisement from 1951, lovingly scanned and shared in the Boing Boing Flickr Pool by v.valenti.

So, I'll need to look into this further, but did Mutual of Omaha offer "surprise atomic attack" coverage at the time? The ad doesn't make that clear.

(Update: Cory blogged this back in 2010.) Read the rest

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. Read the rest