In my humble opinion Life is one of the preeminent magazines in American history. From its outstanding photos to its rich and varied content, I’m rather sorry I wasn’t around for its golden age.

I should note the original incarnation of Life, which I’m not talking about here, began in 1883 as a general interest a humor magazine but was moribund by the 1920s. I’m speaking about the revived magazine, which relaunched under Henry Luce on November 23, 1936. That version is what most of us know today and it ran weekly until 1972. The publications you may see in store shelves today called Life is fine enough but it’s just not the same thing.

Here, then, is a gallery of selected Life covers from the magazine’s first year of publication, 1936-37. They features a wide range of subjects like ballet and opera, sports, famous politicians and actors, and world sites.

 

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It’s hard to believe that I’m almost 10 entries into this series and haven’t shared any car brochures. Luckily I found a real gem for the first one. This brochure highlights the new 1937 Willys, with the slogan “The Surprise Car of the Year.” The typeface and color scheme are very much of their era, and are a pure delight.

The first image breaks down (OK, unfortunate phrasing) the cost of ownership over 35,000 miles. Can’t say I’ve ever seen a car brochure give a depreciation amount before.

Next up is the money shot, a pretty nice looking pre-war car that boasts up to 35 miles per gallon.

Next we get several exterior and interior shots, with some very well-dressed people looking very approvingly at the beautiful bench seats, roomy interior and spacious trunk.

One thing that stinks about being an adult is that I don’t get summers off anymore. One thing that rules about being an adult is I don’t have to deal with the looming threat of Back to School time. So you see, now I can look at vintage back-to-school advertisements with joy and amusement, not dread. And now you can too. Enjoy!

For National Donut Day (or National Doughnut Day if you please), here’s a pair of lovely vintage donut ads.

Up first is a lovely Mayflower Downyflake specimen from 1939, tying their donuts to that year’s World’s Fair in New York.

And the second treat — because who can eat just one? — is this Mister Donut print ad from 1966.

I wonder if that coupon is still any good?

In 1937, RKO Radio Pictures assumed the distribution rights for Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse and Silly Symphonies animated shorts from United Artists. To help promote the acquisition, RKO ran this beautiful advertisement in its 1937-38 exhibitor book, which also features ads for movies like Stage Door (starring Katharine Hepburn).

The first RKO Mickey Mouse short, Hawaiian Holiday, debuted in September 1937. The first RKO Silly Symphony cartoon, The Old Mill, came out in November of the same year and won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Subjects (Cartoons). RKO distributed just eight Silly Symphony installments through 1939, when Walt Disney Productions stopped making them to focus more on feature films. The Mickey Mouse shorts continued through 1953 on RKO, although they were produced less frequently after 1943.

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Getting to a World’s Fair is definitely one of the items on my bucket list. But until I can attend one in person, I guess the next best thing will have to be to look at some vintage World’s Fair postcards. The selection I present here spans every officially sanctioned and recognized fair and exposition from the first half of the 20th century. Due to the outbreak of World War II, there were no fairs held between 1941 and 1957. The next part of this overview (to be published later) will pick up with Expo 58 and run through Expo ’98.

Exposition Universelle (Paris, 1900)

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Pan-American Exposition (Buffalo, 1901)

Louisiana Purchase Exposition (St. Louis, 1904)

(via Brenda)

Liège International (Belgium, 1905)

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Milan International (1906)

Irish International Exhibition (Dublin, 1907)

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Jamestown Exposition (Norfolk, 1907)

Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition (Seattle, 1909)

 Brussels International 1910

Turin International (1911)

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Exposition Universelle et Internationale (Ghent, 1913)

Panama–Pacific International Exposition (San Francisco, 1915)

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Panama–California Exposition (San Diego, 1915)

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Independence Centenary International Exposition (Rio de Janeiro, 1922-23)

Ibero-American Exposition of 1929 (Seville, Spain)

1929 Barcelona International Exposition

Exposition of 1930 (Liège)

International Colonial Exposition, Maritime and Flemish Art (Antwerp, 1930)

A Century of Progress International Exposition (Chicago, 1933-34)

Brussels International Exposition (1935)

International Exposition Dedicated to Art and Technology in Modern Life (Paris, 1937)

1939 New York World’s Fair

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1939 International Exposition (Liège)

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Golden Gate International Exposition (San Francisco, 1939-40)

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Has it already been a year since my last gallery of vintage Mother’s Day ads ran? Where does the time go? Well, I’m back with another 10 classic advertisements to commemorate that most special lady in our lives — mom.

Of course, the usual suspects are here — flowers and chocolates — but I think this year’s gallery manages to mix things up a bit. I think this is the first time I’ve seen a Mother’s Day champagne ad after all.

Felt like I should say something or, in this case, show something positive in light of today’s darkness. The Boston Marathon will return, of course. As it should. No amount of sickness, evil, or insanity can prevent it. As it should not.

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One of my favorite past-times is combing the vast archive of press wire photos on eBay. I’ve found all sorts of neat things there, but one of my current obsessions is old automobile press photography. So here is the first of what I hope will be many galleries featuring ten classic American cars, mainly from the mid-century period. Apologies in advance if I get some of the years or models wrong — I can only go off what the original auction listed. Also, those marks you see on some of the photos are original editorial markings, so you know these are 100% real!

For much more detailed looks at classic American cars, check out my ad galleries for the 1970 Dodge, 1975 Chevrolet, and 1982 AMC lineups.

(Click on any picture for the full size.)

If anyone can tell me what the model is for this ’37 Dodge I’d be most appreciative.

You could never get away with sitting on the hood of a car now, unless you feel like removing a big dent.

Designs inspired by the Jet Age lived on into the early 1960s.

German-made Opel automobiles appeared under their own name in the U.S. from 1958 to 1975, when they were sold through Buick dealers as captive imports.

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