Retrotisements — A Year in the Life (1967)

In past ad galleries I’ve typically stuck with a particular theme or product, such as holiday-themed ads or new car lineups. I’m going to try something new and product an ad gallery from a single year, covering a wide range or products and services. Basically, a sort of visual shorthand to see what someone would’ve seen in print or TV ads in a particular year. Think of this as a virtual department store of sorts.

For the first edition I thought I’d travel back exactly 50 years to 1967. Let’s browse!

Automobiles

1967 Chrysler ad

1967 Chrysler

1967 Chevrolet Chevelle ad

1967 Chevrolet Chevelle

Consumer Electronics

1967 Kodak Instamatic ad

Kodak Instamatic

1967 Westclox ad

Westclox

1967 Automatic Royal ad

Automatic Royal

Entertainment

The Dirty Dozen ad

The Dirty Dozen

1967 Jimi Hendrix Purple Haze ad

“Purple Haze” by the Jimi Hendrix Experience

Fashion

1967 Arrow ad

Arrow

1967 Career Club Shirts ad

Career Club

Food and Beverage

1967 Nabisco Snackmate ad

Nabisco Snack Mate

1967 Michelob ad

Michelob

1967 7Up ad

7Up

1967 Arby's ad

Arby’s

Health and Beauty

1967 Maybelline ad

Maybelline

1967 Alka-Seltzer ad

Alka-Seltzer

1967 Lustre Creme ad

Lustre Creme

Household Goods

1967 One-Step Floor Care ad

One-Step Floor Care

1967 Dash ad

Dash

1967 Admiral Duplex ad

Admiral Duplex

Travel

1967 Best Western ad

Best Western

Hawaii ad 1967

Hawaii via Pan Am and American Airlines

1967 Pan Am ad

Pan Am

 

For Labor Day, Enjoy Some Canned Hamburger!

I don’t know about you, but there comes a point when convenience goes too far, and things just get weird. Case in point: This 1950 advertisement for Swift’s Premium Canned Hamburgers, which purports to “take the labor out of the Labor Day Week End.”

1950 advertisement for Swift's Premium Canned Hamburgers

But hey, as gross as the prospect of eating preformed meat out of a can may be, at least you can send in that coupon and get a sweet sandwich toaster for just 50 cents!

For Father’s Day, Edgeworth Pipe Tobacco (1947)

Happy Father’s Day from The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit and from the fine people who bring you Edgeworth Pipe Tobacco!

Edgeworth Pipe Tobacco (1947) Father's Day ad

  1. It’s Dad who tends the furnace, it’s Dad who mows the law,
  2. And it’s Dad who pushes off to work before the crack o’ dawn…
  3. It’s Dad who carries bundles. And it’s Dad who has to pay,
  4. Let’s give Dad the FINEST! for his pipe on FATHER’S DAY!

 

Brochure Beauties #5: Pacific Telephone Colorphones

This lovely brochure comes from Pacific Telephone, and advertises their line of extension colorphones. There’s no date on this one, but I think 1960s is a reasonable guess.

Pacific Telephone Colorphones brochure, 1960s

The front of the brochure features a delightful mid-century color palette that definitely predates the earth tones of the ’70s. Perhaps someone more versed in commercial artwork of the period can figure out a more precise date range?

Pacific Telephone Colorphones brochure, 1960s

Pacific’s full name at the time of this brochure was The Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company, by which they were known until 1983. That’s the year they moved from their parent company, AT&T, to one of the many new Baby Bells formed in the wake of the former company’s breakup, Pacific Telesis.

Pacific Telephone Colorphones brochure, 1960s

Today, the company once known as Pacific Telephone operates as the Pacific Bell Telephone Company, or PacBell. I doubt they offer products as wonderfully colorful or durable as the ones in this brochure.

Ads from the Open Road, Volume 3: Local News Edition

For this third installment of vintage billboard photos, I have a gallery of roadside advertisements for local news broadcasts. Just about all of these date from the 1970s and ’80s, and include ads for news broadcasts as well as local weather and sports teams.

All images courtesy Duke University’s Digital Collections site. Click for a larger version.

Vintage local news billboard, 1970s-1980s

WLNE – New Bedford, Massachusetts – Providence, Rhode Island

local-news-billboard-wor-1983

WWOR – Secaucus, New Jersey

Vintage local news billboard, 1970s-1980s

KPAZ – Phoenix, Arizona

Vintage local news billboard, 1970s-1980s

WTLV – Jacksonville, Florida

Vintage local news billboard, 1970s-1980s

KOOL – Phoenix, Arizona

Vintage local news billboard, 1970s-1980s

News 12 (city unknown)

Vintage local news billboard, 1970s-1980s

KPNX – Mesa/Phoenix, Arizona

Vintage local news billboard, 1970s-1980s

KCOX – San Diego, California

Vintage local news billboard, 1970s-1980s

KTVK – Phoenix, Arizona

Vintage local news billboard, 1970s-1980s, Dan Milham weather

WDSU – New Orleans, Louisiana

Retrotisements — 1980 Pontiac New Car Lineup

It’s been a looong time since my last new car ad gallery — just over three years in fact since my 1970 Dodge post. For the return of this series, let’s fast forward one decade to the dawn of the ’80s and the lineup for GM’s Pontiac make.

The theme for these ads was a pretty clever twist on the MPG initialism. In this case it stood for:

  • More Pontiac to the Gallon
  • More Pontiac Excitement to the Gallon
  • More Pontiac Excitement for the Great Ones

The only model I wasn’t able to find a good print ad for is the Sunbird, so if anyone can help me out please let me know.

(To see other car lineup advertisement galleriesclick here. Got a request for other years and makes? Let me know in the Comments section.)

1980 Pontiac Compacts

1980 Pontiac Phoenix ad

1980 Pontiac Phoenix

1980 Pontiac Mid-Sizes

1980 Pontiac Grand Prix, Grand LeMans, Grand LeMans Safari ad

1980 Pontiac Grand Prix, Grand LeMans, Grand LeMans Safari

1980 Pontiac Full-Sizes

1980 Pontiac Bonneville ad

1980 Pontiac Bonneville

1980 Pontiac Bonneville ad

1980 Pontiac Bonneville

1980 Parisienne ad

1980 Pontiac Parisienne

1980 Pontiac Station Wagon

1980 Pontiac Safari ad

1980 Pontiac Safari

1980 Pontiac Muscles

1980 Pontiac Firebird ad

1980 Pontiac Firebird

1980 Pontiac Trans Am ad

1980 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am

Airline Memories #3: Aer Lingus Potpourri

In Airline Memories, I share aviation items and curiosities from the long history of commercial flight. You’ll see everything from ephemera to souvenirs and other branded items from various U.S. airlines. If you have a request or anything else to share, leave a comment or contact me directly.


Not only is today St. Patrick’s Day, but we are just weeks away from the 80th anniversary of the founding of one of the world’s most iconic national airlines — Aer Lingus. So to celebrate both occasions, here is a collection of some cool, vintage Aer Lingus items I’ve come across.

As always, click on any item for a larger version.


1981-82 Aer Lingus airline timetable

1981-82 Aer Lingus airline timetable

Aer Lingus BAC One-Eleven postcard, c. 1960s-70s

Aer Lingus BAC One-Eleven postcard, c. 1960s-70s

1969 Aer Lingus print ad

1969 Aer Lingus print ad

1950s Aer Lingus luggage label

1950s Aer Lingus luggage label

1960 Aer Lingus route map

1960 Aer Lingus route map

Aer Lingus – Irish International Airlines ticket jacket

c. 1950s Aer Lingus ticket jacket

Retrotisements: Howard Johnson’s, 1955

Look up “All American” in the dictionary and you’ll probably find this image, as seen on a beautiful Howard Johnson’s ad from a 1955 issue of Life magazine. Click on the image for the full-size version on Flickr.

Howard Johnson's ad, 1955

This ad has it all pretty much. The cars, the iconic orange HoJo roof, the happy patrons all dressed to the nines. Don’t you want to go there right now???

Let’s get a closeup of that gorgeous artwork, shall we? (also on Flickr)

Howard Johnson's, 1955

Happy National Donut Day!

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.

Mayflower Downyflake 1939 donut ad

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

Mister Donut print ad, 1966

I wonder if that coupon is still any good?