Today is the 139th running of racing’s most prestigious event, the Kentucky Derby. So here’s three vintage liquor ads featuring mint juleps to get you in the mood for watching. I’ll let you decide which one finishes, shows, or places.
Four Roses, 1948
Old Taylor Bourbon, 1959
Kentucky Tavern Whiskey, 1951
Hang around the internet long enough and you’ll stumble across one of the classic TV commercials for Winston cigarettes, starring the Flintstones. Those spots from the early ’60s are practically advertising legend at this point. If you haven’t seen them, click on the link above and prepare to be amazed.
Well if you thought that was cool — or even if you didn’t — then you’ll really enjoy this find. It’s an original production animation cel from the second spot in that clip; a closeup of Fred Flintstone sparking a Winston and loving every second of it. Oddly enough, the animation is in glorious color while the cigarette appears to be a black and white photograph.
Winston tastes good like a *clap* *clap* cigarette should!
Now that’s responsible marketing!
I don’t think I need to say anything else about this stunning ad specimen for the Zenith Super De Luxe clock radio, from a 1953 issue of Look magazine.
Let’s take a close look at that main picture, shall we? Just click to embiggen:
Yup, that’s the coolest thing I’ve seen all day. And I love the color choices, like French Green and Scotch Grey. Here’s a current photo of one of these De Luxe bakelite beauties on sale on eBay (clock works, radio doesn’t) for $40.
One of the many brilliant things about Mad Men is how the show deftly mixes fictional characters and storylines with real-life events. This includes the many clients of the Sterling Cooper/Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce advertising firm. While some of the firm’s clients are fake, many are quite real (or at least were). Here are some vintage advertisements for actual Mad Men clients, from the approximate early ’60s period they appeared on the show.
Lucky Strike, 1961
Mohawk Airlines, 1965
Jaguar XKE, 1967
Patio Cola, 1963
Kodak Carousel, 1962
Maytag, 1960
Clearasil, 1963
Samsonite, 1966
North American Aviation, 1965
John Deere, 1965
Playtex, 1961
London Fog, 1965
There’s a lot to love about this Post Sugar Crisp ad from 1955, not the least of which are the classic ’50s bear mascots:
But what drew my eye was the gaggle of vintage baseball logos on the bottom. They’re actually MLB patches Post gave away with the cereal, and the legendary Ted Williams gives his smiling approval.
Here’s a closeup view of the logos, featuring the Chicago White Sox, Boston Red Sox, Cincinnati Redlegs, New York Yankees, New York Giants, Milwaukee Braves, Philadelphia Phillies, Washington Senators/Nationals, Baltimore Orioles, Pittsburgh Pirates, Cleveland Indians, Brooklyn Dodgers, Detroit Tigers, St. Louis Cardinals, and Chicago Cubs. That’s every MLB franchise from ’55 except for the Kansas City Athletics.
(click for a larger version)
Long-time readers of this blog already know how much I love talking about and looking at vintage record label art. So imagine my delight when I stumbled on this ad from the May 30, 1970 issue of Billboard magazine. It’s part of a tribute to French record executive Eddie Barclay, known in France as le roi du microsillon (“The King of Microgroove).”
This ad is in celebration of the beginning of the third decade for the Barclay Group, founded in 1949. It shows the center ring art for the imprints his company distributed. I had to do a little cleanup, and I think the result is pretty cool. Click for a larger version.
Just for reference, the labels in this ad are (from left to right in descending order) Amadeo Records, Atco Records, Atlantic Records, Barclay Records, Black and Blue Records, Buddah Records, Chess Records, CNR Records, Egg, Excello Records, Disques Fleche, GRT Records, Jubilee Records, Disques Meys, Monument Records, Princess Records, Riviera Records, Stax Records, 20th Century Fox Records, Vanguard Records, Volt Records, and Young Blood Records.
I can’t believe that after all these years I haven’t ever gotten around to putting together a gallery of vintage St. Patrick’s Day advertisements. Of course the fact that I’m not Irish may have something to do with that. But then again I’m not pagan and I’ve had a few Halloween galleries. Nevertheless, the time has come to cut the blarney and get on with it. So here’s a lucky seven for St. Paddy’s Day (sorry, no Guinness). Erin go Bragh!
(For more Retrotisements, click here. To check out my gallery of holiday-themed ads, go here.)
Using sex to sell merchandise is hardly a new tactic, but in the 1940s it wasn’t a common one either. And yet in the 1940s and ’50s Springs Cotton Mills, makers of Springmaid Fabrics, put out a series of ads that likely pushed every boundary there was in American marketing with regards to sex appeal.
The Springmaid ads, clearly influenced by pin-up art, made use of double entendre (written by company owners Elliot White Springs) and liberal doses of voyeurism. The illustrations generally fell into one of two categories, with some exceptions: looking up a woman’s skirt or seeing her panties fall down around her ankles. That’s about it. Most of the advertisements came with a short tagline such as “Defy Diaphoresis,” “Protect Yourself,” or “Perfume and Parabolics.” My personal favorite is “We Put the ‘Broad’ in Broadcloth!”
Here’s a gallery of just some of the racy Springmaid Fabrics ads produced by Springs Cotton Mills in the mid-century period.
1948
1948
1948
1948
1948
1948
1948
1949
1949
1949
1951
A 1952 ad with Vivian Blaine.
We put the “Broad” in Broadcloth and now the “Filly” in Chlorophyll
This one did break from the mold somewhat.
1954
For my latest car advertisement capsule, I’ve gathered marketing material for the full line of new 1970 Dodge cars, wagons, vans, and trucks. You’ll see vintage print and TV ads for the Dart, Coronet, Polara, Monaco, Charger, Challenger, Super Bee, and more. If you like these great vintage advertisements, you could be Dodge Material!
(To see other car lineup advertisement galleries, click here. Got a request for other years and makes? Let me know in the Comments section.)
The fourth-generation Dart was refreshed somewhat for 1970 and was available in three main trims. There was the basic four-door sedan, the two- and four-door Custom, and the two-door Swinger (available in base or 340 performance models). Owners of the Swinger 340, as well as other Dodge performance models, were invited to join the Dodge Scat Pack Club. For just $3 per year, members received a newsletter, a free performance parts catalog, and “Scat Packages” featuring performance Mopar parts.
In 1970, Dodge created a Scat Pack Club, complete with a newsletter. They also made the Direct Connection parts catalog available to members at no cost, and set up “Scat Packages” of Mopar parts. These included the Showboat (dressup kit), Read-Out (gauges), Kruncher (drag/strip), Bee-Liever (manifold, carb, cam, headers), and Top Eliminator (Six-Pack setup, electronic ignition, electric fuel pump, and cool can.) Club members received the catalog, wallet card, jacket patch, bumper sticker, 40-page guide to auto racing, the monthly Dodge Performance News, and the quarterly Dodge Scat News.
The Coronet, in its sixth year of production after a five-year break, remained Dodge’s lone mid-size model (it had been a full-size in the ’50s). It was available in a host of styles and trims, including the Deluxe (two-door coupe, four door sedan, and station wagon), 440 (two-door hardtop, four-door sedan, two-door coupe, and station wagon), 500 (two-door hardtop, convertible, four-door sedan, and station wagon), and R/T (two-door hardtop and convertible). There was also the Super Bee muscle car, which I’ll cover a little later.
The Polara was Dodge’s entry-level full-size family car in 1970, as it had been since 1963. In its fourth generation, the Polara could be purchased as the base Special (two or four-door hardtop, convertible, four-door sedan, and two or three-seat wagon) or Custom (two or four-door hardtop and four-door sedan). 1970 was the last model year that you could buy a Polara convertible.
The Dodge Monaco for 1970 was the maker’s other full-size auto, and was marketed as a luxury car. It was available in the same styles as the Polara, minus the convertible.
The second-generation Charger was in its third year of production in 1970. It was available in four trims — the base model, 500, R/T, and SE. Some Dodge promotional materials made reference to a race-ready Charger Daytona, which was built in 1969 but eventually scuttled for 1970 in favor of the Plymouth Superbird. Sales of the Charger plummeted in ’70 thanks in large part to the introduction of the Challenger.
The brand-new Challenger (a sister car to the Plymouth Barracuda) was designed to compete against pony cars like the Camaro, Mustang, and Firebird, and was available in six styles, all two-door — the base hardtop, R/T hardtop, SE hardtop, convertible, R/T SE hardtop, and R/T convertible.
The Coronet-based Super Bee was in its third year of production in 1970, and was positioned as Dodge’s affordable sports car. Production was halved from nearly 30,000 units in 1969 to 15,506. The Super Bee was discontinued after the 1971 model year.
Not a whole lot to say here. Dodge had trucks, vans, station wagons, and even motor homes in 1970. You had the Sportsman and Tradesman vans, as well as the Adventurer and Sweptline trucks. There was also a limited edition Dude Sport Trim Package truck available.
One thing I did find curious was Dodge’s choice of spokesman for their truck line — Don Knotts.
(Most print ads sourced from Flickr, Old Car Advertisements, and the 1970 Hamtramck Registry.)