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.
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.
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.
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 Re...
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.)
Kellogg's Rice Krispies (1941)
Kenmor Music's "Clancy Lowered the Boom" (1950)
Ten-B-Low Ice Cream (1950)
Lucky Strike (1951)
Hiram Walker's Cordials (1953)
Kool-Aid (1961)
Berkey (1970)
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...
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.)
1970 Dodge Dart
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 mo...
