Leader Board Ad

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

I Love Quackery: Baldness Kills!

Ok, so it doesn't exactly say "Baldness kills!" What I really like about the ad is the ultra obvious "before and after." Oh, so that's what wearing a toupee looks like. Please explain to me why ordering by mail wouldn't be safe? Some rash of rug snatching highwaymen? Another gem from a 1917 New York Times. 

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Buy these gloves or we'll kill this monkey- Odd ads

Some of the best ads are simply "time out of place." They can be enjoyed at many levels. I'll always want to know what they were thinking when they came up with the concept. A picture may be worth a thousand words but, which thousand?  I would think you could look at an ad, see the product, see the image, look at the tag line and say, "Oh! I get it." But just as some of today's ads cause much head scratching, I have to believe some of these ads were just as much a mystery then as they are now.
This comes from a 1917 New York Times section and is clearly an ad for gloves.  What role the monkey plays is entirely up to your imagination.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Candy's dandy but is it for breakfast?

It's not often that you find an advertisement that is unashamed to admit that it is bad for you. Well, I can say that I actually found that, but now that we know that sugar doesn't exactly cure cancer, it is fun to see ads that sold it like it did.
 I don't remember these bears. By the 60's and 70's they were down to a single bear, possibly due to lay-offs in the animation world. For the 1960's commercial take a look below.




 Cavorting with the dead!? Is this some kind of sugar induced hell?
 We all know (I guess) that there was a ban on advertising cereals with sugar, though I don't think they did anything to remove the sugar, they were just no longer allowed to put it on the label. Sugar Smacks was changed to Honey Smacks and Sugar Crisp, which became Super Sugar Crisp was eventually changed to Golden Crisp. Take a look at a commercial for the cereal from the 60's.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Guess the Matchbooks in this Jar! Win a Rupee or 2!

With no sales in the area -can't imagine why, it's practically Spring, according to the temperature and the daffodils poking out of the ground- I accepted the offer of a couple of good experienced diggers to take in an auction. Don't ask me the location, because I'm sworn to secrecy, but all I can tell you is you wouldn't believe me anyway. The geek in me wants to tell you it was like Obi-Wan describing Moss Eisley to Luke, " ...a den of scum and villainy..." Well, that's the imaginative side of me. Actually, they were diggers just like us and in search of treasure, just like us. This is just a different format for exchanging goods for cash.

I was hoping to find a box of 19th century paper, untouched from the attic of an abandoned carriage house...no luck. In fact there was very little there that I needed to have. In desperation I saw this collection of Matchbooks and hoped for some old ones to be floating around inside. Upon closer inspection I saw that there was more than just matches...
There seemed to be a small selection of coins. After much hard glancing and poking I told my enabler that if this comes up I would take it for $10. Without going into the strict details of how auctions work at this house the result is obvious and 30 minutes later I am the proud owner of a "dig in a jar."  Treasure or not it seemed to erase the failure of the past weekend as I now had something to paw through, something that I knew contained more that just the obvious.
Not enough to retire on, but over 60 coins form numerous countries. the 10 Rupee note and five Rupee coins I already know will net me about 30 cents given the current exchange rate. The 2 Euro coin is a little better at $2.65 and the there are several Asian countries represented that will take much research to nail down the denomination and the value. I may update this post as I go along in my research.

Monday, February 6, 2012

Hotel Stationary - Fine establishments of the 40's Courtesy of "Soft Soap Andy"

Some of us are born to collect and others have it thrust upon us. This collection of Hotel stationary came from a box of mail someone saved, and then bought in a lot, and then held it prisoner in their basement until I came along. I enjoy looking at the artistic representations of the buildings, the printing process is certainly refined from the turn of the century as in this post and this post.


Now known as the Grand Hyatt, The Commodore was built by the railroad empire of Cornelius Vanderbilt and named for him as he was "The Commodore."  His statute may still be there as is the Grand Central terminal and the other hotels that were part of this massive complex. The idea was to surround one of the major transportation hubs with hotels to entice the weary traveler...or soap collector.


Hotel Sir Francis Drake, better known as "The Drake" is still one of San Francisco's finest. Built in from the dust of the 1906 earthquake it boasted many amenities others did not. Obviously, fine soap was one of them...


Built by Portland philanthropist and business man Simon Benson in 1913 it was one of many great contributions he made to this city. He leaves behind one of my new favorite quotes, "No one has the right to die and not leave something to the public and for the public good." Damn straight. Oh and by the way, "the Benson" never did burn down.
The Davenport may be Spokane's only AAA 4-Star hotel, but in the 40's the soap was "Very Dull." Finished in 1914 it is now on the Nation Register of Historic places, as is "The Benson."  A little soap goes a long way I guess.