1926
I asked 100 people if that ad would be acceptable in 2023.
My survey said . . . uh-uuuuuuuhhhhhhh!
Hence:
Vintage adverts Page 65
1934
Nowadays, almost everybody carries a camera everywhere they go because you get one free with your smartphone but in the days before smartphones, most people didn't even own a camera and those who did usually kept it hidden in a drawer for at least 50 weeks of the year, only bringing it out in the summer to take a few holiday snaps.
The Leica camera in this ad cost £33 and 13 shillings (£33.65) but when you consider that's the equivalent of about £3000 in today's money, you have to wonder exactly who this ad is aimed at.
Looking at the image and the wording of the ad, it looks as if it's aimed very much at the 'occasional' photographer rather than the professional (note the reference to 'snapshots') and with the average man earning about £3 per week and most women and other lower-paid workers earning less than half that amount, it was quite an expensive way to take a few 'snapshots'.
1950
I like the reference to his latest movie. Seems you could say that with a straight face in 1950.
1937
1963
2009
Times have changed.
1952
Angelo Siciliano was born on the 30th of October 1892, in Acri, Cosenza, in Italy. He moved to the United States with his family in 1903, and they settled in Brooklyn, New York.
He had a keen interest in exercise but couldn't afford to join the YMCA so he'd exercise regularly every day at home without weights or other equipment and succeeded in building a very impressive body.
He decided to market his system, calling it 'Dynamic Tension' and, as part of his business plan in 1922, he changed his name to Charles Atlas because it had an American sound to it.
The Dynamic Tension course consisted of 13 simple yet effective lessons and over the years millions of his programs have been sold and they're still selling today.
Charles Atlas died at the age of 80 on Christmas Eve 1972.
1920: Angelo at age 28, two years before becoming Charles Atlas.
Handsome or what?
1967
When I first saw this ad, I thought it was a spoof.
It isn't.
What were they thinking?
In color!!!!
1952
Alas, poor Marilyn. She knew too much.
1954
Madwoman photobombs Lucozade advert!
1952
Once you get into the small print, this turns out to be an advert for car engine oil.
1956
Beautiful illustration - and so clever, don't you think?
1898
This looks like an offer you can't refuse, especially when it appeared in the very respectable Pearson's Magazine - a monthly publication whose contributors included George Bernard Shaw, H G Wells and Rudyard Kipling. Send them a shilling (£8.50 today) and they'll send you a bar of soap plus a gold watch worth over five guineas (£875 today) - absolutely free? What's not to like?
Okay, there are some terms and conditions that aren't spelt out in the ad. You get them along with the bar of soap and, if you comply with them, you get the gold watch.
Hmmm. Should I or shouldn't I?
1956
Mackintosh's Week-End (with a hyphen for some reason. Who knows why? I don't. Do you?) was a box of chocolates with a difference, the difference being that there were plenty of non-chocolates in the box. They included candied fruits, nougat and posh jelly beans.
Some people thought they were rubbish while others adored them and even today, many still rave about the 'lime candy' one.
Quote: alison blunderland @ 31st May 2023, 1:31 PM1956
Mackintosh's Week-End (with a hyphen for some reason. Who knows why? I don't. Do you?) was a box of chocolates with a difference, the difference being that there were plenty of non-chocolates in the box. They included candied fruits, nougat and posh jelly beans.
Some people thought they were rubbish while others adored them and even today, many still rave about the 'lime candy' one.
Where does it say it's a box of chocolates?