Vintage adverts Page 67

1950

Bath-size soap? Are they joking? How were you supposed to get it home from the shop?
It reminds me of the time my car wouldn't start and my dad said, "You need a new battery" so off I went to Halford's and bought one. I couldn't believe the size of it - or the weight.
One of the young lads carried it to the checkout for me and then, when I'd paid for it, he carried it out into the car park for me and asked where my car was. I told him, "I've come on the bus". You should have seen his face. But how was I to know how massive it was going to be?
Anyway, back to bath-size soap. Seriously, how could any normal person get it home? Even if a man (or two) with a van went with me to the shop to collect it and brought it home and helped me get it into the house and up the stairs to the bathroom, how am I supposed to have a wash with it? Soap on a rope? Soap on a forklift more like!
Okay. Enough of that. What about Camay in general? Well, it came out in 1926 and was marketed as a 'white, pure soap for women'. Why was it white? I'll tell you. Almost all soaps in those days were green, pink, blue or some other colour and the colour wasn't there to make it look attractive. It was there to hide all the impurities that would have been visible if the colour hadn't been there. So Camay was made in white to show the public how pure it was.
Okay, that's great, but why was it a soap for women? Wouldn't it work on men? Or did they just not want men buying it? God knows. I don't.
But if you think that was a questionable slogan, strap yourself in because, after a while, they dropped that slogan and began marketing it as 'The soap for beautiful women'. So, now, not only did they not want men buying it. They didn't want ugly women buying it either. Unbelievable. What they're saying to non-beautiful women is "You lot don't need to wash because, let's face it, no matter how clean you are or what you smell like, nobody's going to fancy you anyway."
There must a name for that sort of thing. I don't know what it is but it'll end in '-ism' or '-phobia'. Anyway, if I'd been around when they were using that slogan, I'd have gone straight round to Camay headquarters with a bar of their bath-size soap and told them exactly what they could do with it.
No! It's not what you're thinking. I'm too genteel for that. I'd just have put on my strictest face and said "Clean your bloody act up!".

How terribly interesting........... 😴

1948

Humphrey Bogart selling ballpens? Yes, it's true. In 1948, when Eversharp launched their compact and bijou pocket-sized biro, they chose Bogey to endorse it. I wonder what they paid him? Probably loadsa money!

Anyway, It came in some very posh-sounding colours like Emerald Satin, Scarlet Velvet, Violet Chiffon and Royal Blue Gabardine and was marketed as a luxury fashion accessory. They claimed it could write for 2 years without running out of ink. A bit like me, really. I can write for two years without running out of ideas. Mind you, I can also write for two years without selling anything so it's swings and roundabouts I suppose.

Meanwhile, back on topic, what made this little pen extra special was that it somehow expanded into a full-size pen.

Ingenious, yes. But when it comes to storing things when they're not in use, I can see the point of trying to make some things smaller. Telescopes, umbrellas, photographic tripods, walking sticks, poles with a blade on the end for sawing branches of trees, to name but a few - but ballpoint pens? How many times have you used a ballpoint pen and then thought, "Where am I going to put this now? I wish somebody would invent one small enough to put in my pocket"? The answer to that question might be a clue as to why these pens are no longer around.

Oooh, ambassador - you are spoiling us 🤡

1986

It's very flattering when someone's obsessed with you but it's not healthy, is it? I mean, I used to be obsessed with Phil Collins. It was talking over my life to such an extent I had to go into therapy - and take a look at me now!

1943

Colgate ran at least 20 different versions of this ad over many years. In each ad, a clickbait frame draws the readers into a story in which, to their immediate disappointment, is all about a dentist telling someone about bad breath and how to fix it.

1957

Matchless was a famous British motorcycle company founded in 1899 by H H Collier. It had its works at Woolwich in London. The first TT race in 1907 was won by Collier's son Charles on a 432cc Matchless, the first of many triumphs in the Isle of Man.
After the First World War, race machines were based on production models but were still successful. In 1931, Matchless merged with AJS and gradually the two marques lost their separate identities. Matchless went into decline in the 1950s, in spite of some excellent motorcycles and production ended in 1969.

1951

I wish I'd invented Ovaltine. I'd be a malty millionaire now.

Oh, he/she has gone away................. 😁

And again, where was I before the rood interruption...........Oh, yes 18 months ago, my last one was 1958, so...................

1893...............

1973..............who had one of these?

1911..............

1901.............

Quote: alison blunderland @ 8th June 2023, 12:14 AM

1957

View original

My first motorbike was a G2 250cc Matchy but with a red/chrome tank and black frame.

It was snowing on my 16th birthday. wrapped a pair of 'L's around the forks and set off. Got to the main road and learned how to stop.

Handled like a super-tanker but taught me a lot about mechanics

1977.........

I've used Wright's Coal Tar Soap since the 1960s.......................Advert from 1904 - was c. 2p a bar, as seen in this ad - now about £1.50