Tag Archives: advertising

Look for the Union Label across Generations

Although this is an advertisement rather than a real life snapshot, I love the contrast in clothing depicted between the generations.  The Library of Congress gives the date as 1965-1980, a very big range, and I couldn’t find it reproduced … Continue reading

Posted in 1970s | Tagged , | 6 Comments

Color Advice for the Gray Haired Woman, 1945

What determines the colors that look good on you? There is an entire industry built up to help you answer that question today.  In this 1945 advertisement from Helena Rubenstein, however, you need look only to your hair color for … Continue reading

Posted in 1940s | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Elsie de Wolfe Recommends…

Perhaps you don’t know the name Elsie de Wolfe (ca 1859-1950).  However, if you like Cole Porter maybe you have heard her other name, Lady Mendl.  In the 1934 song “Anything Goes,” her athletic skills make a brief appearance: “When … Continue reading

Posted in 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, General | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Black Legends in Blackglama

I never understood the wording of these once ubiquitous ads for mink coats.  The people pictured in the ads were contemporary celebrities—legends in their own time.  To underscore that fact, their names were never mentioned in the photo.  Surely they … Continue reading

Posted in 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990, 2000s, 2010s | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Go Ask Alice, 1937

Alice Roosevelt Longworth, the daughter of President Theodore Roosevelt, was a famous beauty in her youth.  Born in 1884, she became a fashion icon when her father became president at the start of the twentieth century.  Her favorite color, an … Continue reading

Posted in 1930s | Tagged , | 4 Comments

A Feminine Tragedy and its Cure

Advertisements directed to women fall into two large schools. There are the dreams–buy this and your life will be wonderful. And then there are the warnings–if you don’t buy this your life will be filled with despair. This particular ad … Continue reading

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Age Affirmative Advertising

How do you sell products designed for older people? The linguistic twists and turns of advertisers have always interested me, so I took a look at the collection The Aging Consumer, edited by Aimee Doret (New York, 2010.)  The most … Continue reading

Posted in 2000s, 2010s | Tagged , , | 8 Comments

Smart Women–Green Stamps

This might be a good question for a quiz show—what were Green Stamps?  When I was a child, you got them in places like grocery stores and gas stations, a certain number depending on how much you spent.  You were … Continue reading

Posted in 1950s | Tagged , | 6 Comments

Bonnie Cashin Sells Sewing Machines, 1973

Although I wonder if the famous American fashion designer Bonnie Cashin really did use a Kenmore sewing machine, I think this is a wonderful way to attract home sewers to the Sears brand.  Cashin made her mark on American design … Continue reading

Posted in 1970s | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

“Hate that Gray” 1963

In her entertaining memoir, Does She…Or Doesn’t She–and How She Did, advertising executive Shirley Polykoff takes credit for the explosion of the hair dye industry with her clever ads for Clairol in the 1950s. Before that time, she writes, “hair … Continue reading

Posted in 1960s | Tagged , | 5 Comments