If You're Not Slender...

                                               
So, I just started a new part-time job at Lane Bryant. It's a nice store, and the history nerd in me loves the idea of working for a company that has been around since the early 1900's. Not many companies last that long. Even Sears is on the decline now.

I've always been a big girl, and the term "plus-size" has been in my shopping dictionary, but I'm guessing that  the euphemism hasn't been around that long. According to the 1923 ad above, "stout" was used to market to us big and beautiful ladies. I honestly like the word. It might not be so feminine, but it gives off an air of power and confidence. "Plus-size" sounds like you are calling people abnormal. "There are normal sizes, and then there are plus-sizes."

At least it's better than chubby! I lol'ed at the ad on the bottom. Chubbies? Really? Who thought that was a good idea? Now that's just insulting! Hahaha.! Not sure on the date, but it looks around 1950-early1960-ish.

OMG, Bottled Water!

And here I thought bottled water was just a recent gimmick, but while perusing through one of my favorite blogs (http://oldadvertising.tumblr.com/), I found this gem from 1910. It should not be that surprising considering how crappy drinking water was back then.

I was just watching How the States Got Their Shapes on the History Channel, and they had this segment of the history of Poland Spring. Coincidentally,I was drinking a bottle of Poland Spring water, and for the first time noticed the "since 1845" on the label. So bottled water has a much longer history than I thought.

Copy-writing --- Literature's pop art

This has to be one of my favorite pieces of vintage advertising. If you are truly a lover of advertising, you can appreciate the copy here. "Coca-Cola... a grateful invigorant without reactionary lassitude." What a fancy way of saying it gives you energy without the crash. My how times have changed.

Now they tell us to be clear and concise, because people don't care to read. Maybe this is proof that TV does really make us more stupidder (stupider or stupidder?? Studpider would be stu-pEYE-der, right? so it has to be stupidder for the short "i"...hmmmm?).[EDIT: Nevermind, it is "stupider." I looked it up. But really, I would argue for the double "d."]



This ad is dated June 1906. I got it from www.vintage123.com, a nice source of vintage ads (although it seems like they haven't updated in a long time).

Come as you are

I love, with a great passion, vintage advertisements. Half the fun of watching Boardwalk Empire is looking at the old ads in the background on the boardwalk. I just think you can learn a lot about a culture by the ads.
What I love most about looking at vintage ads are the ones that you know would be a huge "no no" now. Like the one I posted above. At least I think an ad that depicted domestic violence and spousal abuse would be a no-no today.  Google "sexist or racist ads" and you'll see a whole bunch of ads that will surprise you.

Check out this Huffington Post thing about Outrageous Vintage Ads...

In the beginning of the month,  I posted a couple of racist ads that I found on other blogs, but I found another blog that had a few ridiculously racist  ads, like  "Darkey in a Watermelon."   It makes you feel ashamed.

But there are still racist commercials today. Did any see the commercial for the only black dating service? *cough* double standard *cough* There are a lot of double standards in advertising though. Just look how men are portrayed today. Half of them look like bumbling idiots. They used to make women look like dumb bimbos in old ads too; so I guess this is just retribution.

But I have hope that one day everyone will be considered equal, and that it will show in the ads. The French are a head of us, Americans. They have the gay McDonald's commercial, which I think is fantastic. But I can't help but feel a bit bad at the end of the commercial; the father doesn't know that his son is gay, and the son looks scared to tell him. I wonder what the people 100 years from now will think of our commercials.

Mo' Wheh Dis Comed Fum. Yas Sah!

1927

Ingredients: chocolate, eggs, milk, sugar, and racism.

I love (to the Nth degree) vintage ads. You can tell a lot about a society through its ads. And going by that logic, America was a racist bastard. I guess I'm so used to an American culture that is very PC (politically correct), that it is shocking to see ads like the one above. It makes me so glad I was born in this generation.

So these were the good ol'days grandma and grandpa?

1907

I got all these ads from a blog called Vintage Ads

Vintage 1910s Corset Ad

Found this on Youtube. I love old (extremely old) advertising. I just wanted to share. :)

Solitair Cake Make-up

I recently came across this amazing blog called Glamour Daze about vintage fashion and beauty. It has tons of great photos and video that date as early as 1900. There's a lot of interesting facts and tid-bits about the history of fashion and beauty. It's definitely worth a peek! Anyway, After looking through "Glamour Daze," I was inspired to post my vintage make-up ad that I found tucked away. I love vintage advertising with a passion, and I fell in love with this ad instantly. I found it in a page saved from a newspaper dated June 8, 1952.