Advertising has always been an interesting way to look at history. But when you see these vintage advertisements, the past seems a lot weirder than you thought.
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Researchers were touting picture phones as early as 1930. The Picturephone was a major attraction at the AT&T Bell System pavilion at the New York World’s Fair in 1964. AT&T introduced commercial Picturephone service in central Pittsburgh with much fanfare on July 1, 1970, but it was met with indifference. Demand peaked at 453 subscribers in early 1973 and the service was cancelled. The dream of a practical and relatively inexpensive system for video calling was finally realized in 2011, with the release of the iPhone 4 and Facetime.
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"Now, with the world's first walk 'n' talk hairdryer, home hairdrying is so easy, so fast, so convenient that you can treat yourself to a new hairstyle as often as the fancy takes you."
How does a device that dries wet hair also style hair?
The first hairdryer was invented by French stylist Alexander Godefroy in 1890 and consisted of a bonnet that attached to the chimney pipe of a gas stove.
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In 2016, an Instagram user shared a Photoshopped image of a “Fisher Price Happy Hour Playset.” Although most people realized the image was a joke, it set off a firestorm among those who didn't get it, with a lot of angry parents complaining to Fisher Price.
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The stiffs at Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum are more lifelike than these guys.
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In the 1911 edition of Nostrums and Quackery, published by the American Medical Society, it was noted that the active ingredients of Doan’s Kidney Pills appeared to be potassium nitrate (saltpeter), pitch and oil of juniper.
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In a strange twist of fate, women's breasts may be getting bigger now due to environmental factors such as industrial contaminants. Boobs' fatty tissue absorbs pollutants "like a pair of soft sponges."
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Show Mom just how much you love her by giving her a GE "Automatic" Toaster for Mother's Day.
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Americans weren't so fat in the 1940s but now that they are, they are expected to squeeze into seats that are about half as big as these.
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This book has less to do with teaching folks how to enjoy a wholesome sex life, than warning people not to have sex with unsuitable mates so they don't dilute the human species by allowing reproduction of “inferior” genetic strains.
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"Bufferin acts twice as fast as aspirin! Bufferin, being antacid, opens trap door of the stomach, gets into bloodstream twice as fast as aspirin."
In 1979, the Federal Trade Commission forced Bufferin to stop claiming their product relieved pain faster.
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Nigger Boy Steel Wool Soap Pads was one of many brands that used the word 'Nigger' to sell and promote products from the 1890s to the 1960s.
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Burdock has been a favorite medicinal herb for centuries and is used for many ailments. Dried and powdered burdock root was a folk remedy for upset stomachs and constipation in late medieval England and burdock is still being sold today as acne medicine!
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Dr. Clark Johnson claimed his snake oil would cure just about everything, including constipation and diarrhea;
"Should this move the bowels too freely, reduce the dose. If not enough increase it."
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Maud Humphrey made drawings of her chubby-cheeked, infant, who became famous when he appeared in a national advertising campaign for Mellin’s baby food in 1900. Humphrey Bogart later said of his early fame, “There was a period in American history when you couldn’t pick up a goddamed magazine without seeing my kisser in it.”
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"Employees lose respect for a company that fails to provide decent facilities for their comfort."
Did the folks at Scott Paper really think that the use of cheap paper towels would transform workers into communists? Probably not, but they saw the potential of using the fear of communism when advertising to other large corporate customers.
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Until the 1970s, domestic violence was common and often referenced with humor in advertising.
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"Metal Construction?"
Sounds real comfy
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That's Nick Nolte in the middle. These jeans may have turned him from a dude into a stud, but then his subsequent alcohol and drug abuse turned him from a stud into a dud.
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The Dutch Boy must be hallucinating from ingesting too much lead.
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"Boy! This sure takes me in"
Now if I could only breathe...
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From 1953 through 1970, United offered men-only ‘Executive flights’ between New York and Chicago and between Los Angeles and San Francisco. Imagine 60 men lighting up their cigars and pipes in an airplane cabin and the idea of excluding women and children starts to sound reasonable.
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Hey, she asked for it! Domestic violence is always the best response to bad housekeeping.
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The “Reach for a Lucky Instead of a Sweet” campaign began in 1928 and was very successful until threats of litigation from the candy industry successfully forced the American Tobacco Company to remove the word "Sweet" from all advertisements in the early 1930s.
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Isaac E. Emerson earned a chemistry degree, then moved to Baltimore and opened up a pharmacy. Emerson noticed that his customers were always complaining of headaches, so in 1888 he developed a formula containing a class of tranquilizers called bromides that were very effective in curing headaches and relieving hangover symptoms. Unfortunately it was also toxic in large doses and the FDA banned the product in the 1980s. But the company lasted almost 100 years and amassed many millions before that happened.
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"I've robbed the Rainbow to make you Gay -- Jester Wools for Gayer Garments"
This guy didn't need to rob anything to bring the gay.
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"As soon as the bombs start dropping, run like hell (it doesn't matter where, as long as you run like hell)."
During WW2, air raids were a real possibility for several big cities along the West coast, but Ratliff's Dancing Academy in San Diego showed they weren't particularly concerned about it when they published these tongue-in-cheek instructions for "What to Do in Case of an Air Raid."
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“Just attach it to the tap—turn on the water—and it washes the clothes” And then spills water all over the floor!
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"Elmer's acting like a gay young blade since he's been drinking Hemo!" Maybe they should have named it Homo?
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"10
inches of thrill and vibration...New deluxe massager reaches places you
NEVER reached before...Relaxes you to the point of PURRING!"
Possessing
a vibrator is actually still illegal in Alabama, with one exception:
you're allowed to own one if you have a doctor's note.
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"Lowest-priced
motorcycle ever offered by Harley-Davidson. A swift, sturdy, Single,
fully equipped--complete electrical system, 3-speed transmission, front
and rear brakes, all conveniences." So they include an engine,
transmission, electrical system and brakes -- all the conveniences. How
thoughtful!
In 1903, William S. Harley and brothers Arthur and Walter
Davidson founded the Harley-Davidson company out of a 10 X 15' shed in
Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
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