Sunday, August 3, 2008

Fun with ads from the 50s

I love perusing through 50s magazines, but there's one detail that has started to disturb me. I understand that the ads of the day wanted to portray a feeling of happiness. After all, a new dishwasher = happiness, does it not?

Yet I don't understand why the artists had to go overboard on this one. In many advertisements, the drawn figures look downright scary -- happy to the point of mania. Wide eyes, mouth hanging open, empty stare ... it's what bad B movies are all about.

It's a trend, I tell you. I see it more and more often. Here's just a sampling.



New steel kitchens and shiny sinks can certainly do this to people. I totally understand.





BUT ....





Would it make you DANCE, too?

Note scary, empty, manic stare.

Both of these came from the same ad.
















Brooms. They're not just for sane people.













What do you think this is an ad for? Telephones?

Bed ruffles?

Amphetamines?

If you guessed "contoured sheets," then you're right on.

I don't know about you, but I don't remember when I've ever had this much fun with contoured sheets before. One question: why is the woman on the left talking on the phone when she obviously has company? And what kind of friend would just barge in on a private phone conversation and start checking out the sheets?



From a hot water heater ad ...


He's right ... glass can't rust.


But who in his right mind would get THIS EXCITED about it?


Do not stare directly into his eyes. You'll never be the same.






This is one of my all-time favorite ads. It happens to be for light bulbs, but you'd never know it from the artwork. (Click on the photo to see a full sized version. You won't regret it.)

About 60% of these people look normal. There's positive manic zombie ID in the guy playing cards.
My favorite? The two guys in the middle. Are they dead, or just in the middle of a seizure? The guy on the right looks like he's doing his best donkey impression (hee-haw!) while the guy on the left looks uncannily like a narcoleptic George Bush.

Then there's the woman who -- very snootily, I might add -- is checking out the hostess' fridge. What exactly did she expect to see in there?

One lingering question: why is everyone crammed into this kitchen? Does a living room not exist?

Oh, that's right. Those GE lightbulbs just put this kitchen in a PARTY MOOD.

And finally -- a car ad. I love these ads because they usually show the couple in the car laughing like simpletons.

Though his face is partially obscured, you can tell the guy is totally with the program. He's smiling like a goon. But the wife, pressed up against the door with a fakey little smile on her face, says she's had enough of his manic laughing and smiling over a freakin' car. Get over it, already.

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