Old Gold Visits New Mexico

I've recently discovered the Prelinger Archives, now a new Reference Link in the sidebar, and I blogged about it on The Temporary Blog yesterday. I've been browsing their Subject Heading list every time I get a spare moment. It's a fascinating collection of video material.

I just found an interesting one called Pueblo Heritage (1950) presented by the P. Lorillard Company, the manufacturer of Old Gold Cigarettes:

In gratitude to the people who gave tobacco to the world, the P. Lorillard Company presents this film, one in a series on the American Indian, as a public service.

Now I'll admit to enjoying the images of the Zuni and Acoma pottery, as well as the marvelous sterling silver jewelry. But the turquoise and silver covered wagon (at 07:08) containing Old Gold cigarettes is a serious Madison Avenue plug.

I was reminded of their advertisement in a 1951 Saturday Evening Post which I had written about here in an earlier post. The incredible tag line reads: No medical war whoops from Old Gold... We're tobacco men... not medicine men! Smoke OLD GOLD for a TREAT instead of a TREATMENT!

I even found a copy on Ebay going for $10.99.

Blowing Things Up & Shooting Stuff

I discovered a great archive of the Du Pont Company periodicals via Things Magazine. There is much to read in the full text of 640 issues dating from the period 1913 to 2003. I'm going to enjoy exploring the Hagley Digital Archives in its entirety! I've added the link to my sidebar list of Reference Links.

Below is some of my favorite Du Pont cover art.

Parliament Presents Salvador Dali

Here's a 1958 Mike Wallace interview with Surrealist Salvador Dali from YouTube. The dialog is interesting enough but the introduction featuring Wallace pushing Parliament cigarettes (they're Hi-Fi!) is really amazing! I discovered it via Brain Pickings.

Reading Fingerprints

Here's another advertisement from the August 1944 issue of Popular Mechanics. What can you read in this finger print? There is a secret hidden in it, just as there is in every finger print.

Study the advertisement from the Institute of Applied Science above and you will see the answer: Your Fortune. The words appear twice.

Learn about the History of Fingerprinting and read two books of historical interest on the Internet Archive: Francis Galton's 1895 publication Fingerprint Directories and James Holt's Fingerprints Simplified published c.1920.

The first London printing of Galton's book Finger Prints published by Macmillan in 1892 is commanding the whopping price of $1,500 on Biblio.

Nose Thing Dot

I started getting into my old magazines tonight. These advertisements are from an August, 1944 issue of Popular Mechanics which is missing its cover.

Barbara Kruger Does Barbasol

I just started reading a fabulous book: Barbara Kruger (NY: Rizzoli, 2010). Even if you are not familiar with the name you probably would recognize her signature artwork: black and white photos with bold captions on red backgrounds.

The book is 312 pages and so far I have been skimming and skipping. Imagine my surprise to see that Kruger appropriated one of my favorite Barbasol advertisement images (original ad pictured above; blogged earlier here) from a 1950's Life magazine! I learned from her Wikipedia entry that the typeface she uses is Futura Bold and she studied art and design with Diane Arbus at Parson's School of Design. The entry pointed me to a clever Graphic Standards Manual. And a nice selection of her work can be seen here.

It's Not Just Aspirin Any More

Here's another interesting ad, this one for Anacin from the January 11, 1958 issue of Saturday Evening Post. Just what were the active ingredients back then I wonder?

"Bad Ideas" and Cigarette Advertising

I noticed that the first post in Ptak Science's latest category titled "Bad Ideas Department" features an Old Gold cigarette ad from a Life magazine with the tag line: We're tobacco men. . . not medicine men--smoke OLD GOLD for a TREAT instead of a TREATMENT!

I thought immediately of this Saturday Evening Post ad with the exact same line. I'm amazed that I could lay my hands on it. Photo is a camera shot, as the page was too big for my scanner.

I'm reminded of Dustin Hoffman in Little Big Man and wonder what subliminal message the smoke is trying to send.

Necco Wafers

These were my favorites when I was a kid. My grandmother always kept a box for us in her candy closet. My favorite colors were orange and purple. I saved the chocolate flavored ones for trading. It's so nice that Necco Wafers can still be enjoyed today!

Real Men Use Barbasol

Here's another Life Magazine advertisement for Barbasol. They had some bizarre campaign going there!

Wimmin in Advertising

I'm coming across some interesting stuff that I forgot I had. I've started a little pile of things worth blogging about. Every so often when I need a break I will scan one. This advertisement from Life Magazine really cracks me up. I'd bet it was done by the same artist responsible for the Whoosh Women campaign.

I had to scan this in two shots due to its length. I wonder if this actually sold Barbasol or helped the competition. I think the man might be in peril. That's one diabolical looking wommin!

More Whoosh

Here's one I don't have from a very cool and well indexed Gallery of Graphic Design. Extremely thorough documentation (I'm so ashamed to admit I neglected this) is given for each image! The site is a product of TJS Labs, and I've added their blog, The Retro Press, to my list.

Also found this one. Don't let this happen to you!

The Whoosh Women

I couldn't help noticing one of my favorite "whoosh" women over on the End of Suburbia site. I started a collection of them a while back, filed them away, and then forgot about them. I didn't have time to track them down yesterday, but after about a half hour of searching this evening I managed to locate them!