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Advertising in the past

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Is it an English ad? On the right it says "on and after 1st February 1937" then what looks like "Broadway and ....." - is it 5th or 9th? I like the idea of "mid quarters"!
 
pjmburns said:
Is it an English ad? On the right it says "on and after 1st February 1937" then what looks like "Broadway and ....." - is it 5th or 9th? I like the idea of "mid quarters"!
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Yes, looks like Manhattan! Broadway and 9th Avenue. Maybe also 42nd Street!
 
Stitcher, funny that but when I looked at post #866 my first thoughts were "snake oil", a cure all for everything and the dog. I know the phrase well, but its the first time I have seen an actual poster. Great timing.
 
Morturn said:
Stitcher, funny that but when I looked at post #866 my first thoughts were "snake oil", a cure all for everything and the dog. I know the phrase well, but its the first time I have seen an actual poster. Great timing.
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Hello Morturn, a few the old adverts cause me to squirm little but I suppose people were glad of the products years ago.
 
It does appear that many old ads posted here are in fact American and maybe at the time they were active were governed by differing laws - and sensibilities ;) - to those of the UK. There were laws (ordinances) governing some States which did not apply in other States, that is still true today. Federal laws usually affect all States equally.
 
Advertising is like Health and Safety, once upon a time anything went and the claims did not have to even be true, you just had to get the public to believe they were true. It was Barnum, the worlds greatest showman who proved how gullible people were. When one of his exhibitions became overcrowded, he put a sign up that said to 'the Egress', people followed it and finished up outside on the street. Apparently not one of them complained. The snake oil salesman became a figure of disrepute and the phrase was used to insult/describe conmen. But like Health and Safety (and the present day crimes shown in some of the pictures and postcards in the forum..ladders of great height with no-one at the bottom, trams and buses with passengers on the exit steps, all those children standing in the road etc) advertising had to be controlled and made less interesting. If Dr Swifts advert was run today, the complaints would pour in from every quarter, male, female and etc (care with words there) and as for a cure for lame back and contracted cords, providing the complainers knew what they were Mr Clarke and his snake oil would come in for some heavy criticism. Although American TV can still put out adverts disparaging competitors products and even political opponents, but best of all are their medical adverts where after the good that the product can do has been specified a speed talker warns of all the side effects and dangers that could occur and always finishes with a reminder to consult your doctor if in any doubt. Please however keep these wonderful adverts coming, one pity however was that Mrs D, currently suffering with a sciatic nerve problem would not believe that I had been trained by Doctor Swift to carry out his cures. Nor did she offer to nurse the damage caused by the toe of her steel capped boot. At least the tears from my eyes have dried up and I am hoping to be standing upright in the next few hours.
Bob
 
Its a pity a large number of polioticians cannot be similarly treated for their many false statements and claims.If we bankrupted a few of them then we could give the money to the NHS
 
There are quite a few politicians in the UK and indeed worldwide who qualify as 'snake oil' salesmen. No names no pack drill as I don't want to start a 'flame war' here. ;)
 
Wrigley gum has been chomped in the UK by thousands since its introduction here just before WW1. It is a name well known in SW Devon as the Wrigley HQ moved to Plymouth in 1970. The advert is an American one, not British, as the spelling of flavour will testify.
wrigleys-chewing-gum-mid-1950s-advert-bncwg5.jpg
a 1950 picture
 
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I believe the product in Stitchers post 891 is the American name for what we in Europe know as a Mars Bar. The European Milky Way does not have the caramel.
How do I know? Mars Bars and Milky Way are two of my favourites. :D
 
After using this it brought tears to my eyes. I should have washed my hands before spending a penny!!fiery jack.jpg
 
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