As I go through various publications and other sources looking for images, I always end up with a small pile of oddballs – images that catch my eye for one reason or another but don’t really fit in any one category. Sometimes they end up in the pile because the artwork is strange, sometimes because the message is disturbing, and sometimes because they are out of place for the time.
So once a year I round them up and present them in this hodge-podge collection. You can click on any image for a larger version.
First up is the “wall of meat” ad for Accent, this one from 1965. That’s some wallpaper, but I don’t think it would last very long with my five dogs.
And speaking of walls of meat, how about a ceiling of deer heads? In this case, from 1937, there are over 3,000 heads with antlers “decorating” this hunting lodge owned by Queen Victoria’s grandson. And to imagine that someone had to dust them.
You may not think it that odd that the county of Santa Clara, home to Silicon Valley, would advertise itself as a center of the electronics industry. But this ad ran in 1945 when you were more likely to find plum trees there than computer circuits.
There’s something pretty creepy about giant bugs, especially when they have a sinister face such as this one from 1945, followed by a picture from National Geographic in 1956.
Poor kids. They are either getting spanked as in this ad from 1949 for Shinola shoe polish, or suffering the psychological shock of being given a laxative by mom (1952).
But they do get their revenge sometimes. For instance, babies, we discover in 1937, are not born with blackheads, and in 1948 the tables get turned and mom ends up in the baby stroller.
Life wasn’t quite as safe as it is today back in 1947 when this ad ran for Dickson door locks. It’s followed by an amusing ad extolling the virtues of lead used in the home, from 1937.
You would think that by 1990 when this booklet was published, the editors would be a little more careful about the title.
In 1942 when these two ads ran, you had to watch out for the long finger of fire, or be careful that your love of Steinbeck didn’t backfire, requiring a dose of Pepto Bismol.
Dolls often give me the creeps, especially when they are big and dressed identically to the child, as in this case from 1954. And there is something very strange about pistons with eyes and hands.
In 1943 it wasn’t easy to find any good tuna, apparently, though I guess bad tuna was in good supply. And the candy bars back in 1948 were awfully big. You might even say giant.
Maybe women were different back in 1955, but I doubt if today a new toaster would qualify as a romantic Christmas gift.
Lastly, even though I read the entire ad three times, I’m still not sure what 50 cents worth of “micro-fluff” is, and why it would bring you up to $10 per hour working in your spare time at home.
This article was last modified on May 17, 2023
This article was first published on October 23, 2009
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