“The treacherous are ever distrustful. Send in that dollar, Margie!” — Gandalf
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Tag Archives: antique
Uncle Sam wants… YOU!?
Behold, the American Motors Gremlin.
Fun Facts:
Its sales brochure called it “the first American-built import”.
It was marketed as “cute and different”.
Both Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush once owned and drove Gremlins.
In 2007, Time magazine included it in its list of “The 50 Worst Cars of All Time”.
In 2020, Automobile magazine gave it a good review, but still called it “one of history’s dorkiest cars”.
Continue readingDon’t switch the blade on the guy in shades, oh no.
BONG!
Fun fact: The final original episode of Rocky and Bullwinkle’s show aired on June 27, 1964, two months before the comic book this ad was found in hit the stands.
Another fun fact: Cheerios was originally named CheeriOats. That didn’t last long.
Continue readingIt’s the cat’s meow.
The artist, Tom Lovell, had quite a career doing pulp magazine covers and paintings of the American West. And Siamese cats in whiskey ads.
Continue readingJust because you look like a serial killer doesn’t mean you can’t look snazzy too!
Fun Fact: This ad came out a month before the first episode of The Addams Family on TV.
Another Fun Fact: Gent magazine was once subtitled “Home of the D-Cups.”
Continue readingRemember back when certain folks insisted seat belt laws were a violation of our civil rights?
John Blake seems like one of those guys who would protest face masks and social distancing.
Fun Fact: Before 1980, only 11% of Americans used seat belts. This ad is from 1970.
Continue readingA Post-Victorian Flight of Fancy
AS USUAL.
“Let me know when we get to Mars.”
“We passed Mars ten planets ago, ma’am.”
This early cartoon/comic/illustration/panel is weird, wonderful and a work of art. It’s as if Jules Verne and Mark Twain had a baby, and I dig it.
The Artist is F.W. Read, but there is scant info online except for a few other pieces of work and that he/she studied in Paris at Académie Julian in 1891. If you know more, please let me know!
“It’s a killer-diller!”
“You bet, almost before you know it, a daily 10 minutes with ‘MINI-GYM’ builds you into the kind of real ‘he man’ material bosses want most… and girls go for fastest!” — It pays to read the tiny, tiny type!
Alas, I had to settle for the crappy Trax sneakers from Kmart.
