Tag Archives: branding

“I’d punch the copywriter, but…” [shrugs]

If Venus Had Arms — 1911 magazine ad for Kellogg's Toasted Corn Flakes
If Venus Had Arms — 1911 magazine ad for Kellogg’s Toasted Corn Flakes

15 Things You Should Know About ‘Venus de Milo

Were Kellogg’s Corn Flakes Created as an ‘Anti-Masturbatory Morning Meal’?

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It’s a pinky tinky!

Burroughs Ten Key Adding Machine magazine found in the January 19, 1957 issue of The Saturday Evening Post
Burroughs Ten Key Adding Machine magazine found in the January 19, 1957 issue of The Saturday Evening Post

Pink was a surprise, but then again, maybe not. An eBay/Etsy search shows that this device was available in Sea Mist Green, Amber Gray, Alpine Blue, or Capri Coral (pink to me). Yes, long before the iMac.

Hmm… It looks like division wasn’t quite invented yet. Well, it is an adding machine after all.

For the curious:

Ten Keys and Fewer

Today seems like a good day to read a brief history of the numeric keypad!

Can’t leave out the modern age!

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America’s Hot New Success Car… There are success cars?

Ford Torino magazine ad found on the back cover of an April 6, 1968 Saturday Evening Post
Ford Torino magazine ad found on the back cover of an April 6, 1968 Saturday Evening Post

The Torino was an upscale variation of the Ford Fairlane, eventually replacing it. Sorry, Andrew Dice Clay.

The car was named after Turin, the home of a certain shroud

You might notice some shared DNA with a certain ’73 Ford Falcon used in a dusty Australian movie.

And don’t forget about The Striped Tomato.

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For all your fiberglass horses needs.

Magazine ad for Prewitt Fiberglass Horses found in the May 1963 issue of Western Horseman
Magazine ad for Prewitt Fiberglass Horses found in the May 1963 issue of Western Horseman

Just when you thought it couldn’t get any better than gen-u-ine fiberglass horses, it turns out Bob Prewitt of Prewitt Fiberglass Products is also the guy behind all those giant roadside mascots you might know better as Paul Bunyans or Muffler Men scattered across America. Stuckey’s will tell ya more!

These guys are living their best lives.

And of course, Roadside America is a deliciously deep and rich source of Muffler Men maps and mythology as well.

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“Hurry up and paint the ad! This thing is effin’ heavy!”

Magazine ad for Liquid Veneer found in a May 1917 issue of The Designer.
Magazine ad for Liquid Veneer found in a May 1917 issue of The Designer.

The curious type in the Liquid Veneer is neither italic nor oblique. I’m not sure what you’d call it. Bizarro-oblique? Mirroritalic? Hmm.

Liquid Veneer was a product of the Buffalo Specialty Co.

They also made hacksaws and grinders.

I’m guessing it’s a bad idea to use Liquid Veneer for dental veneers.

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Come for the gimcracks. Stay for the SPUG.

Colgate ad found on the back cover of the January 1915 issue of The Designer magazine
Colgate ad found on the back cover of the January 1915 issue of The Designer magazine

What’s a gimcrack? Pretty much the same thing as a gewgaw, d-uh.

Mr. Smith must’ve been a real tightwad over clothing, as both he and Mrs. Smith wear the same outfits for several days. Hopefully, Colgate made a deodorant back then. (Nowadays, they do make Speed Stick.)

What’s the deal with fainting couches? In related news, a chaise longue is usually screwed up by Americans as a “chaise lounge”.

It looks like SPUG was made up for this ad, but there are other SPUGS that exist today.

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All other perfumes pale in comparison.

White Shoulders perfume ad from the December 1946 issue of Art News
White Shoulders perfume ad from the December 1946 issue of Art News

I thought it read “perfume by Bryan” but I guess it’s Evyan, not Bryan. Sorry, Bryan. Now sold under the Elizabeth Arden brand.

White Shoulders was launched in 1945. It was Evyan’s first and only perfume. Evyan’s founder had a great name — by Baron Walter Langer von Langendorff.

Yes, you want to know about the history of opera glasses.

White shoulders may be a symptom of a serious medical condition.

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Sensuous as the beat of the tom-tom

1946 magazine ad for Corday's Frenzy perfume.
1946 magazine ad for Corday’s Frenzy perfume.

What does it smell like? “sultry, light, flippant”

The artist is Vladimir Bobri (Bobritsky). More of his work here.

Corday was named after Charlotte Corday, a female assassin best known for offing this guy…

La Mort de Marat by Jacques-Louis David
La Mort de Marat by Jacques-Louis David

Does anyone else smell… murder?

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He sees you when you’re smoking…

“Wait… That’s not what we meant…”

What’s the first thing I thought of when I saw this ad?
“Hey, smoke up, Johnny!”

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The Imperial March starts playing…

Hiram Walker, “benevolent despot“, was into millin’ and distillin’.

What’s the difference between whiskey and whisky? Besides the “e”, that is.

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