Popular Science – June 1971

Greetings!  Today’s blast from the past comes to us courtesy of Popular Science in the early 70s.  It’s interesting to me to see what the ads in a publication say about the people who read it.  In this case, it’s clear that the subscribers are all of the male gender. Very male. Almost impossibly male. And they like to smoke and drink beer and drive stuff. And do things! Manly things!

As a general rule, I don’t post ads for cigarettes but this one really struck my eye. For the man who likes to smoke and doesn’t mind an 8-step process to put his smokes together I give you Laredo filter blend. It comes with a handy plastic cigarette-making machine and the pricing works out to about $.20 per pack. That’s about $1 in today’s money adjusted for inflation.

From Classic Ads – Misc

What continues to strike me about Jeep ads even from ages ago is that they haven’t changed one iota. Not a bit. This one is blasted 40 years old and it reads like an ad from today. It’s a vehicle with guts and with the same ad guys it had in the 70s.

From Classic Ads – Automotive

PopSci was also rife with ads for career improvement. Apparently readers fancied themselves clever enough to move up in the world but they just lacked the training. La Salle Extension university offers everything from a High School diploma to diesel mechanics all from the comfort of your home. I’m amused that they have -one- class in computer programming and it’s just ‘basic training.’ The gals get a separate set of options all the way to the right. No female diesel mechanics in these days, I guess. They could be accountants or dental assistants or secretaries.

From Classic Ads – Misc

Not looking to be an accountant or clean teeth? How about the Cleveland Institute of Electronics? Tell off your boss today! Learn how in handy comic-book form!

From Classic Ads – Misc

Circuits not your cup of tea? Well heck. Just join the Army. There’s just no satisfying some people!

From Classic Ads – Misc

Switching gears dramatically, the car ads of course made themselves known as they always do. Those readers who already have a job will need a way to get there. Why not try the Ford Pinto? It boasts 25 mpg and a 75 HP motor. Based on the ad text it’s really trying to compete with the VW bug to which it compares itself and based on the ad photo a half-eaten apple is better than a bug any day.

From Classic Ads – Automotive

Forget the Pinto though, you should hear what they’re saying about the Chevy Vega!

From Classic Ads – Automotive

Feeling like a car is too much responsibility? How about the Yamaha 650 XS-1B?

From Classic Ads – Automotive

Is even a motorcycle too much responsibility? Prefer to motor manfully over the snow or sand dunes rather than the city streets? Try the Honda All-Terrain Cycle. Sure it looks like something Bozo the Clown would ride but that’s OK. It takes on those sand dunes like a champ and doesn’t require a driver’s license in the event you somehow got enough DUIs to lose it back in 1971.

From Classic Ads – Automotive

And when you’re done finding a job and driving around all day has left you thirsty, kick back and relax with a Schlitz. Because nothing tastes more like Schlitz than a Schlitz.

From Classic Ads – Food And Drink

And remember when you’re out of Schlitz, you’re out of beer.  And you’re probably tan, and on a fishing boat.

Before there was Bud-Weis-er…. 1981 Budweiser

Before there were talking frogs, there were pull-tab cans. The current slogan of “this bud’s for you” appears in the newspaper on the right-hand side of the street.

1981 Budweiser

Except for the obsolete can-opening mechanism the ad is fairly unremarkable except for the reaction of the gentleman in the foreground. His lady friend is leading him across the street but he’s become distracted by the giant beer in the sky. She clearly couldn’t care less but he is enthralled. Is the advertising trying to tell us that beer is more important than a relationship with a woman in a blue velour dress? Well, maybe. Well… velour? Very probably.

The Pause the Refreshes while Shopping – 1936 Coca Cola

There’s certainly no fear of gender stereotypes here. These gals are decked out in the absolute latest fashions as they’re out shopping in fur coat and jaunty cap.  Luckily for these thirsty shoppers Coke is available “just around the corner from anywhere” for just five cents!

1936 Coca Cola

And when you get home, Ray Noble and his orchestra play “the kind of music that youthful people go for” at 9:30 eastern on the Columbia Network. When’s the last time you saw a print ad for a radio program? That Ray Noble is really decked out to the nines. With that little baton you can bet that they’re going to be playing some real swingin’ tunes!

George Washington’s Instant Coffee 1920

First of all, it’s not THAT George Washington. This George Washington was a Belgian inventor holding patents for a few dozen products including instant coffee. His company was created in 1910 and the brand lasted until 1961 when it was discontinued.

1920 George Washington Coffee

Ad Text:

Made in the cup at the table
The Easier kind of Coffee – No Coffee Pot Needed
G. Washington’s coffee dissolves instantly in hot or cold water. Absolutely pure, delicious coffee always. Each cup to order.

All the preparing scientifically and perfectly done by Mr. Washington’s refining process – which eliminates the woody fibre, chaff and waste.

Send 10c for a Special Trial Size. Recipe Booklet Free.

Admittedly, the need to state that there’s no woody fibre or waste in the coffee gets my attention. Food and beverage quality fail 90 years ago.

Maxwell House Coffee – 1910

Everyone’s heard about Maxwell House Coffee, Good to the Last Drop!  But this ad has the bonus that it also mentions that more obscure product Maxwell House Tea.  At over 100 years old, this ad also treats us to a mode of dress not often seen in the coffee drinking masses of today.  Note too the pipe.

Ad Text:

In its flavor as unchanging as time.  The same yesterday, today and tomorrow.

— If you cannot buy “Maxwell House” in your locality, write to our nearest plant for prices, and give the name of your dealer.

It’s interesting to note the emphasis on consistency of the product. This from a time in history when you might not necessarily get the same product with every purchase.

So would you buy this product?  Good vibes or bad ones?