The Literary Digest – December 30, 1911

Yesterday when we visited Popular Science in the 1970s, we found our magazine’s audience to be handy and practical people. Today we visit the Literary Digest over a century ago and the readers of this little publication have a lot of money to spread around. So let’s see what the richest or the rich were doing with their money in 1911. Cover price for this mag: 10 cents. That’s a modest $2.30 adjusted for inflation.

The cruise industry was alive and well. You could take a 78-day cruise for $325.

From Classic Ads – Travel

Not feeling like cruising? How about the train or perhaps a trip to Cube, “A winter paradise”

From Classic Ads – Travel

For those days when you’re not feeling up to traveling, there are plenty of miracle medicines to save the day including Sanatogen. 15,000 physicians approve, after all.

From Classic Ads – Misc

How did our affluent readers make all their money? Manhattan real estate and 5% Municipal bonds, of course!

From Classic Ads – Misc

From Classic Ads – Misc

This was a time much different than today. When’s the last time you bought a book that advertised its weight let alone one that was 13 pounds?

From Classic Ads – Books

When they weren’t investing or reading their really heavy books there was much luxurious food! This Cream of Wheat ad today would get someone firebut I post it here as a relic of an archaic value system that made this sort of thing not only acceptable but a good advertising tool.

From Classic Ads – Food And Drink

Prefer your cereal cold rather than warm? Post Toasties…

From Classic Ads – Food And Drink

…go well with a bit of sugar.

From Classic Ads – Food And Drink

And the immortal Chiclet has been around literally forever.  For sale at the “better sort of stores” the ad croons.

From Classic Ads – Food And Drink

Lastly, the rich wouldn’t be the rich without a car or four.  The Cadillac auto is a car for “discriminating motorists, those to whom price is only a minor consideration.”

From Classic Ads – Automotive

Advertisement

When Bigger Meant Better – 1914 Hamburg American Cruise Lines

Just a few years after a rather unpleasant occurrence with an unsinkable ship, we find the cruise line industry is still going strong. The Vaterland would find itself seized by the Americans at the commencement of World War I and put to service in the U.S. Navy.

From Classic Ads – Travel

Note the text offers a 135-day cruise for $900. That would be $19,000 in today’s dollars. Pretty sure I don’t have that sort of money laying about but if you all just donate $20 I’ll promise to write to you every day.

1915 Overland Six – A Big Six at a Small Price

I’ve flipped through enough old publications that I have learned to look forward with great anticipation to the centerfold. These big, flashy ads are almost always stunning.

At $1475 ($31,300 if you adjust for inflation), the Overland was a pretty pricy item for its day. But that bought you a 45 horsepower motor. That’s about a third of the average passenger car today.

1915 Overland Six (Click for detail)

Interesting too to note the mode of dress of the people involved. The women dressed dark and plain with the only color coming from the small girl in the middle. The car seats seven, though I can’t speak for how comfortable anyone would have been.

One thing that I absolutely adore about WordPress is that I can throw out a rather half-hearted entry like the one above and somebody will come along within 10 minutes and ask a great question that forces me to actually THINK about what I just posted. Doug Payne asked: “Have an opinion on the significance of the color in the ad?” It seemed a good enough question that I thought it worth putting my random speculation into the body of the post.

You ask a great question that I hadn’t thought about (I’ll admit that my theme on this blog is consistent but my level of analysis really isn’t.)

If I had to guess…. I’ve looked at a LOT Of auto ads from this time period and the reason I hadn’t bothered to scan more is that they’re all really REALLY similar. There just isn’t the variety of designs that we enjoy today and the only thing to differentiate between them is the stats and the price point. So the color, I would speculate, draws attention to the only two things that would really matter to the affluent reader of this magazine. (The Literary Digest is aimed at a much more affluent crowd) It’s cheaper and bigger than the competition. The other colors are kept muted so help draw attention to the aforementioned items. Our central focal point is the girl in the middle in red and she’s clearly portrayed as having a grand time. But that’s just my speculation on the topic. I’d love to hear others!

Thanks, Doug!

I’ll be safer on Pullman than you two at Home! [1941]

Well heck! Why not just stay on the train all the time?!?!? Well, no wait a minute, this was also a time in history when 9 out of 10 doctors chose Lucky Strike cigarettes. *ahem*

Pullman Trains

Holiday Inns announce The Great American Escape… restaurant style [1960s]

Mmmmm, Holiday Inn, offering two “guest-tested” favorites: “Chick’n Dinner” and “Apple Cheddar Pie”.  I’m hopeful that whenever I go out everything I order is “guest-tested”.  I’d sure hate to be the guy who got something no guest has ever tried before. You can even pay with your Gulf Travel Card, American Express or Diners Club Card.

Anyway, take a gander at that huge pile of “Chick’n” for a family of three and the sides with about quarter stick of butter each. It’s no wonder dad had a heart attack. Of course given his hairstyle and those glasses, maybe it was for the best. This was also apparently a time when kids wore suit and tie all over the place.

Holiday Inn, 1960s (Click to view a version you can zoom)

Oh, and the password… is “Mmmmm!” they say.