Advertising
Corporate Pubic Hair Shaving
Posted By: Paul - Fri Jun 11, 2021 -
Comments (0)
Category: Hygiene, Advertising, Public Indecency, Genitals, Hair and Hairstyling
The Bisga Fluid Man
He's three-months dead but still looking good, thanks to Bisga embalming fluid!The ad ran in funeral trade magazines such as The Sunnyside, circa 1902 and 1903.
source: researchgate
source: cult of weird
The historian Jani Scandura offers some commentary about the ad in her article "Deadly Professions: 'Dracula,' Undertakers, and the Embalmed Corpse".
But in appearing to reaffirm middle-class markings through embalming, the Bisga advertisement reveals a more ominous truth: because of the laws regulating the use of corpses, the apparent gentleman's body most certainly belonged to an individual who had been destitute. He simply was remade to appear middle class.
Posted By: Alex - Tue Jun 08, 2021 -
Comments (3)
Category: Death, Advertising, 1900s
Follies of the Madmen #508
Was this really ever a problem?
Source.
Posted By: Paul - Mon Jun 07, 2021 -
Comments (1)
Category: Annoying Things, Business, Advertising, Excess, Overkill, Hyperbole and Too Much Is Not Enough, 1940s, Smells and Odors, Moral Panics and Public Hysteria
UK Shopping: 1949
Halfway to Christmas!
Source: Wilkes-Barre Times Leader (Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania) 29 Jun 1949, Wed Page 3
Uncle Holly apparently dates to 1950:
Source.
Info on Ginger Nutt here.
Posted By: Paul - Wed Jun 02, 2021 -
Comments (0)
Category: Holidays, Advertising, Retailing, Myths and Fairytales, Cartoons, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, United Kingdom
Follies of the Madmen #507
Lecherous donut wants new franchisers.
Posted By: Paul - Tue May 18, 2021 -
Comments (1)
Category: Anthropomorphism, Business, Advertising, Food, 1950s
Whole-Mouse Homogenizer
This scientific ad has been doing the rounds for a long time. (Dave Barry discussed it in a 1993 column). But I only found out about it recently.No idea what the original source was.
via Improbable.com
Posted By: Alex - Sun May 16, 2021 -
Comments (9)
Category: Science, Advertising
Buckeye Beer
The revitalized company still exists today, but no mention of reinstating their "mascots," Buck and Billy.Read the history here.
Posted By: Paul - Fri May 14, 2021 -
Comments (1)
Category: Animals, Human Marvels, Regionalism, Advertising, Corporate Mascots, Icons and Spokesbeings, Nineteenth Century, Twentieth Century, Alcohol
Various Commercials 1950s and 1960s
A few observations.
* Nowadays, to our shortened attention spans, sixty seconds feels like WAR AND PEACE.
* Is that the voice of Orson Welles for American gasoline?
* Why is the narration for the Coke stewardess ad a hybrid of THE TWILIGHT ZONE and DRAGNET?
* This was surely the apex of pop surrealism in advertising.
Posted By: Paul - Sun May 09, 2021 -
Comments (7)
Category: Advertising, Surrealism, 1950s, 1960s
Electric Chest Weights
Sold by the Electric Exercising Machine Company, circa 1890. It seemed to be like a nineteenth-century version of one of those Tonal machines that are always being advertised on TV, but electrified.Although I'm curious about how it produced electricity, given that the advertisement claimed it used "no chemicals," that "its electricity is permanent," and that "it has no battery."
My guess is that it contained a dynamo which would have been spun when a user pulled on the cords, producing an electric current.
The Wellesley Prelude - May 10, 1890
Posted By: Alex - Thu May 06, 2021 -
Comments (6)
Category: Exercise and Fitness, Advertising, Nineteenth Century
Follies of the Madmen #506
Not sure how a cigar-smoking toddler promotes coffee...
Posted By: Paul - Tue May 04, 2021 -
Comments (2)
Category: Business, Advertising, Tobacco and Smoking, Children, Coffee and other Legal Stimulants, Nineteenth Century
| Who We Are |
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| Alex Boese Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes. Paul Di Filippo Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1. Contact Us |