Check out these ads from days gone by (and never to be repeated).
Today, ads like these are offensive, irrational, chauvinistic, unbelievable. What will today’s ads look like in a few years?
Today’s relevance is tomorrow’s irrelevance. To lock ourselves into the spirit of the age is to become a humorous relic of the past.
What is eternal is relevant. What is not eternal is eternally irrelevant!
samshawonline 
110 Comments
Love love LOVE these! That Van Heusen ad: priceless!
🙂
Thank you for sharing. Sometimes it’s great to visually reflect on how far we’ve really come…
wow…these ads are crazy! Thanks for posting. It’s interesting to see how much things have changed.
http://www.runtobefit.wordpress.com
Oh, these are quite funny. I can only imagine how mad this will make some people.
Wow. I thought this blog was a joke, a satire but then realized it was for real.I’m at a loss for words and not in the good way.
How funny is that?! Glad the countries progressed..lol
The harder a wife works the cuter she looks. Great advice. My stomach hurts now.
Crystal
http://www.crystalspins.com
Crazy, crazy ads! Thanks for posting them!
Interesting post. How times have changed! I wonder how future generations will view our advertisements.
These advertisements are very degrading to women. They are very fun, though, because it shows how men dominated before. Thanks for posting! 🙂
How long until today’s ads look as silly as these? Probably a lot less than 50 or so years.
oh wow! this is a good one! Love what u did!
I think if people could get away with these adverts now, they would, but regulations and such prevent them from doing so. But they are still sneaky in putting enough chauvinistic sex into many adverts albeit in a more suttle way. Here is a good read on the same topic. Check it out: http://bit.ly/bataoF
These are so great! I’m sure my friends will enjoy these, but I can’t wait to show my history students. Great stuff!
Oh my goodness, these are wonderful and horrible! It’s like a history book for women’s lib. Thanks for posting them and congrats on Freshly Pressed!
Amy
Good god! The revolver one is just so wrong in sooooo many ways.
Interesting how many years ago cultural standards were the basis for many ads, especially products that were masculine. A sign of the times that made the consumer remember simply because they were living in such times.
I think people 30 years from now will look back at the ad industry of today and see how the use of technology has given way to overdone, sensationalized media that gives messages where most of us stop and say, “now what was that product being promoted”. Nothing creative about this approach. Thank Gieco for keeping it simple.
i like this post very much..
good old days~~
Did you see this?
Wow, those are crazy! Thanks so much for posting those.
Congrats on being Freshly Pressed!
Drive on,
– M.
Life changes, that’s what people forget…I’m not excusing anything but that’s why we can’t pay the price forever for slavery and for the holocaust…they were reprehensible but unfortunately they were done during a different TIME…by different people…history is history…the past is the past…just looking at these ads can make you shake your head in despair, to show a woman on a man’s lap ready to get a spanking,puleasee, if my husband even tried! and to see a child endorsing a cigarette, OMG! it was a different time…and people will say the GODD OLD DAYS! NOT!!
evelyngarone.com
I showed these to all my co-workers!
❤ "the harder the wife works, the cuter she looks" 😀
These are awesome. Some edgy young ad firm should start doing ads like this again.
Are you insane?
Ha ha, nice Lysol ads!
Things have changed a bit…
maaaaaan, thank god this ‘world’ has gone!
“Today, ads like these are offensive, irrational, chauvinistic, unbelievable.”
No more so than many of the ads that are published today. The only difference is the target of ridicule.
Uh some of those ads are funny but some of them are SEXIST
I’m glad those days are gone. I think it’s important to treat men as MORE THAN GUYS WHO NEED CIGARETTES AND BEER AND SEXUAL TOYS and women MORE THAN BUNCH OF SEXUAL TOYS
If we can’t respect ourselves as human beings with passion and intelligence then we have DESTROYED OURSELVES
ummm you do realise that in ads women are still often treated as sexual toys, only now they wear less clothes
This is great! It’s amazing how advertisements can help us understand the evolution of American culture. Thank you for sharing this.
http://ahersko.wordpress.com
It’s nice to have a good laugh. Thanks for posting!
Yeah.
A very refreshing look at yesteryear. Thanks
Blessings,
Ava
Congrats on your Freshly Pressed highlight
Fantastic post.
I was gasping the whole time.
Thanks for sharing these oldies but goodies!
lol
Amazing how times have changed!
It would be interesting to see how car ads will look 50 years from now.
These are absolutely priceless. And the sad thing is that I remember some of them. Yikes,just give that baby some beer!
No, the beer is for the mom and it helps to increase her breast milk production! It apparently works best if its dark beer.
Smiled when I saw your post. Those were good days. The negative emotions that some commenters stated is more evident today. Although not perfect the 50’s, folks would have to look for a dictionary to find-the meaning of?
I find myself with musical ditties of the 70s in my head, and enjoy torturing my children at the dinner table by singing, “You deserve a break today,” the Pepsodent song, or the Coca Cola “I’d like to teach the world to sing.”
Wonder what they’ll do to their own kids.
Can’t wait to share this. Thanks!
Mysogeny and willfully ingested carcinogens – it might as well be the dark ages.
Flipping awesome. I gasped out loud with each one. I totally want the one with the little girl and the revolver just to frame it and hang it on the wall.
Congrats on being Freshly Pressed!!
it’s nice,like it
So true! And we didn’t question them back then!
These are too good!!
wonder what we will say about today’s ads 50 years from now?
We have come so very far… LOL! But I have to say that I’ve seen chauvinistic behavior resembling some of these ads – so I guess not everyone’s evolved 😉
Hilarious! I have to show these to my sister and friends. They remind me of those joke ads in Mad Magazine.
The interesting thing about the Ronald Reagan add is that even though he (like most other movie stars at the time) was the face of Chesterfield cigarettes, it is said that he never smoked.
Particularly after his good friend Robert Taylor died of lung cancer, Reagan was anti-smoking.
Yes, I remember many of these ads; I also remember cigarette ads on TV. It just goes to show, you shouldn’t believe anything you see on TV. That is a large part of what is wrong with America today. Not enough critical thinking.
What a travesty! A gun for only $6?
haha! omg these are so ridiculous! I am so happy that I am a young woman today and not back then.
WHat fucking pigs!
I never thought ads looked as such in the “good old days.”
The visual designs of today are definitely way better than those featured here, but are way more offensive at the same time.
Thanks for sharing these!
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Congratulations on being featured on Freshly Pressed!
I think both of my parents were influenced by those ads. A sad commentary on how the media and advertising treated men and women and, unfortunately, it’s not that many years ago.
Thanks for helping us to reflect on how our advertising looks today. Wonder how they’ll be viewed by the next generation.
These are so interesting! Part of me feels thankful that we’ve moved past the point of view suggested by these ads. Another part of me doesn’t think ads today are any better. Have we progressed? I think not. We still portray health-damaging substance use as a social norm, and we certainly have not achieved true equality. Makes you think! Congrats on making Freshly Pressed :]
OMG, so funny. Certainly makes me glad to have been born when I was!
I’m not really sure that we’ve come all that far… Women are treated as sex objects in many modern ads.
I’ve seen some of these before, but they repetitive viewing has nil influence on their hilarity.
I love these! Fantastic to see the old day adverts! 😉 x
Man, I was born 50 years too late! The good old days of love, honor, and obey.
If I had a dollar for every time I’ve spanked my wife for buying the wrong coffee…
Awesome Post. Congrats on Pressed.
Chase McFadden
http://SomeSpeciesEatTheirYoung.com
We laugh at these because they’re from so long ago, but did you see the ad that Summer’s Eve created not more than a few months ago? I laughed about it, but there was public outcry and they pulled it. It was about asking your boss for a raise… make sure you’re fresh “down there.”
http://bit.ly/9dftho
personally , its nice to see white people in a ad. these days everyone portrayed is really dark and I feel very excluded by the media.
and it may not be PC to say this but it’s very true.You could also look at how many breast implants are shown in modern ads. Back in the good old days you either had em or you wore a padded bra. so we exchange one sin for another but don’t look at our own times.
you have got to be kidding
This is a wonderful representation of our culture. When these ads were created women were seen as unable to open ketchup. Now they’re apparently unable to find their clothing. Has advertising really changed that much?
I think you have done a wonderful job showcasing the absurdity of print advertisements. You have created a forum for questioning how our county views itself. I just hope people who view this post make that connection.
I wish you could have placed a year next to each piece. Also, are the quotes you used your own? They are wonderfully crafted. If they are not yours please attribute them.
Hilarious! Loved them all especially the little girl playing with the gun in bed lol!
’50s & ’60 ads very thought-provoking through the lens of 4 seasons of Mad Men.
But note closely the ad for the stand-mixer “The chef does everything but cook, that’s what wives are for!” That one is later – I would say as late as ’70s.
Love the baby holding a revolver.
The revolver ad is my fav. To think it used to be $6. How times have changed.
Feel free to check out my blog as well.
http://inspiremylife.wordpress.com
Other than babies in smoking ads, look at how little we have changed.
Great post!!! Talk about a “blast from the past.”
Ahhahaha! I laughed so hard with the baby and revolver one.
Good job, congrats on freshly pressed. You made my day.
http://ishotthepilot.wordpress.com
OMG. I wonder what was really in those vitamins. I knew about the beer thing, it was kinda, sorta encouraged if you were breast feeding. So glad some of those attitudes are now gone. Now I understand why people of that age acted and thought the way they do.
Actually, it’s still a good idea if you come at it from the right direction. If you’re not inclined to brew up your own barley water (refreshing and delicious), the de-alcoholized beers still have the malts without the objectionable BAC issues, and both help to at least keep up milk volume. I can’t speak to quality, but my son is thriving upon this sort of supplement at one remove.
Very entertaining. Thanks for posting these. So glad I wasn’t around in that era. Phew.
Very “interesting” advertisements. I recently wrote something about the marketing of cigarettes in and around baseball that is pretty much along the same lines.
http://t.co/ewlmGiI
My class just discussed the progression of women’s rights… This is very interesting. Though we have not completed the movement, it’s amazing how our mindset has shifted.
Since I like old stuff like this, some of it is a little surprising. But what’s really scary is that even though that’s where we came from, and all of us survived it, look how tortured and inflamed are the attitudes in some of these comments. Let’s not tell those sheltered people that all those industries are alive and well, and simply advertising where only their potential customers can see it.
Oh my gosh, Ronald Reagen lighting up, I’m assuming the ad was from his acting days.
Good article .. I like this article, very useful for me .. Greetings .. thanks for sharing .. 🙂
wow… i’m surprised… Funny. 🙂
love it. good old days!
yea i agree with you!
You mean a WOMAN can write it!
Good find, these are hilarious but it’s scary to think they were once acceptable! Whats MOST funny though is the few commenters who are actually offended by YOU for posting them… brilliant!
oh my god, nice post
One day people will look at the gross sexism of today’s ads and music vids with similar disbelief.
Coincidentally I made a retro Christmas music vid using many of these old ads which is at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cg1b2DtgmBY
Enjoy!
Those are great! This might also get you a chuckle:
http://www.bofads.com/stories/jobs.htm
I’m still laughing at those. HAHAHAHA!
Hahaha, definitely happy that some progress has been made in the Western thinking!
Haha, these are so funny/crazy! I’m glad the world has changed. I wonder what today’s ads will seem like in the future…. Congrats on getting Freshly Pressed!
These do make me laugh… it is like watching MAD MEN… it’s the trivial things that shock…lol… the attitudes, how they’ve changed in such a relatively short time..
This is very interesting… Yes the world kind of sucks now and bad things are happening everywhere but I’d say we’ve come a long way =)
You get to see ads like these in Bill Bryson’s book “The Life and Times of The Thunderbolt Kid”. It’s funny: back then, cigarettes were the miracle cure for everything.
Ah, but who would or could be foolish enough to think the old days can’t return?
Just watch the world run out of oil, and we’ll have to splutter along on many of the old ways we have just about forgotten.
A bicycle with be gold, as long as its tires (tyres) last, and do you remember how to thatch a roof, or make a cart wheel? Where are all the huge strong carthorses to plow with, how lost we will be without a cell phone. Can you remember how to plant potatoes, or skin a rabbit, do you know where to find good fresh water when your tap is dry ?
Hilarious! I love it. Promoting smoking via a Doctors endorsement! How times have changed….
i don’t think the attitudes have changed that much– at least back then they were honest and forthright– now people are afraid to say these things out loud for fear of being politically incorrect, but i’m sure many still hold these views
This is a good laugh for the day, thanks for sharing. Some of those I think would get slammed for now days especially by the women. Thanks
Oh my god… sexism, gun adverts, smoking adverts…. I wonder how people in the future will consider the adverts of today, and what’s not allowed to be advertised in the future.
The “If Your Husband Finds Out” ad is so appalling. I can’t believe that was ever OK!! Thanks for sharing. Good blast from the past.
http://simplysolo.wordpress.com
I remember the movie Mona Lisa’s smile when I read this post :). Those ads are crazy!
Great post – thanks for the laugh!! Congrats on being freshly pressed!!
I’m sharing this with everyone I know!!
thanks for giving me my giggle of the day!
I find that Chase & Sanborn ad a little sexy, I must admit. In a Secretary way.
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very nice photos. great post. thanks for sharing.
http://autospirit.wordpress.com/
I really, really want a cigarette now.
If only to look as handsome as that man in the ad
LOL this was HILARIOUS!
I really enjoyed seeing these old adds, talk about politically incorrect, LMAO. I showed them to my fiancé and she was ready to slap me. Thanks for the memories!!
http://politix101.wordpress.com/
Absolutely priceless!! Esp the vanHeusen’s and the camel ad. It’s a good thing that lawsuits and women’s rights were just coming up then. Looks like we have come a long way. Wonder what the future ads may turn out to be !!
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[…] Check out these ads from days gone by (and never to be repeated). Today, ads like these are offensive, irrational, chauvinistic, unbelievable. What will today's ads look like in a few years? Today's relevance is tomorrow's irrelevance. To lock ourselves into the spirit of the age is to become a humorous relic of the past. What is eternal is relevant. What is not eternal is eternally irrelevant! … Read More […]
[…] Check out these ads from days gone by (and never to be repeated). Today, ads like these are offensive, irrational, chauvinistic, unbelievable. What will today's ads look like in a few years? Today's relevance is tomorrow's irrelevance. To lock ourselves into the spirit of the age is to become a humorous relic of the past. What is eternal is relevant. What is not eternal is eternally irrelevant! … Read More […]
[…] – Ahh, the good old days… https://samshaw.wordpress.com/2010/10/27/ahh-the-good-old-days/ A post for fun, reminding us what our parents and grand parents had to […]
[…] Todd Young Ahh, the good old days… (via samshawonline) 31/10/2010, 11:31 pm Filed under: Uncategorized Check out these ads from days gone by (and never to be repeated). Today, ads like these are offensive, irrational, chauvinistic, unbelievable. What will today's ads look like in a few years? Today's relevance is tomorrow's irrelevance. To lock ourselves into the spirit of the age is to become a humorous relic of the past. What is eternal is relevant. What is not eternal is eternally irrelevant! … Read More […]