Advertisements from 100 years ago

[Asimovian]

In the course of a work project, I discovered, to my surprise, that I had online access to scanned images of every single LA Times newspaper from the mid-80s all the way back to 1886. Of course, I've squandered away a bit of time since then, perusing the paper from my birthdate, the birthdate of friends and family, etc. And then I decided to see what things looked like in the paper 100 years ago today.

One of the best things about this access is that, in addition to the news stories, I'm also able to look at all the ads that were in the paper. Yes, I'm a giant dork for finding this all so amusing, but so be it.

Anyway, I just wanted to share the text of my favorite ad from April 25, 1907 regarding the best-named product ever:

The only form of food made from wheat that is all nutriment is the soda cracker, and yet--the only soda cracker of which this is really true is

Uneeda Biscuit

The only soda cracker scientifically baked.

The only soda cracker effectually protected.

The only soda cracker ever fresh, crisp and clean.

The only soda cracker good at all times.

5¢ In a dust tight, moisture proof package.

NATIONAL BISCUIT COMPANY

[cher3]

Back when I was a student in Cambridge, MA in the early '80s they still sold those at one of the local groceries.

[Marlitharn]

When I was a kid my local library had issues of the local newspaper going all the way back to the 1890s on microfilm. I used to spend hours just browsing through them. I remember being fascinated by the ads for corsets.

[The Lovely Margo Lane]

I've been reading through and cataloging images from a collection of Steiglitz' Camera Work magazine for a museum internship, and I've been loving the ads. Here's one from the first issue, January 1903:

IT WOULD BE FOLLY
to present the readers of Camera Work
anything but A PERFECT PRODUCT

we are pleased to present to your notice

[i]ANSCO PLATINUM[i]
A pure platinum-paper of high degree.
Made under perfect conditions.
Sold at a reasonable price.
...

THE ANTHONY & SCOVILL CO.
122-124 Fifth Avenue, New York
Atlas Block, Chicago
U.S.A.

[all caps and italics preserved]


First of all, dig that wonderful pompus wording- shades of Plumtree's Potted Meat, and secondly, the 'readers of Camera Work' didn't even exist when the ad copy was written- a clear attempt at self-fulfilling prophecy, huh?

[tomndebb]

Uneeda Biscuit, still available, now as Gourmet Food

[Kalhoun]

Originally Posted by tomndebb

Uneeda Biscuit, still available, now as Gourmet Food

But of course! They're good at all times!

[Sampiro]

VD and premarital/extramarital sex ran rampant during the Civil War. In some regiments more than half the men were infected with a STD, sometimes fatally, and unplanned pregnancies were also very common. The advertisements from this period are absolutely fascinating- read any issue of the NY Times from the war years and you'll see constant advertisements for

Dr. Quackenbush's Tonic: a tincture of mercury and wine that will cleanse you of embarassing ailments. $2.50. Will be delivered in an unadorned brown package.


Madame Viola is a friend to women who need her services for uncomfortable and private matters related to their gender. She is able to restore the body to harmony from obstructed cycles with safety and certainty. She is located on 34th street atop Henderson's Hardware.

Mrs. Macadams assists married ladies of good character only in the restoration of natural cycles and with the treatment of disease obtained from their husbands in the war.

Dr. Potentate's Asian Elixir is guaranteed to restores harmony using ingredients known to the Chinese and Mahommetans for thousands of years. This miraculous potion purges all from the system included barriers to menstrual regularity and rashes and other embarassments to the countenance borne of exposure to the ill. Send $4.00 to **********.

Absolutely fascinating. Without saying "get rid of unwanted pregancies" or abortifacient or "cure gonorrhea without your husband finding out", they manage to say exactly those things REPEATEDLY in the same issue- sometimes there are three or four whole columns of these ads. The scary thing is that there was no such thing as the FDA at this time to oversee these patent medicines or a Health Dept. that licensed people "removing obstructions to female regularity" there's no way of knowing how many women died or were rendered barren or just got violently ill and were out $5 in addition to still be pregnant or syphiletic due to some truly immoral or incompetent.

[Lissa]

Originally Posted by Sampiro

Without saying "get rid of unwanted pregancies" or abortifacient or "cure gonorrhea without your husband finding out", they manage to say exactly those things REPEATEDLY in the same issue- sometimes there are three or four whole columns of these ads.

You can see these same "cures" in the 1897 Sears Catalog (available as a reprint.) The wording is intentionally vague, especially in comparison to the lengthy ads in which the pills claim to cure a wide variety of ailments. One which springs instantly to mind is a small ad for "ladies' pills". If you take the instructed dosage, "all will be well."

I'd imagine a lot of these later ads were so carefully worded to avoid running afoul of the Comstock Laws.

[carnivorousplant]

Originally Posted by tomndebb

Uneeda Biscuit, still available, now as Gourmet Food

But is it Kosher for Passover?

[Hypno-Toad]

Here's a retro take on phones. Wouldn't you like to show these people a Motorola?

[saoirse]

This is the first time you've heard of the brand? Perhaps you recognize some of this old-school rap:

3rd Salesman:
Why it’s the Uneeda Biscuit made the trouble.
Uneeda, Uneeda
Put the crackers in a package,
Uneeda Biscuit in an air-tight sanitary package
Made the cracker barrel obsolete.
Charlie:
Obsolete, obsolete
4th Salesman:
Cracker barrel went out the window
With the mail pouch cut plugchawing by the stove.
Changed the approach of the traveling salesman,
Made it prettyhard-
Charlie:
No it didn't, no it didn't, but ya gotta know the territory.

[TheLoadedDog]

Originally Posted by tomndebb

Uneeda Biscuit, still available, now as Gourmet Food

Customers who bought items like this also bought

The Ultimate Guide to Cunnilingus: How to Go Down on a Woman and Give Her Exquisite Pleasure (Ultimate Guides Series) by Violet Blue

Tuna dip and crackers?

[tashabot]

The newspaper I work for recently, within the past few years, inherited bound copies of the paper from over a hundred years ago. Amazing to look at.

Also amazing...we have this section called Pages from the Past. The guy who did it did it from the 1940's until a few months ago when he died. His children do it now. A snippet from this day out of the Appeal from 120 years ago, 100 years ago, 70 years ago, 50 years ago, 20 years ago and 10 years ago is put in. I have to format them and get them ready for the paper. Amazing to read; about 120 years ago there was a huge Anti-Chinese sentiment that's fascinating to read about.

The ads, of course, were interesting. To say the least.

~Tasha

[NajaNivea]

When I was a kid, I wrote a school report on the erecting of the Statue of Liberty. I went to the local library where they had our small town's newspaper on microfilm going back to the very first issue in the early 1800s to see if there were any articles in the paper when it was built. I found what I was looking for, but even better I found a full-page ad for a circus along these lines. It was a gorgeous thing with all kinds of intricate animals and grand text. I wish I'd had a way to copy and print it, it was pretty awesome.

[Asimovian]

A couple of coworkers have now asked me to find something interesting from 100 years ago on a daily basis. I think I'm going to enjoy this!

Originally Posted by tomndebb

Uneeda Biscuit, still available, now as Gourmet Food

Huh. That's significantly more than five cents. I wonder how that compares with inflation.

[IrreverentTone]

Here they are at a more reasonable price. I'll bet tomndebb's link was for a case.

[athelas]

I love how old ads have huge blocks of text. I wish ads today would have a bit more actual wordage, rather than just shiny pictures.

[Sternvogel]

Although the Jordan Motor Car Company is long gone, this ad for the Playboy roadster lives on as a classic. Although it's full of text, it also heralded the transition from the selling of the product to the marketing of a carefully-crafted image.

[ZipperJJ]

Anyone ever see any ads touting a product filled with asbestos or lead? Those would be cool to see

[LonesomePolecat]

Originally Posted by ZipperJJ

Anyone ever see any ads touting a product filled with asbestos or lead? Those would be cool to see

I have several thousand MP3's of old radio shows. It's downright eerie to hear radio advertisements talking about which brand of cigarettes is recommended by four out of five doctors.

[Kalhoun]

Originally Posted by LonesomePolecat

I have several thousand MP3's of old radio shows. It's downright eerie to hear radio advertisements talking about which brand of cigarettes is recommended by four out of five doctors.

I can remember my doctor examining me while I was smoking in a hospital bed! Aaaah...those were the days.

[Mr. Moto]

Originally Posted by ZipperJJ

Anyone ever see any ads touting a product filled with asbestos or lead? Those would be cool to see

Not cool.

WHEN THE FIRE ALARM WENT OFF, IT TOOK TWO HOURS TO EVACUATE NEW YORK'S WORLD TRADE CENTRE.

When life depends on it, you use asbestos.

[Annie-Xmas]

Originally Posted by Mr. Moto

Not cool.

[mobo85]

Originally Posted by Mr. Moto

Not cool.

I seem to recall reading that if the World Trade Center had been lined with asbestos, it wouldn't have been destroyed. Of course, all of the people would have had breathing problems, so it's a lesser-of-two-evils thing.

Also, if you don't realize what they're trying to say, "asbestos contains fire" is a rather strange statement.

As for Uneeda Biscuits, they're still being sold. They're on the shelves at the store I work at for substantially less for $24.

James Lileks has a number of old ads from his place of employment, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, on his website with his typical humorous commentary.

[Max Torque]

Originally Posted by ZipperJJ

Anyone ever see any ads touting a product filled with asbestos or lead? Those would be cool to see

I'd have to go through my attic to find it, but....when I came into some 1950s-era comic books through my grandmother (used to belong to my mother), I found some mighty amusing stuff in them. One was a little health quiz thing that mentioned "the new wonder drug, cocaine."

[mhendo]

If you want to see a really great collection of old advertising, check out the website for the Hartman Center at the Duke University libraries. Of particular interest is Ad*Access, a collection of advertisements from 1911 to 1955, and Emergence of Advertising in America, which has stuff from 1850 to 1920.

Here, for example, is a 1926 ad for Kotex .

And here is a WWI ad for S.S. White toothpaste, which compares American teeth with the teeth of America's British allies.

[RealityChuck]

The Uneeda Biscuit?

But he doesn't know the territory!

[Lissla Lissar]

There was a wonderful ad in a reproduction 1902 Sears catalogue. It was for "Pure Spirits of Turpentine- for Internal or External Use!"


The whole medicine section was scary and hilarious. There were a lot of Electrified Health Gadgets, especially belts and insoles.

[Capt B. Phart]

I've wasted much time at The Insitute of Official Cheer

[Baker]

I collect issues of the National Geographic magazine. I always want the full issue, not the ones where the covers and ads are stripped off, leaving only the articles. Ads are great.

From May 1912:

An ad touting the Cunard shipping line. One of the ships named is the Lusitania.

The 3A Folding Pocket Kodak, for $20.00

An Around the World Cruise, on the Hamburn American ship S.S. Cleveland. Trip lasts 110 days, prices starting at $650.

[Philster]

For all our 'progress', you can find ads today for magnetic shoes, writst bands that help you lose weight, pills that lengthen still unmentionable parts of the male anatonomy, and even homeopathic ointments and meds that are some of the most recognizable ads and products on the market.

And Hypno-Toad, that old phone booth (http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b1...ndom/Attad.jpg) might be something we all wish was marketable now!

[Hypno-Toad]

Originally Posted by Philster

And Hypno-Toad, that old phone booth (http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b1...ndom/Attad.jpg) might be something we all wish was marketable now!

In some cities, that would be considered a good size apartment. And a very fancy one, at that. I love how the ad explains the advantages of the telephone. It blows me away that there was a time when it couldn't be taken for granted that a person would just know.

[Asimovian]

I've continued perusing the ads from 100 years ago today. Amazing what was acceptable back then as compared to today. |LINK|

[plnnr]

If only our lady Eve were here.