# What the oldest television commercial you remember? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** commercials-ads\ **Created:** [July 17, 2005, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-oldest-television-commercial-you-remember/312900 "2005-07-17T20:35:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![ColonelDax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@ColonelDax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ColonelDax)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-oldest-television-commercial-you-remember/312900/41 "2005-07-18T13:05:45Z")
Also, do any other mid-Atlantic dopers remember [Gino’s](http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/jsf0864/page1.html) and its “Everybody goes to Gino’s 'cause Gino’s is the place to go” commercials? ---
**Author:** ![DrMemory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/977dab/32.png) [@DrMemory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrMemory)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-oldest-television-commercial-you-remember/312900/42 "2005-07-18T13:20:50Z")
Lessee… There was the Norelco Razor ad that ran with the “Rudolph” special every year at Christmas. It featured elves using elictric razors as sleds and have a grand old race over small hills. That poor poor Maytag repairman (Jessie White) …“The Loneliest guy in town”. Madge telling yet Another customer that “Youre Soaking in it” :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Uvula\_Donor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e19adc/32.png) [@Uvula\_Donor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uvula_Donor)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-oldest-television-commercial-you-remember/312900/43 "2005-07-18T13:45:23Z")
> [@Jeffro](#): > > I remember that old Virginia Slims commercial from 1970? > > You’ve come a long way baby to get where you’ve got to today… I don’t specifically remember the ads, but the jingle will be forever stuck in my head: _You’ve come a long way, baby To get where you’ve got to today, You’ve got your own cigarette, now baby, You’ve come a long, long way!_ Not _at all_ condescending, hmmmmm? ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-oldest-television-commercial-you-remember/312900/44 "2005-07-18T16:35:52Z")
> [@fiddlesticks](#): > > Mine are probably the Hostess ads that ran along with the Charlie Brown specials on CBS. > > Mmmm…Zingers! [nitpick]Those were Dolley Madison, Hostess’s arch enemy![/nitpick] ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-oldest-television-commercial-you-remember/312900/45 "2005-07-18T16:38:18Z")
…but now that you mention Hostess, remember Twinkie the Kid, Fruit Pie the Magician, et al? And then there were the Malt-o-meal commercials with the talking stomach: “_Marvin! This is your tummy speaking! It’s lonely down here. I want Malt-o-meal._” ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-oldest-television-commercial-you-remember/312900/46 "2005-07-18T17:22:25Z")
> [@KarlGauss](#): > > And, of course, could I ever forget: “I want my [Maypo](http://www.tvacres.com/admascots_markymapo.htm)!” Oh yeah–Maypo!!! _That_ may be my earliest. And it just jogged loose the memory of the Mr. Bubble ad. (“Madam, how do you do!” “Operator! There’s a man in my bathtub, operator!”) And a bank ad with live bunnies, sung to the tune of “Pop Goes the Weasel” (“Get more, get more, something something, _Coast_ Fed-er-al Savings!”) ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-oldest-television-commercial-you-remember/312900/47 "2005-07-18T17:55:14Z")
Choo-Choo Charlie for Good n Plenties. My sister and I use to line up the chairs and make a train for our stuffed animals just like he did. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-oldest-television-commercial-you-remember/312900/48 "2005-07-18T18:05:36Z")
> [@Spavined Gelding](#): > > We got a TV in 1948. It was a six inch Crossly. With a booster on the aerial we picked up Chicago, maybe Detroit, on the back side of Columbus. We got a TV so that my father could watch the Thursday Night Fights (brought to you by Gillette razors) and the Firestone Hour where real New York opera singers appeared weekly and peddled automobile tires. If there’s anybody reading this who had a TV _before_ 1948, I would love to hear about it. **Doug’s First TV Spot:** Stereotyped Italian guy with big mustache making that pinchy-finger move and yelling, “Mama mia, that’sa somea spicy sauce!” Circa 1969. Product forgotten (perhaps Ragù?) ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-oldest-television-commercial-you-remember/312900/49 "2005-07-18T18:13:23Z")
I vividly remember a Mr. Bubbles ad. I’m sure it was animated by the same people that did Mr. Magoo, and the ad had somewhat the same premise. A little boy is taking a bubble bath while his _extremely_ nearsighted grandma supervises. He uses the bubbles to make himself some long dog ears and woofs at her. She says, “Finky! How did you get in there?” and puts the “dog” out. He runs back in with a derby and makes himself a long bubble beard, puts on the derby and says “Madam, how do you do?” She freaks, thinking there’s a strange man in the bathtub and starts to call the police. He says, “Grandma, it’s me!” She goes back into the bathroom where he’s in the tub tossing an inflatable fish around, and she says “So it is! and you’re so clean your mother won’t know you!” Then she grabs the fish, kisses it, wraps it in a towel and takes it away to put it to bed. As you can see, I remember every detail of it. It was funny as hell and I wish I could see it again. ---
**Author:** ![vibrotronica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a9a28c/32.png) [@vibrotronica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vibrotronica)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-oldest-television-commercial-you-remember/312900/50 "2005-07-18T18:38:29Z")
I remember a Kenner commercial for the original line of Star Wars action figures, which would have been around 1978. I also remember commercials for “Gee Your Hair Smells Terrific!”, but a I’m not sure if that was earlier or later. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-oldest-television-commercial-you-remember/312900/51 "2005-07-18T18:48:40Z")
I remember a white knight racing down a residential street and he’d touch someone with his lance and something would happen to them, maybe they’d become brighter? I’m thinking it was in B&W and was for Ajax bleach but it was sooooo long ago. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-oldest-television-commercial-you-remember/312900/52 "2005-07-18T18:59:14Z")
I remember the “Gillette Cavalcade of Sports”, sponsored by Gillette (of course) and that the ads involved a parrot. Oddly, the sport being cavalcaded was always boxing… Hijack alert! There are many pieces of classical music that will forever be associated in my mind with commercials. Like _1812 Overture_ always makes me sing “this is the cereal that’s shot from guns”, or the Triumphal March from _Aida_ is “just look…29 elephants loaded with Golden Grain…” and _Vesta la Giubba_ is always sung with lyrics “No more Rice Krispies…” ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-oldest-television-commercial-you-remember/312900/53 "2005-07-18T19:17:00Z")
There’s a handful, and I don’t know which one was first. A crude animated show called _Winky Dink_ that sold a plastic overlay kids could put on the screen and draw along with the character. “Trouble, drainage trouble in your home? Call Roto-Rooter right away, and away go troubles down the drain!” Little robot children with doors on their bellies would open up and drop in a bowl of Kix. Dinah Shore, singing, “See the USA in your Chevrolet.” Some comedian/host introduced the new Plymouth. The camera zoomed in to the emblem on the front, which they had fiddled with. It spelled **PLYOMUTH.** Primetime ads were often live. A female celebrity introduced a new refrigerator with a door that would open either way. It wouldn’t open at all, on live TV! ---
**Author:** ![BMax](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bmax/32/4267_2.png) [@BMax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMax)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-oldest-television-commercial-you-remember/312900/54 "2005-07-18T19:28:08Z")
Mr Owl, how many licks does it take to get the the tootsie-roll center of a tootsie-Pop? ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2005, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-oldest-television-commercial-you-remember/312900/55 "2005-07-18T19:29:40Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > I remember a white knight racing down a residential street and he’d touch someone with his lance and something would happen to them, maybe they’d become brighter? I’m thinking it was in B&W and was for Ajax bleach but it was sooooo long ago. They’d turn blinding white. Er, I mean their clothes would. The people already were. “New Ajax laundry detergent is **stronger than dirt!** ” ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2006, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-oldest-television-commercial-you-remember/312900/56 "2006-12-29T06:56:20Z")
Eve cigarettes, the ad featured a woman laying on a giant cigarette. Even as a little kid, I thought it was a stupid ad. ---
**Author:** ![lowbrass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dc4da7/32.png) [@lowbrass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lowbrass)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2006, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-oldest-television-commercial-you-remember/312900/57 "2006-12-29T08:08:51Z")
“Johnny Smoke”, a creepy anti-smoking ad. [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3rq3gdlAaE) And the crying Indian anti-littering ad. [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1MYY-IQ_yU) And: What walks down stairs, alone or in pairs and makes a slinkity sound? A spring, a spring, a marvelous thing! Everyone knows it’s Slinky. It’s Slinky, it’s Slinky, it’s fun, it’s a wonderful toy. It’s Slinky, it’s Slinky, It’s fun for a girl or a boy. And: You can make it go fast You can slow it down Watch that wheel going round and round Wheel-o, Wheel-o Whee! it’s a lot of fun (or something like that) ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2006, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-oldest-television-commercial-you-remember/312900/58 "2006-12-29T10:38:44Z")
Another one from Howdy Doody in the early 1950’s – Buffalo Bob sang it: Royal – Pudding! Rich rich rich with flavor, Smooth smooth smooth as silk, More food energy than fresh, whole milk. Royal – Pudding! > [@](#): > > **marque elf** : It involved a chorus line of dancing cigarette packs with very shapely legs. A pair of those legs belonged to Grace Kelly. > [@](#): > > **Spavined Gelding** : …the Firestone Hour “If I could tell you of my devotion, if I could pledge all my love to you, then my confession would find expression in all the something something…” ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2006, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-oldest-television-commercial-you-remember/312900/59 "2006-12-29T13:18:50Z")
I remember one with an Italian man named Aldo who looked like Avery Schreiber and lived like Hugh Hefner, with women on each arm and the finer things in life. I have no idea what the product was, but every commercial ended with the Schreiber-alike saying “Ciao, bella!” ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2006, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-oldest-television-commercial-you-remember/312900/60 "2006-12-29T14:53:29Z")
My favorite from the '50s was for Ipana toothpaste, featuring Bucky Beaver, “Brusha-brusha-brusha. Here’s the new Ipana.” You can see the commercial in the movie “Grease.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-oldest-television-commercial-you-remember/312900.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-oldest-television-commercial-you-remember/312900.md?page=4)