Monday, March 31, 2014

1958 - It really is a long time ago!

We have two friends here who do some work for a company that comes into peoples' homes to help them organize their remaining belongings in preparation for an estate sale.  Usually people are downsizing to a smaller living space or perhaps it is the family clearing out a house for their deceased parents.  They always get a front-row seat on some interesting items for sale.

Most recently they worked in two different places that had LOTS of books to sell.  After the sale was over, they agreed to take all of those books back here.  We would go through them one last time, bring anything good to the public library, and sell the rest at our Historical Museum Flea Market sale this summer.  Yes, there are now 60 boxes of books in our garage, but not for long...I'm sure...

What caught my eye today was an old issue of Ladies Home Journal from August 1958!
I love seeing things like this to get a small glimpse into how we lived back then.  I was 5, almost 6, how about you?  This would have been a couple years before those early 1960's years from the TV show, Mad Men.

Right away in the first couple of pages was this ad for "Avon's popular fragrances...now in spray cologne."  Persian Mist, Cotillion, To a Wild Rose, and Here's my Heart.  I think I remember the last two on my mother's dresser.  

And this ad?  It's hardly changed a bit since 1958!  Just the baby has changed.

Even Norman Rockwell got into the ad game back then.  

I don't think we ever had French's Barber Pole Franks at our house.  Those "barber poles" are made with biscuit mix (Bisquick), back before we had Pillsbury crescent rolls to do about the same thing.

Yes, look what gas IS doing now!  A gas refrigerator and it makes ice??  First of all, I didn't know you could have a gas refrigerator and I never had one that makes ice until just two years ago!  

Some 1958 styles...

And you, yes you, could make ALL FIVE of these stylish outfits from one Vogue pattern!  

A slice of cheese and pimento ham loaf...on white bread - so 1958!

This might be why I'm not a big fan of marshmallows to this day!

One of the feature articles was about the very young Rev. Billy Graham, written by his mother-in-law!


In case you can't read the recipe, the ingredients include: lime gelatin (gelatin, not Jello!), tuna fish, cottage cheese, celery, onion, radishes and mayonnaise.  Now where did I put my jello molds!

This one really surprised me!  Who ever thought there would be the father in an ad for diapers? But on a closer read, it's because the father is the one who built the baby's world and he would ONLY choose the best diapers for him/her.

And here's actress and dancer, Cyd Charisse, selling us Lustre Cream shampoo.  I always wanted to make my hair look just like those ads!

And, finally, this was a little 2x2 inch ad in the far back ad pages of the magazine.  Maybe if we had all been using more olive oil in the last 56 years, we would all be a lot healthier!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And I'd call this two inches of progress!  And maybe it's even more progress that it's pouring down rain now.





2 comments:

mm said...

Interesting. I was actually looking through print ads from 2013 and 2014 for my media literacy unit. Perhaps I'll add some of these.

John Robert McFarland said...

One of the ads back then advocated to women, "Be a bright little wife, use Alcoa wrap." Even had a little jingle. I still sing it to Helen once in a while... when she can't hear me.