This Facebook Page Shares Funny, Interesting And Weird Vintage Ads And Commercials, And Most Of Them Hilariously Fail The Test Of Time
Interview With Author
It's no secret that the world has come a long way. In the past couple of decades, things have taken a completely different turn and have managed to progress to an unthinkable point.
Every time we take a stroll down to our nearest thrift shop, we get overwhelmed by all the things that have been orphaned by their previous owners. All these clothing items and pieces that were once accessorizing someone's home – hunting for vintage stuff is very inviting – plus, you get to give your new purchase a second chance at life.
Many of us, at least once in our lifetime, have wondered about vintage artworks, specifically those that were used for commercial purposes. Well, this Facebook group is dedicated to precisely that. The online community has 135K members and was made for people who "enjoy vintage retro ads, commercials & artwork," and Bored Panda has decided to gather a couple of its best posts.
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God, yes. Had some red ones like the picture. But damn if they weren’t incredibly popular.
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I nearly knocked my brother out playing with these, the rope was too long so my Father had to 'fix' them ... I bruised my knuckles so badly they were taken off me .... good times :D
I think the only thing lethal about those was losing your hair trying to pull them out :D
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Geezus those things bloody hurt. I think they lasted only a day in my family until everyone had a turn getting their knuckles bashed. Worst toy ever next to lawn darts. Would love to know who the geniuses were who thought either of those were a good idea for kids, or anyone for that matter. Toys? 👎🏻 Weapons?👍🏻
I still have mine. Yellow. Hard. Really painful when you mess up. LOL!!!
I'm looking at my pair of these right now (yes, the same orange color as well) & I have a pair of green ones. Could never make them go around in a circle the way the salesmen at the Fair did tho.
If you have green ones, you should take them to a doctor!
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I remember these. my brothers and i always got in trouble for dangling them between our legs like old man balls
They were fun! I used to wrap dish towels around my arms they got bruised so much! :)
Great way to get a concussion when you accidentally cracked your head with these bad boys
I don't ever remember hearing of them exploding. They were banned because you could crack a skull if it hit you in the head or a friends head. And they did.
Incredibile that US gov banned these balls and not the guns :)
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So are lawn darts. Good thing those games are illegal!!! Whew!
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Stuff in the 70’s wasn’t fun unless it had a 10% or higher mortality rate.
Imma leave this right here. I'm almost a 100% positive that there's kids out there that found mom & dads a**l beads and played with them thinking that they were this toy.
I don't think these are the Clackers Sir Terry had in mind.
These were fun right up to when you got popped by one of the balls in the wrist, head, nose/face, knocked out a few of my friends teeth! I'd love a pair n
I still own a pair from then. They are on the hooks in the kitchen.
Had Jarts as a youth - the real deal - pointed foot long darts that would stick in a tree - set one ring up in the front yard and one in the backyard and then would throw the jarts over the roof - somehow never impaled any traveling salesmen.
Hey, I had one of those! …Didn’t know how to use it, but you know. Didn’t think it would be dangerous. Of course, I was at the age when the world seemed like a giant bouncy house!
I had these in the 90's. Got them from a yard sale I'm sure. Never quite knew what they did but I liked how smooth the balls were. The string got all tangled up often.
This form of them got banned, however as recent as 1999 to 2001, there was a version of these where the balls were attached to a firm plastic cradle that looped around a plastic handle. I should know, I annoyed the hell out of my parents with them.
I loved these things! In fact I still have a set. I pulled them out about a year ago and they're just as much fun as I remembered.
The kid banging the drum never gets the headache -- those who played with these were those kinds of kids.
SORRY,I DON'T MEAN TO STEP ON A POST,BUT I GOT A VIRUS WARNING ON THIS SITE,SO I'M OUTTA HERE.
Well, yeah! I begged my Mom for these. They seemed fantastic! But, she was a spoilsport and worried about them spraying shrapnel. I mean! I was a KID! I'm almost sure I was SUPPOSED to get hit by shrapnel.
My first thought were lollipops, then cherries, then the...you know whats
Really? I remember getting these as a carnival prize in the early 90’s
My sister and I had these. We played with them for hours and they never broke.
You can still buy them online. I bought 3. Took 2 of them apart and used the balls to make a toy for my cockatoo and kept one to use as intended. Remembering their tendency to come off the string and go flying, I do not use the toy in my glass-filled living room; outdoors, only.
I mostly remember seeing them wrapped around overhead telephone or electric lines.
I still have them, but I have no idea where. It once belonged to my older cousin.
My Mom bought a huge basket of clackers at a junk shop back in the 1970's. Loose clackers that you had to string up yourself. We gave them out to all our friends in our neighborhood. You heard them day and night. My Mom sure did get some rude phone calls!
My dad made them for me and all the neighborhood kids. So fun, but painful.
I remember somehow crushing a fingernail between them... it was like getting smashed with a hammer. I lost my nail and it took forever to grow back.
Damn, I think I had these. I was born in '83. I don't recall them ever breaking.
They made a very satisfying sound if you could get them going without bashing your forearms!
I had a pair of Ka-bangers! I was pretty good at it but i dont know how many times i hit my wrist bones! Never had any shatter but fortunately that includes my wrists.
I remember these! They caused many an injury! For some reason the teachers at my school banned conkers but allowed these; they soon regretted that decision.
Almost knocked myself unconscious a couple times with a pair of these as a kid.
By the time I had some, they had perfected the plastic and so were unbreakable. Didn't stop the pain of a miscalculation where they hit you (or someone else) in the face, teeth, smashed fingers on other hand you weren't using, etc. Probably would have been safer to play with actual nunchucks.
They really banned because of how annoying they are...the rest is a cover story 😃
In the UK they were banned in the 1970's. Children kept smashing them onto their arms and wrists while playing with them, and had enormous bruises.
Ah, yes. The concussions, the bloody noses, the shrapnel dodging and it was about as easy to play with as ball in a cup. Good times...
I knew the toy they copied as conkers. Take two horse chestnuts (conkers) and drill a hole through each. Run a string through the hole and put a knot on the end to keep the nut in place. Once both are on strings, you take turns smacking the friend's conker with yours. The one that shatters first is the winner. Unlike the toy store version showcased in the museum there is no dangerous shrapnel when a conker shatters.
They were called wacky clackers and were free from Burger King. I still have mine. I thought they were fun. Took a bit to master, but I didn't think they were dangerous.
Bored Panda contacted the creator of the "Vintage Ads, Commercials & Artwork" Facebook community and asked him to tell us a little bit about it: "I want to thank you for the interest in the group. Basically, I started it because I felt like I was being restricted in other groups that didn't accept both printed and video ads; that pretty much made me take the decision to start my own one and run it the way I think it should, by having quality content regarding interesting vintage ads, commercials, and artwork."
The man then added: "I always enjoyed the ads I used to see as a kid in what were National Geographic Magazines from the 40s to 60s. I'm only 38 by the way, but honestly, I always had an interest in old things. I have always found them really interesting."
We've also wondered about the people behind the group: "I’ve got to say it was me doing it by myself for a while until the group grew and it was too much for me to handle by myself. I met people within the group who accepted to help me run it. At the moment it's only myself and a fellow group member but I must give credit to Sarah Conley for helping out so much at the beginning, until some personal issues forced her to step out as a moderator."
"I started the main page after the group, which has gained more followers so far. Getting real close to 185,000 last time I checked. Compared to the 135K members the group has. But obviously the group is where our members can share content. I found out that I wasn't the only one who enjoyed looking back at the past."
"The reason people are fascinated by the vintage stuff, I believe, is due to the fact that they want to relive some of their childhood memories and also just enjoy the history of these vintage products, services, etc. I have had so many people comment ‘I used to have that toy as a kid’ or ‘Dad used to have that car,’ also saying things like ‘I always wanted one of those.’ People have said so many nice things on the review area of my main page, like how it brings back so many wonderful memories,” said Edgar when BP asked him about the fascination around vintage things.
Lastly, the creator added: "It's important to remember the past and try to keep it alive by having an archive where maybe the younger generation can learn some history regarding advertising and what type of products were used in the past. Companies have come and gone but some are still going strong. Advertising also gives you a glimpse into society from the past and also what type of techniques of advertising worked back then. They can also analyze how advertising has evolved over time."
Taking a trip down memory lane to rekindle the past is a pretty exciting activity; whether you're snooping around your grandparents' stuff in the hopes of finding something fun or you're simply yearning to escape and experience a different kind of life – it seems that old-fashioned things will always hold a certain impression on us.
I was actually convinced these would work and nagged my Mother to get me a pair, needless to say she finally gave in. The first time I wore them I felt so scared as I thought I would see people as live skeletons ... it never happened .. and yes she refused to buy me Sea Monkeys which were next on my list :)
Maybe it's the fascination with advancement and the visible progression of things, or perhaps the unexplainable old-time charm that the items are holding. Whatever the reasoning might be, Bored Panda hopes that you've enjoyed this vintage collection provided by the "Vintage Ads, Commercials & Artwork" group.
The Maidenform Dream adverts were one of the longest running campaigns of all time. I just made a Reddit post a couple of weeks ago with a collection of the ads. Check it out! https://www.reddit.com/r/vintageads/comments/v484mq/i_dreamed_i_was_amaidenform_bra_ad_collection//maidenform_bra_ads_collection/
I don't know what this is for but I'm pretty sure you need drugs to experience it to it's fullest.
Pretty sure my cousins/aunt (who flew frequently to Hawaii and Tonga) had this poster in their house when I was little.
Well, jeez, Edith, what do you suggest? That the 8 year olds watch 60 Minutes instead? I treasure my H.R. Pufnstuf years - The 70s had the best Saturday morning TV programming for kids in American history.
Note: this post originally had 46 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
The lowest of the low was the tuna "pizza" and after that nothing was as shocking.
For this being about ads that didn't stand the test of time I sure saw a lot of ads that were similar to the current ads for the same product
Agreed - the primary ones that could be cast as questionable were for smokes.
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Both! I actually love tuna & pineapple pizza. Add some hot sauce and it's the perfect dinner 😅.
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Notice how everyone in these ads is so white they glow in the dark? Everyone else was ignored . . .
It isn't as though, not that we could, we can go back and rearrange history to make it a more appropriate time for the future. This was life then. It was accepted in society as more people were more ignorant about diversity. We learned and behave less (not nearly enough, but still less) like this now. It's ridiculous to choose to spend your worthy time being upset about situations you cannot change from the past.
Load More Replies... The lowest of the low was the tuna "pizza" and after that nothing was as shocking.
For this being about ads that didn't stand the test of time I sure saw a lot of ads that were similar to the current ads for the same product
Agreed - the primary ones that could be cast as questionable were for smokes.
Load More Replies... Both! I actually love tuna & pineapple pizza. Add some hot sauce and it's the perfect dinner 😅.
Load More Replies... Notice how everyone in these ads is so white they glow in the dark? Everyone else was ignored . . .
It isn't as though, not that we could, we can go back and rearrange history to make it a more appropriate time for the future. This was life then. It was accepted in society as more people were more ignorant about diversity. We learned and behave less (not nearly enough, but still less) like this now. It's ridiculous to choose to spend your worthy time being upset about situations you cannot change from the past.
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