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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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 :)
I had the sea monkeys. They were absolutely real and alive! Sea monkeys were actually krill.
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As a child, I had never noticed the skeevy "I can see through her clothes" vibe to this ad. Ew.
I remember. I know sea monkeys were real....OK, just brine shrimp, but still. But what did anyone actually see with the X-Ray specs? I always wondered.
A friend of mine ordered this, when they had the boney hand. Turns out it was just super-cheap eyeglass frames with the spiral pattern as stickers on them, and a thin plastic (not latex) glove with bones printed on it.
I remember these ads but they showed a guy looking at a woman and seeing thru her blouse to her bra. I always wondered how the x-ray specs knew to stop after the first layer of clothing and not go all the way down to the bone. These specs were sold right next to the "I was a 98 pound weakling" ads, and the googley eye glasses.
The original X-Ray Specs in this ad were plastic frames with printed cardboard inserts with circular center cutout windows. The cardboard inserts were double layers sandwiching a small flattened bird down feather in those windows. Looking through the tiny-ribbed feather structures broke your view into slivers and slices and reduced solid outlines into fuzziness surrounding a more solid perceived center core. Yes you could look at a fuzzy leg and "see" a "bone" because the feather distorted solid outlines into narrow cores but you really had to go along with the premise to see even that. I was nine when I learned that deconstructing and reverse engineering such a promise-filled and wondrously enchanted product can be a cold scientific disappointment but I still figured it was better to know since I never paid the dollar for them at the joke shop. They weren't mine.
Same here, I got the Sea Monkeys later and for the life of me I couldn't figure out where they were living. So I dumped it down the toilet. It was much later I learned they were brine shrimp! Talk about a disappointed kid!
I was so disappointed when I found out that they didn't work after I had saved my dollar seriously a lot at that time for a kid, and the wait for snail mail for them to come through for them to be just a big disappointed.
I currently live in the next town over from Lynbrook so I think I'm going to go there and see if I can find this company
I researched Honor House years ago, even wrote to the Chamber of Commerce. The company is long out of business, but at that time on Google street view there was an old brick warehouse-looking building at an address associated with the company (not sure where I found that)... but that's probably about 10 years ago. If I lived that close I'd be curious too 😊
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I bought the $1 spy camera. Used it in 64 when LBJ came to town campaigning. Never did develop the film.
Yep, the adverts on the back of my comics had this ad, which I fell for...I also fell for the ''Seebackascope''
Technically, yes, but it's a weird gray area with the letter H. With indefinite articles in English, one usually relies on the pronunciation of the subject in the sentence. "A" for vowels and vowel-sounding consonants, and "an" for consonants and consonant-sounding vowels is the general rule of thumb. As such: "A cat", "a dog", but also "a unicorn" vs. "an unicorn" because the U in Unicorn sounds like a consonant ("you-nicorn" vs. "oonicorn"). And "an egg", "an idiot", but also "an honor" and "an hour" (as these words are generally pronounced "onner" and "ow-er" - vowel sounds!) So, many times, words that start with H are pronounced with a vowel "sound" at the beginning (e.g., honor and hour as aforementioned.) Historically speaking, many times H words in English were pronounced with little or no "H" sound - but the words have changed in accepted pronunciation over time and we DO pronounce the "H" sound in modern day. An example of this is the word "Historic" (continued)
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The “an” before an hilarious optical illusion is pissing me off more than is really necessary
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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