Flashback Fifty-Nine

Last week I used the microfilm reader to locate an obituary from the April 1959 Clarion-Ledger. Not only did I find the death notice, I also stumbled upon these ads that tickled my funny bone.

 

This stuff is like magic! I almost want to try it myself. Not only was this wonder product completely harmless, it was also cheap, easy to use, and didn't fade. It's hard to believe Canute Water is not available at all drug stores anymore.

The Lamar Theater believed in covering all their bases; they were emphatically not responsible if one looked too long at the Gamma Ray Monster. "Vicious, hideous love-killers" are pretty scary, y'all. (IMDb claims that First Man into Space isn't half bad.)

I do believe that I found the forerunner to Spanx. I wish I could read the free picture booklet, though. I'd love to find out how wearing the RelaxAcizor was fun and healthful.

Don't forget to give us a call when you need help tracking down old newspaper items. I love an excuse to pore over old microfilm!

This Book is Grrreat!!

We have recently acquired The Great American Cereal Book: How Breakfast Got Its Crunch by Marty Gitlin and Topher Ellis and have since been delighting in cereal nostalgia! Cereal was originally made with laxative properties, but turned towards marketing to children following WWII. Presweetened cereals made their appearance on television, with the help of cartoon characters and popular sitcoms, during the late 1940s through the 1960s. Health-conscious cereals made a return during the 1970s, and both types of cereals now live harmoniously on our grocery store shelves today.

We thought we would delight you with some fun cereal facts! While some of these had very interesting flavors, they unfortunately did not have a very long shelf life…

• Surprize – Created by Kellogg’s, this cereal hit the shelves in 1957, but the date in which it was taken off the shelves is unknown. It was known as the “first brown-rice flaked cereal” (168).

• Caramel Puffs – This cereal, created by General Mills, was supposed to be a variation of Cocoa Puffs with “caramel-flavored corn nuggets” (108). It was not well-received and lasted a year on the shelves from 1959-1960.

• Wackies – Created by General Mills, this cereal stayed on the shelves from 1965 to 1966. It was composed of “frosted oats and banana-flavored marbits [marshmallow bits] in various shapes” (175).

• Cornados – Created by General Mills, this cereal stayed on the shelves from 1966-1967. It was composed of “cone-shaped corn and rice” (110).

• Ooobopperoos – Created by Nabisco, this cereal stayed on the shelves from 1972-1973. It was composed of “blueberry-flavored cereal” (212).

• Sir Grapefellow – Created by General Mills, this cereal stayed on the shelves from 1972-1975. It was composed of “grape-flavored oat rings with sweet-grape starbits [star-shaped marshmallow bits]” (220).
• Crunchy Loggs – Created by Kellogg’s, this wood-themed cereal stayed on the shelves from 1978-1979. It was composed of “sweetened corn and oat logs” (195).

We saved the best for last!

Ad found in The Times-Dispatch on March 13, 1903

Ad found in The Scranton Tribune on September 8, 1902

Tryabita – Created by Tryabita Cereal Mills, this cereal hit the shelves in 1903, but the date in which it was taken off the shelves is unknown. It was the first (and possibly only) celery-flavored cereal.

Do you have a favorite cereal from your childhood? Or perhaps you have had the opportunity to try one of these unusually-flavored cereals? We'd love to know!

Gitlin, Marty and Topher Ellis. The Great American Cereal Book: How Breakfast Got Its Crunch. Abrams Image: New York, 2011. Print
The Times-Dispatch: http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85038615/1903-03-13/ed-1/seq-3.pdf
The Scranton Tribune: http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84026355/1902-09-08/ed-1/seq-2/

Fred Who? Fred Meebo!



Who is Fred anyway? Could this man be Fred?

 A curious Meebo patron asked us if the Fred who appears in the Fred's SuperDollar commercials is the eponymous Fred who started the discount retail chain. After a little digging, I am saddened to report that he is not. I found an article from 2010 that states:

Besides changing the faces of hundreds of Fred's stores, the company is changing the face of Fred himself. Well, sort of.
The company revived a 1990s "Fred" character for new in-store promotions and on-site events. The new Fred is a neighborly, older gentleman. However, much like the "Wilson" character from "Home Improvement," Fred hides his face somewhere between his fishing hat and cardigan sweater.

I did learn one neat nugget. Fred's began life in Coldwater, Mississippi in 1947. How's that for Mississippi entrepreneurship?!

Oh, Mother, Look--A Lady Angel.

Elisabeth found this awesome ad while looking through some microfilm last week. I wish the quality were better, but that’s just because I’ve become spoiled by the 21st century. But could the 21st century bring us this?



Only in a John Waters movie!

The text is smallish, so here are the highlights:


Return Sensational Match
You Must See Horror Face
Tonight at 8:30 PM
City Auditorium – Jackson, MS
Out of This World Comes the Only One Alive

LADY ANGEL
WORLD’S UGLIEST GIRL WRESTLER

The Lady Angel, Only One Alive
THE ONLY GIRL BALD-HEAD COMING FROM EUROPE
THE HORROR-FACE—SHE MAKES WOMEN FAINT,
CHILDREN CRY, OH MOTHER LOOK—A LADY ANGEL

I’m going to have to do some research and come back with a longer post about the Lady Angel, but a quick search revealed this photo is available on eBay:

Filthy Fly!

This post originally appeared 3/19/2008.

Maybe it's because she has an eye for such things, or maybe it's because I always make her search the microfilm, but Elisabeth has found yet another funny advertisement from the Purvis, Mississippi newspaper The Booster, sometime from 1928:

This reminds me of the "Cluckin' Chicken" restaurant commercials on Saturday Night Live. Click here to read a transcript of the commercial.

No More Summer-Heat!

This blog post originally appeared 1/30/2008.

In doing some research on early Vicksburg companies, Elisabeth came across In and About Vicksburg: An Illustrated Guide Book to the City of Vicksburg, Mississippi. It was originally published in 1890 and was reprinted in 1976.

Besides having lots of information on city government, churches, reports of war aftermath, and poems, the back section is chock full of advertisements. While many are amusing -- G.W. Hutcheson Grocery Company, for example, were dealers in "staple and fancy groceries"; Graham, Clark & Riggs were wholesale dealers in "apples and Irish potatoes" -- this fantastic new invention is truly the star of the show.

Please don't miss the excellent copy along the right-hand side:

No More Panting, Sick Children to be Fanned!

I plan on ordering mine today.

Beware of Insane Persons Meddling With Your Land!

This blog post originally appeared 12/17/07.

Blair found this fantastic advertisement from 1953 while searching for some information in the Clarion-Ledger:

Was this once a problem? I am intrigued!

Wisdom from Life

I love shoes. I think most women like (love) shoes. I’m always keeping an eye out for those new shoes that would be perfect with my wardrobe. I recently saw a pair at Nine West that I have been tempted--so tempted--to buy.

And then, I saw this:
It was prepared by the War Advertising Council and appeared in the June 5, 1944 issue of Life Magazine. The War Advertising Council was founded in 1941, and is now known as simply the “Ad Council.” The War Advertising Council campaigned during WWII to encourage Americans to buy war bonds and do other things to support the war effort, including conservation of money and resources.
They are also the ones responsible for Rosie the Riveter, Smokey the Bear, McGruff the crime dog, and Vince and Larry, the crash-test dummies. They now have campaigns that cover all types of issues, such as energy efficiency, lifelong literacy, and cyber bullying prevention. To learn more about the Ad Council, visit http://www.adcouncil.org/

This particular ad grabbed my attention right away. I thought it was very interesting, especially when you consider the state of our current economy. When I was younger, I watched my grandmother take a piece of used aluminum foil, wash it off, dry it, and put it in a drawer. I thought that was so strange! I had never seen anyone do that before.

What I didn’t realize at the time was that my grandmother, who grew up during the Great Depression, learned to conserve from a very young age. She continued to do so even when she was 80 years old and had plenty of money to buy more aluminum foil.

While I will probably never be one to start saving pieces of aluminum foil, I can definitely learn from the actions of my grandmother and others who lived through the Great Depression and WWII. To them, conservation was a necessary part of life. It was a responsibility that they gladly carried for themselves, their families, and their country.

The ad in Life Magazine is a little snapshot of the history of our nation. But the more I think about it, the more I think that it applies to my life today.

I guess that those multi-leather Nine West flats with the cute little buckle will just have to wait. At least, for now.

References:
"United States War Message." Advertisement. Life Magazine 5 June 1944: 111.