so, in case you didn’t know, i am kind of obsessed with vintage memorabilia. mainly because i wish i were alive in the 1950s.

i found an amazing site called plan59 that has TONS of old vintage ads. it was so hard to select from this massive pool of archives, but i chose some sample prints that really capture the essence and style of this time period.

So light they almost fly!   |   Puffin Biscuits, 1956

kohler bathroom

Dial Soap, 1956   |   Winnie Fitch
Corn Products Refining Co., 1946this is here mainly because it looks like cara’s nephew, Z. Bisquick, 1952
Out of the kitchen comes a potent firefighter   |   Mathieson Chemicals, 1951
Woodi Ishmael  (1914-1995)

How High Fashion Came to Eye Fashion   |   American Optical, 1959hope you enjoyed!

Seasons greetings from 1948:

Mr & Mrs Acilius

As we head into the Christmas season, here are some brightly colored images from the 1950s and 1960s. 

Christmas 1960

That’s quite a deep horizon above.

Beer Ad

Beer for Christmas?  It must have sounded like a good idea in 1948.

Thanksgiving Day 1953

 This ad is for Ballantine rum.  Evidently if you had enough of that, you wouldn’t need to worry about keeping warm.

Shocking Discovery 1959

Relax, lady, it’s just a snowman. 

Nash 1946

I wonder why Nash ever went out of business- apparently people would bring you gifts if you drove one of their cars. 

1952

It doesn’t matter if your Christmas tree is too big for your house or if it’s too small for the woods.  You can celebrate anywhere.

If you haven’t looked at the site plan59, you should.  It stocks galleries of advertising art from the 30s, 40s, 50s, and 60s, most of it very bright and colorful.  Looking at it is very refreshing, like doing situps in the office.  Only better, because you don’t have to worry about whether the floor is clean.  Some representative selections below. 

1960 Pontiac Bonneville Sports Coupe

Street scenes like this one above are favorites. 

Republic Steel 1936

Notice the deep horizon here. 

1957 Mercury Colony Park

And of course life among the upper crust.  Love those foxhounds!  

1941 Fargo Express Pickup Body

This guy looks like he’d rather be in a Socialist Realist painting than selling trucks for The Man.  He’s mad about something, that’s for sure.

1960 Dodge P300

The truck isn’t the first thing I look at in this picture, or even among the first ten things.  Is that guy really delivering milk, or is he an undercover man of some sort?

Yakima Chief Evaporated Apples, circa 1940

Political incorrectness is not far to find. 

There’s a blog on the site. 

The Brewers Foundation 1949

They documents efforts like this to introduce Americans to the idea of drinking beer while watching TV.  Advertising industry, you have succeeded!

Dunbar Furniture, 1958

After the USSR launched its Sputnik satellite in 1957, many people formed the idea that mankind’s future lay in outer space.  Here, we see the appropriate sofa to sit in while on the surface of the Moon.  Presumably the beer and TV set are still in the lunar module.   

Good eating

One of their most popular galleries is titled “demonic tots.”  This little boy  from 1952 is a prime example.

As always, mad props to Plan59.

You can see more here, and here.

Thanks to Plan59 for the source images.  Text added by me.

Goed bezig, Crembo.
Misschien is dit een ideetje?

(Via via)

Just havin’ a little fun and created some captions to these wonderfully retro Christmas images I found on a cool website, Plan59.  Click on the thumbnails to see them full size (trying to save file space).