As a collector of and dealer (now retired) in vintage children’s books and
ephemera I assumed this would be an easy challenge. Wrong! I found lots of old
adverts but few that filled the brief, hence I've gone with the best I could
find.
The first one comes from the back cover of The Band of Hope
Annual published in 1910. The Band of Hope was a temperance organisation for
working-class children, founded in Leeds in 1847. All members took a pledge of abstinence,
and meetings usually began with the recitation of a catchy little pledge that began
- I promise here by grace divine to drink no spirits, ale or wine.
The Band of Hope Annual
There are several interesting adverts in the annual,
including one for Dr. Hommel’s Haematogen Nerve Tonic (highly recommended by
thousands of doctors – beware of worthless imitations) and another for Quaker
Oats (millions of children eat Quaker Oats every day). But the one that really caught my attention
was this one for Wood Milne Rubber Heels – the boy in the picture looks as
though he’s enjoying the beating from his Grandpa – and why not - Wood
Milne Rubber Heels relieve shock and save nerve jar!
I had to take a second look at the following image to work out just what the dog has in its mouth. I’m not sure this advert would persuade me to purchase Sphere oval-octo suspenders. I can’t think of anything more embarrassing than having the band stop playing while I search for a dropped suspender. I prefer my undergarments to be firmly fixed thank you, and by the way - if Sphere never fails why is my suspender on the floor?
The image is not signed, but I suspect it could be by G. E. Studdy as the dog looks very much like Bonzo.
Advert found in Weldon's Ladies' Journal December 1931.
G.E Studdy's Bonzo looking remarkably like the dog in the previous advert.
I struggled to find any adverts for carts and only one
with a picture of a horse – this from Photo World published in August, 1945.
In Turf accountancy, demand for an account with William Hill meant closing our books to new accounts, in war-time, owing to shortage of staff. Happily the position is changed and this is a personal invitation to you to enrol with William Hill.
William Hill (Park Lane) Ltd
Start as a client - you'll FINISH as a friend.
That’s me finished, but you’ll find lots more vintage adverts over at
Sepia Saturday
Sepia Saturday
Hi Barbara, All interesting stuff.
ReplyDeleteWhat better to do on a wet Tuesday than dream of suspenders and..................
I really must pull my socks up!
I thought that might tickle your fancy! Thanks for commenting John, it means a lot.
DeleteI love old advertisements and I'm glad I stopped by. Happiest of New Years to you and yours and may your undergarments stay firmly in place. :)
ReplyDeleteHello Eve, I’m glad you stopped by too. My undergarments are quite secure thank you, but I am getting a little elderly so I do have to check from time to time! Happy New Year, Barbara xx
DeleteThe cover of the vintage book is so appealing and I had to smile at the suspenders advert.
ReplyDeleteHi Sue, glad you enjoy it. Thanks so much for your comment, Barbara
DeleteWhat a fun collection of ads. Grandpa beating the kid with his shoe would pass for child abuse today. As far as personal items like garters and suspenders go, today nothing is too personal to advertise.
ReplyDeleteHello Wendy, everything is upside down now to how it used to be. Beating children was perfectly acceptable but showing ones under things was not. It’s a crazy world. Thanks for stopping by.
DeleteIt all makes perfect sense now - I could only see two of your images on my iMac, but on my iPad and my husband’s PC they are clear and bright. I wonder if anyone else had this problem. A very enjoyable post.
ReplyDeleteHow very odd, I do hope it’s not a problem for anyone else. I can understand why you were confused it can't have made any sense with missing pictures. Thanks very much for all your help, Barbara.
DeleteI did enjoy the spenders ad and the likeness to the dog in the second ad is uncanny!
ReplyDeleteThanks Georgie, glad you enjoyed it. Barbara
DeleteI especially like the rubber heels ad.
ReplyDeleteMe too!
DeleteSuspenders, garters - I remember them well. I was just entering the working world when mini-skirts became the rage, but pantyhose had not yet caught up with the fashion. Trying to keep those garters & the tops of our nylons covered up when we sat down in those mini-skirts was a real challenge!
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DeleteWhen I left school I used to cycle to work wearing – you guessed it – mini skirts. I can only image the sight I made peddling along trying to hold the skirt down just far enough to cover the top of my stockings. It was a case of holding the handlebars with one hand while pulling first on one side of the skirt and then the other. Trousers were not really the thing for a young woman in the 60s. It was all mini skirts, back combed hair and thick black make-up around the eyes – very Dusty Springfield.
DeleteAh...the perfect match with the rubber heels. Wonderful.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteYou match the brief to perfection. What a collection you have. Some wonderful illustrations. (Which, by the way Marilyn, all appeared perfectly on my iMac)
ReplyDeletePraise indeed, thank you Alan. I'm happy to hear the post worked OK on your iMac – I would have no idea what to do if it didn’t.
DeleteYou have reminded me that I have several old ladies journals that have wonderful advertisements in them. My challenge early on was scanning the fine pages and getting shadowing from what was on the reverse side of the page. I'll have to revisit that project. Thanks for the inspiration!
ReplyDeleteGosh, I haven’t done anything as scientific as that (as you can probably tell), I’ve simply photographed them, warts and all. Thinking about it, I agree it’s a good idea to scan magazines but not so easy with books. I would be afraid of breaking the spines. Thanks very much for your visit. Barbara.
DeleteWhat DOES that first dog have in his mouth?
ReplyDeleteHi Deb, it’s not all that easy to see in the image, but it’s actually a suspender (the bit that attaches the top of a stocking to a garter belt or corset).
DeleteLove your collection of old advertisements and the interesting commentary with them.
ReplyDeleteThanks Liz, and thanks for visiting, Barbara.
DeleteAn enjoyable post. My grandmother was in the Australian Temperance Society and kept her promise to abstain from alcohol. They always seemed to use such bright colours and interesting drawings.
ReplyDeleteI love the rubber heels advertisement too!
The book in this post is really interesting and the cover is certainly bright, so I agree with you on that. I think our grandparents had a lot of ‘moral fibre’ and when they decided on something, they stuck to it.
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed the ads. Barbara.
Well done on this post Barbara. What a beautiful horse Nearco was and shame a few children cannot have a shoe across their backsides!
ReplyDeleteHello Sister, thank you for your always encouraging words. Nearco was a magnificent beast and very successful according to the Internet. Your comment about the shoe made me smile and made me think of the old saying about sparing the rod and spoiling the child.
DeleteCannot imagine the little boy - who looks like Pinochio to me - enjoyed his spanking because it was done with a wonderful shoe! What an odd way to advertise a heel.
ReplyDeletePerhaps it is Pinochio and not a little boy at all – that could explain why he’s smiling. :-)
DeleteI suppose the rubber soles hurt less than a leather belt? Still not smiling time to my mind. The cover on The Band of Hope Annual is beautiful. The colors look bright even after all these years.
ReplyDeleteHello Nancy, I'm sure that’s what we are supposed to think, but I don’t believe it for a second. I'm happy to say I've never been hit with either a belt or a shoe, but I'm willing to bet they both hurt!
DeleteA lot of great photos to contribute. I doubt the little boy is glad he is getting a spanking with a shoe, but it is a cartoon.
ReplyDeleteI think you might be right there, but as you say it is a cartoon.
DeleteI had trouble getting past the memories of suspenders. I think they should give a Nobel Prize to the person who invented Knee Hi s. From Supsenders to pantyhose to Knee His. A good post.
ReplyDeleteThanks for making me smile! I’ve given up on suspenders, pantyhose and knee-highs in preference for a nice pair of woolly socks!
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