Stereotypes and 1950s advertising

TonyHiggins · Post by **TonyHiggins** » Mon Mar 27, 2006 12:04 am

I remember watching Champion, the Wonder Horse. I was living in Dublin in 1963 when it was on. When I saw the post, I remembered the theme song (the part where he draws out, "Championnnn, the Wonnder Horse!") . I checked out the mp3 at the site, and yep, that was it. But, I don't remember any of the plots. I also recall Rin Tin Tin was pretty cool. In the very early '60's there was a circus show hosted by Don Amiche that I lived for on Friday nights. Elephants, spinning plates, acrobats. Unbelievable stuff. We had to be in our pajamas, teeth brushed, bathed, ready for bed before we could sit and watch. Never was late for it. That was in Toronto.
Tony

pop · Post by **pop** » Mon Mar 27, 2006 12:14 pm

I had forgot the words too,here ya go courtesy of cynth`s link

Like a streak o' lightening flashing cross the sky

Like the swiftest arrow whizzing from a bow

Like a mighty cannon ball he seems to fly

You'll hear about him everywhere you go

The time will come when everyone will know the name of

Champion the Wonder Horse

Champion the Wonder Horse

thanks cynth i come over all warm n fuzzy checking out that link,cant beat a bit of nostalgia i reckon,now n again

gonzo914 · Post by **gonzo914** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 7:35 am

Cynth wrote: This is from James Lilek's fabulous website.

Lets not forget the Gallery of Regretable Food, which is my personal favorite Lileks work.

Or Interior Desecrations

The Story of Bread

And these's even something for the ladies-underwear-and-celery-fetish set.

There's so much interesting stuff on this site that you can't get through it all in just one workday. It will take you all week -- something to do when the boss goes on vacation.

Flyingcursor · Post by **Flyingcursor** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 8:09 am

That's one of my all time favorite web sites.

Of course stereotypes are still rampant in advertisements they've just changed a little.

Cynth · Post by **Cynth** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 4:00 pm

pop wrote:I had forgot the words too,here ya go courtesy of cynth`s link

Like a streak o' lightening flashing cross the sky

Like the swiftest arrow whizzing from a bow

Like a mighty cannon ball he seems to fly

You'll hear about him everywhere you go

The time will come when everyone will know the name of

Champion the Wonder Horse

Champion the Wonder Horse

thanks cynth i come over all warm n fuzzy checking out that link,cant beat a bit of nostalgia i reckon,now n again

I love to come across things I loved when I was little. I'm glad you got all warm and fuzzy

!!!

Cynth · Post by **Cynth** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 4:07 pm

gonzo914 wrote:
Cynth wrote: This is from James Lilek's fabulous website.

There's so much interesting stuff on this site that you can't get through it all in just one workday. It will take you all week -- something to do when the boss goes on vacation.

I just love those Art Frahm pictures. I don't know why. That website is great and Lilek's comments are genuinely funny. I heard him on the radio, and he is very funny in person too.

emmline · Post by **emmline** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 6:34 pm

gonzo914 wrote: Lets not forget the Gallery of Regretable Food, which is my personal favorite Lileks work.

There is no book from which I've gotten more laughs.

Cynth · Post by **Cynth** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 7:02 pm

I think this section may not be in the book, but it is called "The Unbearable Sadness of Vegetables":

It's really a strange one.

Cynth · Post by **Cynth** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 8:22 pm

Well, it might not exactly be advertising but there was also the outer space thing. I wasn't very interested in outer space although you heard stuff about it all the time. At the website called Dreams of Space there is a wonderful collection of pictures from children's books. Before 1957, when the Sputnik went up and panicked the US, they seem to be more imaginary. After the Sputnik, the books seem to be more realistic (and less fun, in my opinion).

1949.Ley, Willy. Paintings by Chesley Bonestell.
The Conquest of Space . (book jacket)
Apparently this was the first children's book
on outer space. Or at least it started the trend.
1950. Fenton, Carroll Lane. Illustrated by M.A. Fenton. Worlds in the Sky.

1951. Illustrated by Bill Lacey. The Young Adventurer's Pocket Book of Space Travel.
1953. Thompson, Jeff. Out of This World: An Activity Book Based on Space Travel.
1953. Frost, Francis. Pictures by Paul Galdone. Rocket Away!.

1954. Illustrated by Ron Embleton. The World of Space.

1954. The Boy's Book of Jets.

1954. Authentic Book of Space.
1955. Kepps, Gerald. Illustrated by Branton, NFI and Teece, I. Adventures in Space.
1956. The Space Kingley Annual.

1957. Beeland, Lee and Robert Wells. Illustrated by Jack Coggins. Space Satellite: The Story of the Man-made Moon.
1958. Nephew, William and Chester, Michael. Illustrated by Jerry Robinson. Moon Trip: True Adventure in Space.
1958. Branley, Franklyn M. Illustrated by Leonard Kessler. A Book of Satellites for You.

1958. Wyler, Rose. Pictures by Tibor Gergely. Cover by George Solonewitsch. Exploring Space.
1959. May, Julian. Illustrated by Richard Loew. Show Me the World of Space Travel.
1959. Gallant, Roy A. Illustrated by Lee J. Ames. Man's Reach Into Space.
1959. Hyde, Margaret O. Illustrated by Bernice Myers. Off Into Space!.

scottielvr · Post by **scottielvr** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 8:40 pm

Wow, Cynth, you've outdone yourself here. Fun stuff.

The Willy Ley book with illustrations by Bonestell was a classic; I remember reading it when I was just a pup, and finding it inspiring to my dreamy geeky imagination... Bonestell was a superb illustrator, and anyone who was into sf in their youth remembers him fondly.

The other books...well, not so much. That "Moon Trip" cover is especially dastardly. No one would want to go to the moon if it looked like curdled cottage cheese covered with fragments of canned French's onion rings.

Cynth · Post by **Cynth** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 9:06 pm

You know, I'm sure I never read a single book about outer space. I actually feel the same way now. I just don't have the least interest in it. But I love the artwork in these books. I did like the Jetsons, although they didn't come along until the '60's.

It is interesting that quite a few of those books had girls participating in the adventure as well as boys. A few were just boys. After 1957, it seems as though the space explorers were men (presumably because at that point men had really gone to space) and boys, and not so many girls. That's just based on a quick scan though.

Unfortunately, the website just has the cover of the book illustrated by Bonestell. I'll have to see what I can find elsewhere. The cover is really beautiful. I like the Moon Trip cover!

It looks more friendly than those cold metal spaceships. And the drawing just to the right of it is very unusual as well. It doesn't really look like an illustration for a children's book. It looks like a picture for grown-ups to me. I like it a lot.

cowtime · Post by **cowtime** » Wed Mar 29, 2006 7:27 pm

I've got my great aunt's copy of this woman's book- pretty scarey-

Also, along the same lines- I was cleaning a table that belonged to my husband's grandmother and found that it had a secret drawer. Inside was a "advice" book from the 20's that told how to catch a husband !
My girls and I had a lot of fun with that one.

Cynth · Post by **Cynth** » Wed Mar 29, 2006 9:55 pm

Was that the medicine that had a lot of alcohol in it? It seems like I heard a lot of women were overindulging in it. That may just be a story though. But the ad is scary alright. To think of all the things that could go wrong that no one could fix. I'm happy to be living now!

Charlene · Post by **Charlene** » Thu Mar 30, 2006 12:04 am

cowtime wrote:I've got my great aunt's copy of this woman's book- pretty scarey-
... snip ..

Being too lazy to get out the Irish Rovers album with this on it, I copied the words from http://www.thebards.net/music/lyrics/Li ... Pink.shtml But I've put the words that are different from the Rovers version in red and added words the Rovers used that this version doesn't in green.

Here's a story, a little bit gory,
A little bit happy, a little bit sad,
Of Lily the Pink and her medicinal compound,
And how it slowly drove her to the bad.

Meet Now Ebenezer, thought he was Julius Caesar.
So they put him in a home.
And then they gave him medicinal compound,
And now he's Emporer of Rome.

We'll drink a drink a drink
To Lily the pink the pink the pink
The savior of [the savior of] the human race.
She invented medicinal compound.
Most efficacious in every case.

Meet Johnny Hammer had a t-t-terrible s-s-stammer.
He could b-barely hardly say a word.
So Then they gave him medicinal compound,
And now he's s-s-seen, but never heard.

And Freddie Clinger, the opera singer,
Who could break glasses with his voice they said.
So on his tonsils he rubbed medicinal compound,Rubbed his tonsils with medicinal compound,
And now they break glasses over his head.

And Mr. Frears, who had sticky out ears.
And it made him awful shy.
So they gave him medicinal compound,
And now he's learning how to fly.

And Uncle Paul, he was very small. He
Was the shortest man in town.
So on his body he rubbed medicinal compound,
And now he's six foot, but it's underground.
Rubbed his body with medicinal compound,
Now he weighs only half a pound.

Lily died and went up to heaven.
Oh, All the church bells they did ring.
She took with her medicinal compound.
Hark the herald angels sing.

////////////
And if I messed up on the words I'm sorry and I will do penance by listening to the album tomorrow -which I will probably do anyway since now the song's stuck in my head and it's my own fault!

WARNING: The following could be construed as talking about a medical condition, so you may leave now: Having gone through menopause and still getting hot flashes (because the estrogen patch didn't agree with me), I do find that a glass of wine at night helps the hot flashes, so maybe the medicinal compound really did have something going for it!