Skip to main content

Vintage Ads From A Simpler Time - That Are Sexist As Hell

In a previous post we covered retro ads from a simpler time that were among the creepiest I've ever seen. (Click here to see that post) Let's now take a look at some ads that were done in a time when it was considered a man's world and women were here only to serve men, be a perfect wife, do all the house work, try not to do stupid things and always be fresh and pretty regardless of what they were doing.

We all know that not only does such a Utopia not exist (I'm kidding ladies) but in retrospect, the people behind the creative direction of these ads really missed the mark not only conceptually but the ad wording (or copy in technical terms) is just plain awful. Clearly, these ads were designed by men, written by men, sold by men and bought by men.



"Husbands admire wives who keep their stockings perfect." I love how this ad implies that being married is no reason for a woman to let herself go and should always look her best. Especially since the guy took the trouble to put on a suit and tie to read the paper while she knits. What's going through his mind? "What's this? A run in Jane's stockings? Could I have married the wrong woman?!? How many more years before divorce becomes an acceptable society norm?!?!?"


You really don't need to read beyond the lead line to know where this ad is going. The copy goes on to say that the beauty photographed in the picture is "stacked and endowed" with the most refined developments for culinary perfection. I'll bet it is. Of course they are talking about the appliance but the double play on words is typical for the ads in the late 60s and early 70s.


So to recap, in the 70s, cooking was what wives were for.........and they better not have a run in their stockings while they are cooking and whatever they knit better not be in weird colors damn it!

Forget Victoria's Secret or a day at the spa - if you want your woman to look better, simply give her more to do around the house. Oh, she also needs vitamins apparently.


Thank god Delmonte made a ketchup bottle that woman could open when their men weren't around. Although how the heck is she supposed to open the mustard and relish? Were women condemned to have ketchup as the only condiment option when their men weren't around? The woman in the ad looks so shocked and thrilled she's liable to start putting ketchup on everything. Why? Because she can!!!!!



Apparently men were too stupid to operate Telex machines back in the day but they sure knew how to hire sweet operators. By the way, the price for the glorified word processor in the picture started at $6800. To contrast, I'm pretty sure my toaster has more processing power and it only cost $28 and it wasn't even a sale!


Newflash - if you have 14 fingernails, a dirty oven is the least of your concerns. You'll never get people to stop staring and good luck finding a decent pair of gloves. Also note the puke green color of the oven that was actually a very popular color for appliances at one time. Although I think they called it something nicer than puke green. Having said that, judging by the content of these ads, you never know.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Evolution of the Coke Bottle

There is no logo in the world that is more recognizable than the Coca Cola company's flagship product. Coke and its classic bottle design are a symbol known all over the world. It's gotten to the point you don't even need to have the word Coke in an advertisement as long as the distinctive bottle shape is there somewhere in the image. The classic shape has evolved over the last hundred years and has gone from a rather boring square shaped bottle to the curvy silhouette it now maintains. Below is a timeline picture showing the changes over the years . The shape is also responsible for designers of other products to be inspired by the sexy elements of the bottle, most notably  car designers. there are many examples but one of the best is the 1968 Corvette. The evolution of the bottle continues with many commemorative issues produced for various promotions but one of the latest trends was the availability of metal bottles as well.  There is no doubt the bottle will...
Post a Comment
Read more

Retro Heatwave Video of the Day - Hot In The City

People say that relentless heat can mess you up in many ways. It can make some people nauseous, dehydrate you, give you a headache, make you drowsy or in some cases, it destroys your ability spell ! I'm not bying itt thoughh. I thunck thets a lode of crips.  Yup, it's been a pretty hot one this week with temperature records being broken, hydro grids being strained to the limit and people with air conditioning suddenly having friends over unexpectedly. You can actually buy a raw steak and cook it on your dashboard during the drive home.  While some would say this heat wave is a result of global warming, others say it is the coming of the end. I just think it's a great excuse to hear a great summer retro classic !  
Post a Comment
Read more

Saturday Morning Kids Programs We Actually Watched

When you try to tell your kids that back in the old days certain things were better you can usually make a decent argument. For example, you could play outside without fear of smog, nobody you knew was alergic to peanuts and you could walk out of a store with a handful of gum and candy that would last you the whole week for a quarter. Some things aren't as easy to defend such as Saturday morning kids shows. Sure we had classics like Looney Tunes (before they got all censored and polically correct), the Flintstones and Scooby (before Scrappy) and of course Josie and Pussy Cats but let's look at some live action shows that you likely watched as a kid in the 70s either because nothing else was on or you actually liked it though secretly you wished the Jetsons were on again. Ark II Nobody really remembers this until you show them the picture of the jacked up RV and they suddenly vaguely recall seeing it. The other reason they likely don't remember is the fact it only aired one...
Post a Comment
Read more

Retro Mixtape of Love - A Cassette Retrospective

Ever find yourself getting upset that your current mp3 player can only hold 1200 songs or that the battery is only good for about three days on a single charge? I can't say that I feel your pain. Reason is I grew up before we starting storing our songs on memory chips. Back in the 70s, 80s and better part of the 90s, society had to get by with the cassette tape. This miracle that followed the 8-track and reel to reel concept allowed people to record their vinyl albums and put only the songs they really wanted all onto one handy, dandy portable medium just slightly larger than a cigarette pack. That was pretty tiny in those days. You could record up to 120 minutes of your favorite tunes on one single cassette. It allowed you to create the perfect blend of tunes to keep that party going or to offer up as a token of your love to that special someone with groovy titles like, "Midnight Love Mix Pt1" or "Fantasy Voyage of Love". With the proliferation of audio cas...
Post a Comment
Read more

R.I.P Randy "Macho Man" Savage (1952 -2011)

Sad news today from the world of professional "real" wrestling. Randy "Macho Man" Savage died tragically after suffering a heart attack while driving his SUV in Tampa, Florida. His wife, who was in the car with him, only suffered minor injuries. Randall Mario Poffo held twenty championship titles during his professional career and along with Hulk Hogan was one of the primary drivers behind the success of the WWF and bringing professional wrestling to the mainstream. He brought a unique style to the ring along with his raspy voice and trademark "Ohhhh yeaaah" and took full advantage of the marketing machine that was the WWF (now the WWE) and became one of their biggest stars. In typical wrestling form, he shifted side many times during his career going from bad guy to good guy making and breaking various alliances along the way and was "managed" for most of his career by his wife Elizabeth Ann "Miss Elizabeth" Hulette who died of a...
Post a Comment
Read more