Alvin Silver Bridal Rose Pattern

I love to hear from my customers. As each piece of paper goes out the door I wonder what drove the buyer. What was the charm? the connection?

Sometimes I am lucky enough to get a little note to let me know. I woke up to this one:

Dear Beth, I have been collecting Alvin's Bridal Rose silver for decades. My parents inherited three pieces. .When that was left to me, I fell in love with the pattern. I knew that one day, I would find an antique ad. My husband & I are very grateful to you for helping us add the missing link to our collection!!! Gorham owns the molds for Bridal Rose now, & sometimes you can get some pieces. The serving pieces are very expensive. I am glad I am not looking for them now.

The Alvin Silver Manufacturing Co was founded during the latter part of the 19th century. The original headquarters in 1886 was located in New Jersey. The company was known for manufacturing not only fine sterling silver flatware but also for hollowaare and toiletware. In 1895 the company relocated from New Jersey to Sag Harbor, NY where it began manufacturing popular silverware based on historical patterns..

Introduced in 1903, "Bridal Rose" by Alvin Silver is an exquisite art nouveau pattern that features a rose in full-bloom at its tip with crisp, detailed leaves and stems running the length of the handle. With its elegant, detailed ornamentation, "Bridal Rose" quickly became one of the most popular turn-of-the-century patterns after its introduction. During its prime, the "Bridal Rose" pattern comprised a full line of over 180 different pieces.

And of course more silver ads are available at The Old Ad Store

Fairies, Imps and Elves in Vintage Advertising

Many old ads featured little fairies, imps, and elves. Some were funny and many were beautiful or whimsical. You can find these ads at The Old Ad Store

Here is a very pretty ad for Fairy soap with Fairies riding bumblebees from a November 1899 Harper's magazine.

The ad reads: The Fairies bring their choicest gift.

Pears' had a similar themed ad in 1898 that has three winged babies bringing the soap. But are they angels, fairies or cupids?





Elves and brownies were used by illustrators to advertise
soap. Here is a cute ad from Punch magazine. Some of these would be very cute silk-screen on to hand towels don't you think?

I've gone to the Dogs!

It had to happen. My most unusual sale to date...decorating a dog house. Well, a "boarding bungalow". How much fun was it to find ads for this doggy day care? Lots. I got to visit the location, decide on brands and breeds and play with this dog.

Could your business use a little vintage advertising? Probably, and here is the place to fine it:
The Old Ad Store

Elgin Watch Ads

Another watch that interests me (and a lot of others) is the Elgin. I just posted this ad to the left last night. This is one of the Elgin Wonder Tales series and features General Frank Taylor US Army, retired with his Elgin watch story. It is noted that General Taylor chased Sitting Bull and fought the wily Filipinos.

Elgin was founded in 1864, as the civil war was coming to an end. The first watch Elgin made, an 18 sized B W Raymond railroad grade watch, was finished in 1867 and over the next 100 years, they went on to produce about 60 million watches. Elgin produced their first wristwatch around 1910, leading most other American watch companies by many years.
Elgin was originally called the "National Watch Company". The name never really stuck and in 1874, they changed their name to the "Elgin National Watch Company" because most of the watch trade and public were calling them "watches from Elgin". The ad to the right is from an April 1870 issue of Harper's Magazine and shows the company name as National Watch Company. The ad is for the Lady Elgin.

On May 20, 1869 the First Lady Elgin made its appearance and was the first of a series of 10 size movements and it was also key wind.

There are many web sites about Elgin watches. One of my favorites is: The Elgin Watch Collectors Site.

Here are my ads:

Need a Nickle for the Soda Machine: Vintage Vending Machine Ads

I have some new friends in the ad collecting business and they are avid fans of Soda Pop Vending Machines! They have taken kindly to my web site deovoted to the soda industry: THE SODA SHOPPE VINTAGE ADS on eCrater.

As always when I meet "virtually" new customers, I become interested in their interests. I have discovered some beautiful sites for those interested in collecting, restoring or enjoying antique vending machines.

The Antiquities Vending Co has been in business since 1989. They have beautiful graphics on thier site.

Another great site for those interested is Soda-Machines.com

Vintage Advertising Schlitz Beer With Vitamin D!

UPDATE: Vitamin D in Beer?  Yes, Schlitz did it! Keep your summer health by drinking this beer. Mom! Forget the Milk I'm having a beer!

Do you think Joseph Schlitz ever thought there would be a magazine devoted just to Beer? I think he would be a subscriber to Beer Advocate or All About Beer.

Three magnficent beer families in the United States: Schlitz, Budweiser and of course, Coors. This week Schlitz.

The Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company was founded by Joseph Schlitz, who came to America from Mainz, Germany in 1850, at the age of 20. In 1856 he took over management of the large brewery owned by the recently deceased August Krug. Two years later he married Krug's widow and changed the name to the Joseph Schlitz Brewing Co.

Schlitz died May 7, 1875, when on a return visit to Germany; his ship hit a rock near Land's End, Cornwall, and sank.

On June 10, 1982, the Joseph Schlitz Brewing Co. was acquired by Stroh Brewery Company of Detroit, Michigan. The regular beer is still produced, though in relatively small quantities, by the Pabst Brewing Company, along with three malt liquors (Schlitz Malt Liquor, Schlitz Red Bull, and Schlitz Bull Ice).

My favorite Schlitz ads are the ones that advocate drinking beer for your health. The Schlitz beer ads featured one or two "doctors" saying that it was really food and you should enjoy it, have it in your house, mix with your cheerios, etc. Here is what I mean:

Lots of vintage Schlitz ads can be found at The Old Ad Store.

And eBay always has the vintage beer ads:

Vintage Advertising Murad Cigarettes at VintageAds4U

Murad Cigarettes

S. Anargyros produced many brands during the era of the Turkish Cigarette. Murad was perhaps one of the most successful. At fifteen cents a box of ten, Murad Cigarettes appealed to the well-to-do smoker.

In 1911, Murad and most of the other popular straight-Turkish tobacco cigarettes became the property of the P. Lorillard Company. They changed the slogan to "Everywhere, why?" and created beautiful ads like this one. That ad is for sale at VintageAds4U

Pretty ads.

Vintage Advertising: Ingersoll Watch

Ingersoll Dollar Watch

The saga of the Ingersoll dollar watch began with two farm boys from Michigan. Robert H Ingersoll and his brother Charles moved to New York City and found a small loft in Fulton St. There they began selling rubber type and other small things of their own invention. According to company history, Robert saw a small clock hanging on the wall of an office he visited. As he stared at the clock he saw a vision. He thought if he could reduce the size of the works, he could fit it into a watch case and sell it a small price, filling a universal need.

He worked on the model himself resulting in the first Ingersoll watch for sale in 1893. He believed his fortune was made when he completed the watch. He believed that there were hundreds of thousand of citizens in the US at that very moment that would be glad to pay a dollar for such a watch.

But how were the brother to reach these customers? They decided to place a small advertisement, the smallest that would be accepted in a magazine. The first day’s mail after that magazine had reached its reader brought them $1500 worth of orders. By 1914, 35 million watches had been sold.

And now another ad:

Find vintage watch ads at The Old Ad Store