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:

Evans Vacuum Cap...Guarantee Hair Grower

In the early 1900's it was decided that baldness could be cured by increasing the blood flow to the scalp. Enter The Evans Vacuum Cap. It was as you can see by this 1905 advertisement: the GUARANTEED Hair Grower.

In his (her) book: Baldness: A Social History, Kerry Seagrave writes that Evans claimed only 5% of people every requested thier money back. Thus I guess they were able to achieve a 95% success rate?

Here is a great picture of the machine on the fellow's head. The cap seems pretty secure. And we can see by this ad that women can enjoy the results of a good vacuum cap too. All of these, are of course, for sale in my shop: Old Ad Store

WHAM-O..or where's my BLOWGUN Dude?

In 1948 Arthur "Spud" Melin and Richard Knerr founded WHAM-O®. It became known as the gurus of blockbuster fads. While most everyone knows they marketed the Hula Hoop and the Frisbee, did you know that in the 50's they had an entire line of sporting goods...especially for the hunter!

My particular interest in these 1956 ads is that my two brothers wanted every blow gun, dart gun and hunting slingshot that Wham-O could produce. My parent's were not as cooperative and I think the only thing they ever got was the slingshot. There was something just a little sketchy about sending away for something in the back of magazines, even if it was Field & Stream.

More Wham-O ads can be found in my store: Old Ad Store

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: Conklin Fountain Pen

The Conklin Self Filling Fountain Pen:

In 1891 Roy Conklin was granted his first fountain pen patent and in 1898 he founded the Conklin Self Filling Fountain Pen Co. In 1901 he patents the Crescent Filler for what is now the Conklin Pen Manufacturing Co. and additional patents are issued him in 1903 and 1904.

In 1903 the company, expands its advertising and marketing, including an endorsement by Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens. I have had several requests for that ad but have never been able to find it.

In 1916 Conklin develops a patented spring loaded pocket clip and by the 1920's he is exporting pens to Europe and South America. By 1921 The Crescent Filler is the top selling pen on the market. While the pen is mechanically superior to the Shaeffer Lever Filler, the popularity of the Shaeffer pen leads Conklin to design a lever filling pen.

In 1923 the Duragraph is introduced. It is a well made and efficient lever filler, which leads to the development of the Endura in 1924. In 1929 Conklin’s first streamlined pen, the Symetrik, is introduced. In 1931 the Nozac is introduced. A techonolgically advanced, streamline model with an inventive piston filling mechanism, it is followed with a “word gauge” model in 1934.

Conklin is sold to a Chicago Syndicate in 1938 and by 1955 all production of all Conklin models ceases. However, in 2000 carefully following the original designs and utilizing artisinal craftmanship, Conklin is revived as the Conklin Pen Co., Inc.

Fountain pens on eBay:

Vintage Advertising Lawn Mowers by VintageAds4U

Ok, what is the attraction between man and mower? I'm intrigued enough to do a little history search and then post some lawn mower ads from the early 1900's. A great site for reading up on the history of the lawn mower is: American Lawns history of the lawn mower. You can browse 40 old lawn mower ads here: VINTAGE LAWN MOWER ADS.

The first patent for a mechanical lawn mower described as a "Machine for mowing lawns, etc." was granted on August 31, 1830 to engineer, Edwin Beard Budding (1795-1846) from Stroud, Gloucestershire, England.

The first United States patent for a reel lawn mower was granted to Amariah Hills on January 12, 1868. Early lawn mowers were often designed to be horse drawn, the horses often wore oversize leather booties to prevent lawn damage. For example this 1902 Henderson Horse Drawn Mower ad

In the United States, the first gasoline powered mowers were manufactured in 1919 by Colonel Edwin George. However, when it came to advertising, it seems that Supplee Pennsylvania Lawn mower could not be undone. I must have 100 Pennsylvania ads from the early 1900's. They must have been interested in broadening their customer base because two of the ads featuring a woman in a long day gown and a little kid in a sailor suit.

My lawnmower ads can be found at the Old Ad Store