Collection of Christmas adverts from the early 20th century show how tastes have changed

Daily Mail ^ | 1 December 2017 | Chris Pleasance

[mairdie]

Luci Gosling, sales and research manager at Mary Evans Picture Library, said: 'I think these adverts show that Christmas has been a commercial opportunity for longer than we might think.

'But they also suggest that gift-giving was often more low-key. A pair of stockings for instance, would have been gratefully received in the 1920s, though a 'luckier' woman might receive a Hotpoint vacuum cleaner instead to alleviate her household chores.

'Gender and age stereotyping is fairly common, such as the young woman gifting a bottle of sherry to an old gent. The Great War era saw retailers and manufacturers really tap into public patriotism.

'As the war progressed, there was an increasing number of military-related toys for example, available from London stores such as Gamages.'

[mairdie]

>>I mean...would you offer this guy a ride on a dark and lonely night?

You’d have to be pretty darn lonely.

[left that other site]

I don’t think I would ever be THAT lonely! LOL! :-)

[mairdie]

That’s a great find! With all the stuff I’ve kept over the years (mother’s baby curls), I can’t believe I don’t have a bottle of that.

I wasn’t allowed a cap gun, but I remember hitting the cap strip with a rock.

[mairdie]

Come over to my car, little girl. I have the most adorable puppy you can have.

[sheana]

Love memories!

[ifinnegan]

That’s great.

Still not sure what fegs means, but...

[Albion Wilde]

My grandfather had a kodak like that that’s still in my drawer with the film undeveloped. I imagine it full of pictures of him and don’t want to be disillusioned or disappointed that they can’t be developed.

It's certainly worth a try, if you live near a city with a professional film developer. As it is, you'll never know.

[Albion Wilde]

PS

Don’t try to unload the camera yourself. Take the whole camera in and let them unload it in the darkroom, and be sure they hand the camera back to you right away, since some photo buffs collect vintage cameras.

[mairdie]

>>As it is, you’ll never know.

I know. But I can pretend. I miss him desperately. A southern gentleman to the core. Dignified, smart and he absolutely convinced me that the thing he enjoyed most in the world was listening to me recite the multiplication tables. Sunday was the day for snuggling while listening to him read me the comics. A good man, who called me sugarlump.

[mairdie]

Something like surprised - shrug. That got me at first, too. The nice thing about working with a Shakepearean professor is that they know almost everything about words.

[mairdie]

I’ve heard the same thing said about having diamonds reset. Good advice.

[SE Mom]

I love 4711! I use it in the summer. My grandmother kept it on her dresding table and she used the soap...wish I still had the tins it came in.

Brylcream...a little dab’ll do ya...

[mairdie]

Was Brylcream one of those ads you'd see on the roadsigns like Burma Shave?

Love the old tins and they're still available on ebay.

[SE Mom]

I don’t know if they had those roadside signs. But I remember seeing the Burma Shave ones driving somewhere years ago. Evey mile or two!

Thanks for the tins link.

[mairdie]

We used to drive from Chicago to Kankakee. Miles and miles and miles of farmland and you could see the signs going off into the distance on these small roads before the big Interstates. Taking your life in your hands passing on two lane roads.

My pleasure. I bought most of my genealogical history on ebay. One thing that saved me was the abominable handwriting of 4th great grandfather. I kept searching for his town because no one could recognize his written name to put in descriptions, and I found several letters he wrote that I could afford.