Sunday, November 23, 2014

More Inappropriate Vintage Ads


Caution: Offensive and risqué material follows

Bytes has previously posted examples of various types of vintage advertising that would not be acceptable today – racist, sexist, ageist and just plain awful. 

In looking up some other vintage ads, I came across a host of more inappropriate ads that today would be considered wrong on many levels.

Here are some that will show how far we have come . . .

Give the child Fletcher’s Castoria laxative and Daddy won’t need to take to him with a hairbrush for refusing to take other nasty tasting laxatives.



Cigar ads are fertile ground for retro-sexism. Sometimes a cigar is not just a cigar.


Legs, breasts and cleavage – how else do you sell shoe polish?

For what it’ worth, I also hate snakes, spiders, mice, rats.

1960’s parties must have been a hoot when the life of the party was a blow up doll

What? Your wife is pregnant, has morning sickness and you’re not getting your breakfast??? Just dose her up with Mornidine and she’ll be cooking your brekkie again before you know it.

A 1950’s product for “excitement and conversation”. Your choice of Blonde, Brunette or Redhead. Or why not all 3?

Become sexy by putting on weight!! An ad from a 1937 True Romance magazine.

Was this really the best they could come up with to sell a joystick? And did it work? I believe it would have been a no on both.

Another example of how not to, in this case, sell bicycling t shirts and backpacks to females.

Marriage, 1893 style

Marriage, 1960’s style


The Delilah girdle by Warner's. After extolling that this girdle enhances what ought to be enhanced and that it leaves the rest alone, thereby appealing to men, the last line of the ad reads: “Incidentally, as you may have guessed, the people who run things at Warner’s are Men.” That hadn’t occurred to me.


Hard to tell from the 1940’s ads but Spring Mills sold fabrics.

Not sure whether the following modern ones are offensive, or witty and humorous, at least in some cases . . .







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