In natural colour

Frequency Modulation for radio broadcasting had been delayed by the onset of World War Two; since all manufacturers were fully committed to the U.S. military, there were no civilian radio sets available.

Shortly before the end of hostilities, radio brands start advertising the new technology and this contrived ad sums it up.

"Carmen Miranda's voice in natural color..." - confusing? you bet!

"Carmen Miranda", 1945
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Portable communicator

Motorola these days is associated with cellular phones and funky tablets; but they have a long history at building gadgets: they invented car radios in the 1930's and they also invented the earliest personal communication devices: the hand-held "Handie-Talkie", during World War 2.

Heavy and clumsy looking, but this makes for a really exciting collectable.

"Handie talkie", 1945
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Press here for mystery

There's an old popular saying about "...a fool and his money..." - these two ads in the same publication illustrate the point in question: they are variations on the long running scam of selling worthless junk by promoting the curiosity of the reader.

Exhibit number one: the "Amazing Mystery Button", which the ad bills as the most interesting electrical apparatus ever discovered. For one dollar.  Not only you can build a telephone and an amplifier but also a ... Detectiphone (?). Whatever that is.

"Amazing mystery button", 1945
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Exhibit number two: the "Wonder Electric Button", which the ad *also* sells as the most interesting electrical apparatus ever discovered. The rest of this ad is almost identical to the one above -including the use of the word Detectiphone.

Talk about copyright infringement. Or the same scammer running two different ads.

"Wonder electric button", 1945
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Handsome fighting men

This post is a rarity - a page of a WWII-vintage magazine with *two* mad ads in it; about handsome fighting men.

The piece on the left, "A mighty good friend to have around", exhorts the little known fact that gargling with this mouthwash twice a day is as good as... wait !

Why is that guy smiling like that for? A friend indeed in a great adventure?

"WWII magazine", 1945
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The piece on the right is no less camp. The last image on the bottom is pure gold, with G.I. Joe driving his jeep thorough the battlefields of Europe, and complaining about his parched, cracked lips.

Now you know: vanity wins wars.

The post-war future (I)

I love the late 1940's - lots of post-war optimism and a general feel-good sensation, thanks to all those incredible scientific advances.

Like radar.

"Moving roadmap", 1945
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Many years had to pass until a map was actually shown off the instrument panel, thou. But the intention was good, and ads like this one are pure retro-future.