Trailer trash

For a brief period in the 1950's, trailers were an almost acceptable lifestyle - advertised with enticing words about "no long-term debt" and "trailer parks are beautifully landscaped".

A world away from the trailer park of the 21st century, with squalid living, declining self-esteem, meth-labs and violence.

"The Mobile Home", 1959
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Pot-watching?

A kitchen range so intelligent that "it cooks meals while you are away".

Consumerism bull-hype overstating the simple fact that it only has timers to turn it on and off. That's all. Electric cooking is NOT automatic: you still have to keep an eye on your kitchen.

"Electric cooking", 1959
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A hair dryer with legs

Another fantastic piece of 1950's retrofuture gadgetry: the "mobile hair dryer".

It lets you walk, hear, talk and work. Amazing. You can even hear baby cry, whilst using it to dry your hair.

In ivory or pink, this is the first truly whisper quiet hair dryer. Or so the copy says.

"Hear, walk, talk", 1959
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Black meets White

Long before Michael Jackson did the racially wrong change -or was it a skin disease?- from black to not-quite-white, there was plenty of ads like this one,

"Skin tone cream", 1959
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A quick check on Wikipedia for the Miracle-Action ingredient, Hydroquinone, reveals the sombre reality -products containing it have been banned for several years as potential carcinogens. 


Now you know. Fifty years too late.


Still today in some places, like India, it is socially ok to bleach your skin with hydroquinone. Even if you get cancer later.

In Russia, train rides you

What is the message of this ad?

"Newest Russian discovery", 1959
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Self-deprecating irony? Red-scare mongering?

If the copy of the ad reads their railroads are better funded and more extensive than ours, then the masthead is definitely misleading - talk about Cold War politics.

"Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel" Samuel Johnson, 18th century.

Your sights are set on me

I really want to shake the hand of the adman that came up with this bizarre piece,

"Are your sights set...", 1959
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You mean black people go on dates toting shotguns -posing as old white people do- and they worry about their deodorant? I can think of the words patronizing and race-insensitive in the same sentence.

For crying out loud. I'm so relieved the sixties actually changed all that.

You think you're a gadget freak?

The lastest in technolgy for your car, van or rolling palace - in glorious googie retro-future advertisements.

Driving is more fun when you don't get lost. Move away Garmin, here's a bad boy that uses no power sources whatsoever.

"Driving is more fun", 1959
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And since you'll take ages to drive there, why not relax with some music?

The only catch I see is negotiating potholes, bumps and uneven roads. Oh, and the seven minute playtime really sucks.

"45 Autochanger", 1959
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Are you sure this is safe?

So there you go. YOU can become a qualified scuba diver, in the comfort and safety of your own home.

"Fortunes in diving", 1959
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They will even send you some "Maps of Sunken Treasure" to get you started.