Forgiving women

Old advertisements are an incredible tool for understanding the cultural norms and rules accepted by society.

Back in 1946, you could get away with an ad, in a nation-wide magazine, with the tagline:

"Forgive Her, she's only a woman."

The rest of the ad is just as "balanced" -women are portrayed as finicky fumbling creatures that can't be trusted.

From our perspective, it seems like the world before the sixties was not as fun or attractive. Sanforised or not.

"Forgive her", 1946
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Mind your posture

With thousands of remarkable cases, the Philo-Burt Appliance has healing properties that border on the miraculous.

Fifty thousand cases treated over twenty years -that's a mere seven cures a day. Helpless people, crippled by their "deformed spines" have seen themselves riding horseback or playing tennis, within a year.

The address of the firm, at "Odd Fellows Temple" is not that inspiring either.

"Deformities of the back", 1924
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Simple is better

Somehow the message of fun and simplicity is lost on the following piece.

The ad talks a lot about the "stainless steel trim", the "new appealing bowling colors" and there's even a mention about the "nylon rail guard". And it's easy to service too.

Only at the very end of the copy it says something about the user experience. "Six profit-proven games-in-one". Wtf?

But it does not say squat about them, either.

It's a coin-op amusement machine, for crying out loud. It's supposed to be fun. And simple.

"Strike ball", 1963
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