An Open Knowledge Foundation Site
logo Planet Open Knowledge

You are browsing the archive for advertisements.

John Margolies’ Photographs of Roadside America

- August 29, 2019 in advertisements, advertising, america, americana, John Margolies, On the Road, roads

The culture of the American road has been much celebrated — and much criticized. Lawrence Ferlinghetti saw the rise of the automobile and the construction of the interstate system (which began in the 1950s) as a new form of punishment inflicted on the populace. Driving in their cars, “strung-out citizens” were now       […]

Comments Off on John Margolies’ Photographs of Roadside America

The “Salad Oil Style” of Jan Toorop

- November 21, 2017 in advertisements, art nouveau, design, graphic design, jan toorop, posters

Selection of Dutch artist Jan Toorop's distinctive works, designs featuring highly stylised figures, embedded in complex curvilinear designs, with his dynamic line showing influence from his Javanese roots.

Comments Off on The “Salad Oil Style” of Jan Toorop

The “Salad Oil Style” of Jan Toorop

- November 21, 2017 in advertisements, art nouveau, design, graphic design, jan toorop, posters

Selection of Dutch artist Jan Toorop's distinctive works, designs featuring highly stylised figures, embedded in complex curvilinear designs, with his dynamic line showing influence from his Javanese roots.

Comments Off on The “Salad Oil Style” of Jan Toorop

Design for Dreaming (1956)

- January 21, 2013 in 50s, advertisements, cars, collections, Films, Films: 1950s, Films: Fantasy, Films: Short, fridges, general motors, Populuxe, prelinger archives, retro-future, retrofuturism

Over the top 1950s “Populuxe” advertisement for General Motors, set at their 1956 Motors Motorama. A woman falls asleep and dreams of a glorious future of perfect products, including a variety of shiny futuristic dream cars and Frigidaire’s fully automated “Kitchen of the Future.” The star of the story is played by dancer and choreographer Tad Tadlock. The film has over the years become a popular symbol of 50s consumerist culture and was featured extensively in the BBC documentary series Pandora’s Box by Adam Curtis. Some footage was also used in the music video for Peter Gabriel’s 1987 single “In Your Eyes”, Rush’s 1989 music video for “Superconductor”, a 1989 commercial for the Nintendo Game Boy game Super Mario Land, and a 1994 commercial for Power Macintosh. Part of the film, with dialogue, is played during the opening titles for The Hills Have Eyes. Some snippets (without dialogue) are played in the video watched by Michael Douglas during his physical in The Game and in the opening titles for The Stepford Wives. (Wikipedia) The film is downloadable at the Internet Archive, and is part of the Prelinger Archive. Note this film is in the public domain in the US, but [...]

Comments Off on Design for Dreaming (1956)

Design for Dreaming (1956)

- January 21, 2013 in 50s, advertisements, cars, collections, Films, Films: 1950s, Films: Fantasy, Films: Short, fridges, general motors, Populuxe, prelinger archives, retro-future, retrofuturism

Over the top 1950s “Populuxe” advertisement for General Motors, set at their 1956 Motors Motorama. A woman falls asleep and dreams of a glorious future of perfect products, including a variety of shiny futuristic dream cars and Frigidaire’s fully automated “Kitchen of the Future.” The star of the story is played by dancer and choreographer Tad Tadlock. The film has over the years become a popular symbol of 50s consumerist culture and was featured extensively in the BBC documentary series Pandora’s Box by Adam Curtis. It also appears in its entirety with an amusing “commentary” as a short feature in a fifth-season episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000. Some footage was also used in the music video for Peter Gabriel’s 1987 single “In Your Eyes”, Rush’s 1989 music video for “Superconductor”, a 1989 commercial for the Nintendo Game Boy game Super Mario Land, and a 1994 commercial for Power Macintosh. Part of the film, with dialogue, is played during the opening titles for The Hills Have Eyes. Some snippets (without dialogue) are played in the video watched by Michael Douglas during his physical in The Game and in the opening titles for The Stepford Wives. (Wikipedia) The film is downloadable [...]

Comments Off on Design for Dreaming (1956)

Rhyming Drugstore Advertisements (1885)

- July 17, 2012 in advertisements, adverts, commercial rhymist, drugstore, Images, Images-19th, Images: Miscellaneous, non-article

These rhyming advertisements were created by “commercial rhymist” W.N.Bryant for a variety of drugstores in the states of Texas, Louisiana, and Indian Territory. They contain some ingenious sections of poetic flair, and strangely all end on a cigar-related note. Not sure if too many people would quite have the patience these days to stay still for the time required to get through the whole thing – though with such enticing headlines as “Ah! There” and “Why will you die?”, perhaps so.

(All images taken from the Southern Methodist University’s Central University Libraries Flickr Set and are held by the DeGolyer Library in Dallas).











Sign up to get our free fortnightly newsletter which shall deliver direct to your inbox the latest brand new article and a digest of the most recent collection items. Simply add your details to the form below and click the link you receive via email to confirm your subscription!

flattr this!

Comments Off on Rhyming Drugstore Advertisements (1885)