Tag: old ads

Retro Sunday: Ads from the 1930 Child’s Own Annual

As promised, some of the interesting (and, to modern eyes, occasionally odd/bewildering) ads from the 1930 (my best guess) Child’s Own Annual. What strikes me most is that, though the annual was clearly intended to be read by children, the ads are very clearly intended only for grown-ups: there’s very little here that’s going to …

Continue reading

Mrs. Beeton’s Ad of the Day

All the advantages of a gas cooker with none of the disadvantages, this oil cooker promises it “Cooks the Food without Cooking the Cook,” and who could argue with that? I find it interesting how many of these old ads try to connect something that would seem to be merely a matter of simple preference–cooking …

Continue reading

Mrs. Beeton’s Ad of the Day

Gordon & Dilworth’s doesn’t appear to be in operation any longer, but I found the old ad at left, also from Gordon & Dilworth’s, at the British Library’s site: it rhapsodizes even more effusively about the glories of tomato catsup. “This is the popular national sauce of America,” it proclaims, and ads, “It is made …

Continue reading

Mrs. Beeton’s Ad of the Day

I can’t find out much about this–it mostly shows up on Google in the form of vintage bottles of ink being sold to collectors (I didn’t know there were vintage-ink-bottle collectors until now!), but I did find an interesting mention in an old scientific paper online, called Herring Investigations at Plymouth, written by E. Ford, …

Continue reading

Mrs. Beeton’s Ad of the Day

A public service announcement by the British Commercial Gas Association, telling you in no uncertain terms it is unfair to blame the cook if she is forced to cook on anything other than a gas stove. If she does have a gas stove, of course, you may say what you like about her, since she …

Continue reading

Mrs. Beeton’s Ad of the Day

Yes, John Oakey & Sons, “the pioneers in introducing the concept of coated abrasives to the world,” live on…in a company called John Oakey & Mohan Limited, incorporated in 1962, “manufacturers of high performance coated abrasives.” From the first link above: John Oakey who was born in 1814 founded John Oakey & Sons Ltd in …

Continue reading

Mrs. Beeton’s Ad of the Day

Another company that’s still around, although now in addition to being a food retailer they have “interests in financial services.” Their history is online. The section called “The Early Years,” below, takes the company right up to the time of his 1915 ad: Sainsbury’s was founded in 1869 by John James and Mary Ann Sainsbury. …

Continue reading

Mrs. Beeton’s Ad of the Day

Borwick’s was founded by George Borwick sometime in the 19th century–there are old ads for it all over the Web, including at the British Museum–and you can still buy their powders today. It was obviously a successful business: George Borwick got a barony out of it.

Mrs. Beeton’s Bonus Ad of the Day

OK, just one more: “Patent Barley ‘in powder form’” is not something widely available today, but Robinson’s still exists, after a fashion. Apparently one mixed this stuff with hot water to make a drink. I’ll stick to coffee.

Mrs. Beeton’s Ad of the Day

Here’s a product you don’t see in grocery stores any more: shredded suet, supplanted, I guess, by lard and Crisco, even though shreeded Atora was “fresh beef suet, thoroughly refined after the skin and impurities” had been removed (well, that’s a relief) and was “the most wholesome and digestible of all fats,” which did not …

Continue reading

Mrs. Beeton’s Book of Household Management…

…is one of many interesting things I’ve found in my mother-in-law’s house, now my house. This 1915 housewives’ hanbook, which belonged to my wife’s grandmother, is (as you can see from the title page) “A Guide to Cookery in All Branches,” plus “Daily Duties, Mistress & Servant, Hostess & Guest, Marketing, Trussing & Carving, Menu …

Continue reading

Easy AdSense Pro by Unreal