Vintage Christmas Ads

[donnie]

I love this category of ads, so I thought it would be good to have a thread for it.

Here's an old and interesting one from the December 14, 1901 issue of the Scientific American. And I'd like to see that leaflet.

"No Smoke, Smell, or Grease." Hmm. Smoke and smell might be from candles, but how would grease come in? And rented lights.

[Kitty]

Very cool idea for a thread! We will have lots of fun with this one. I think the grease would probably be from kerosene. That's just a guess.

[donnie]

Continuing with the lights, here is an ad from the 1947. Which bulb style is your favorite? What about you?

[Kitty]

I like the 13¢ variety.

[donnie]

I like the 7¢ fluted ones.

I ran across a photo of the actual lights from the first ad above. They apparently came in this wooden case. Notice how the cord has the screw-in base that pretty much all electrical appliances had at that time.

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[Kitty]

So all electrical appliances had a screw in plug like light bulbs do?

[donnie]

So all electrical appliances had a screw in plug like light bulbs do?

Yes. When houses were first wired in the teens and twenties, the two-prong receptacle type of outlets were rare to non-existent, because electrical wiring was really regarded as for primarily lighting. Most houses had only one light socket hanging down in the center of the room. So when they wanted to use something like a toaster, fan, vacuum cleaner, etc., it had to have one of those Edison screw-type plugs and be run from the light socket.

[Kitty]

That's fascinating! I've never seen or heard of that!

[donnie]

That's fascinating! I've never seen or heard of that!

Yes, that seems strange, doesn't it? Examples from my 1927 Sears reproduction:

[donnie]

Isn't this Kodak ad beautiful? I don't know the date of this one, but from the clothing and hairstyle, I'd say circa 1910, maybe? Does that seem right?