There are so many products throughout history that simply don’t exist anymore. Take this weird safety skirt holder. This illustrated ad from the 1890s shows a brand-new, innovative product that was supposed to revolutionize the way women rode bicycles. Instead of giving women more range of movement while riding their bikes, this handy dandy skirt holder further restricted them.
No decent woman back in the late 1800s was going to go ride her bike and show off her ankles for all the world to see. Imagine the scandal it would cause. Wearing pants was definitely a no-no for women, so a skirt holder gadget was a natural solution. We can’t help but wonder how well it worked while women were pedaling. One thing’s for sure. There’s no way that thing was comfortable.
Medical Cocaine
Before we get into the product in this ad, let’s take a detour to the merit of cocaine in the 1880s. Cocaine was actually an additive to alcoholic beverages in the mid-19th century. Coca wine was the most popular one during that time. You might have the idea cross your mind now. Coca wine has become the soda we all enjoy these days, Coca-Cola.
1880s was a year full of discoveries. Doctors found out that cocaine can serve a purpose in the medical field. The common cause of kids crying for help is toothache, then and now. Toothache is too powerful a feeling that it can make you cry and sick all of a sudden. If it were in the 1880s, we can immediately ask for Cocaine toothache drops and instantly chase the misery away.
Vitamin M
So, there’s this vintage vitamin ad that claims that their vitamins can give more energy to a wife. It says that it can transform a wife into a cleaning machine. She can cook, clean, do all other chores, and take good care of the children. Amazing, isn’t it? Whoever thought of this marketing idea should be the one taking a dose of vitamins that can awaken the senses.
This old-fashioned idea has been outmaneuvered. Companies can manufacture vitamins such as this to advocate for a healthier body and mind. This ad got it wrong on making it for women to make them become machines for their husbands. Not just that, this vitamin ad also claims that it can make the wife look more blooming. It can make the husband love the wife more. So wrong on so many levels.
Vim Scouring Powder Embraces Child Labor?
The early 1900s were a totally different time. One of the big differences between then and now is how common and accepted child labor was in the US and UK. Putting kids to work was so generally accepted that early cleaning brands used the concept as a marketing tactic.
Vim, produced by an early version of Unilever, was a popular scouring powder used for cleaning. It was so easy to use that even your kids could give it a go. What kid doesn’t love doing chores like cleaning, scrubbing, and dusting? According to this ad, every kid from the early 1900s was all about the Vim life.
No, You Can Trade Kellog’s for Anything
We have old Uncle on the screen again. The world of advertising doesn’t just feed on machismo. They can’t get enough of discriminating people. They even make it so obvious. Kellog’s introduced their new Corn Flakes by hiring the same actor from the Jewish rye bread ad. They seemed to have had a hard time finding the right wardrobe for him. They decided to use the ones he wore in another ad.
Clearly, Kellog want the actor to appear like a Native American. Let’s take a short history class review. In 1920s, Native Americans were granted full citizenship. However, discrimination was still present at the time, especially in the world of advertising. Most of those ads end up being presumptuous and insulting.