It's good to see a 1950s ad for a dealer that is not only still around in the 2000s (although not at the 1955 Lorain location), but has grown to become a dominant force in the area, with locations all over Northeast Ohio and a few in Pennsylvania as well. (Here's the link to the Spitzer Auto World website.)
That's a good-looking Santa Claus illustration in the ad. He surprisingly takes up a lot of room in the ad, which otherwise consists of just typography.
I've complained before in this blog (right here) about the "new breed" of realistic, unappealing Santa's seen at malls and in TV commercials. They tend to have real beards, and often have long, stringy hair – like these Santa's below that were featured in recent seasonal car commercials on TV.
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| 2012 Mercedes TV commercial |
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| 2013 Mercedes TV commercial |
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| 2013 Chevy TV commercial |
Call me a curmudgeon, but these impostors just don't have that twinkle in their eye, or a nose like a cherry. They don't even look all that jolly. Plus, they all need a haircut.
Now if the producers of TV commercials could only find a Santa that looks like the one in the 1955 Spitzer ad.
I think the trend toward realistic Santas is because kids are more discerning today and they know when a beard is fake. I recall as a kid knowing that the beards were fake and that wasn't "the real" Santa. My friend's dad has white hair and a long white beard and glasses, and he often has kids come up to him out in public at all times of the year and ask if he is Santa. Of course he always says yes and asks them if they've been good, what they want for Christmas etc. His friends get a kick out of it.
ReplyDeleteThat's a pretty good explanation, Drew. I guess I was more gullible as a kid in the 1960s. The obviously phony baloney-looking Santas were explained away by my parents as part of an army of ubiquitous commissioned "helpers."
ReplyDeleteAt some far off date in the future, Santa will probably evolve culturally into a tall, gaunt guy with a fine layer of white stubble wearing a red turtleneck who sits in front of a computer, checks his emailed gift requests and then arranges for gifts to be delivered by his drones!