Father's Day Ad Mystery – Solved at Last!

Remember that 1954 Hart's Father's Day newspaper ad (above) I posted way back in 2013 (here)?

At the time, I was unable to identify the blond starlet holding a Shavex shaver in the ad. Then, in 2018 (here), I was positive that it was actress Jan Sterling after watching the movie Ace in the Hole.

Well, I goofed. It's not Jan Sterling. Sorry about that, Chief.

How do I know? Let me explain.

A few months ago I had a temporary subscription to an online newspaper archives service. During that limited time period, I tried to research anything and everything I could think of to get my money's worth. And one of those things was that original Shavex ad with the mystery model.

Looking at the 1954 Hart's ad, I reasoned that the ad artwork was something that was provided by an agency and then modified perhaps by the Journal art department to add the Hart's logo and pricing. So my thought was perhaps the original ad (before being modified for use by Hart's) contained her name.

And I was right. Here's the same ad as it appeared in the South Bend Tribune on December 22, 1953.

Right next to the picture of Der Bingle is her name. It reads, "Lovely Mary Ellen Kay, currently starring in "The Long Wait," says "SHAVEX will be the most appreciated gift in his Christmas stocking."

So now we know why her name wasn't in the Hart's Father's Day ad: the text had a Christmas reference.

Here's another version of the ad. This one ran in the Los Angeles Times on December 21, 1953.

****

It turns out that Mary Ellen Kay is a fellow Buckeye – born in Boardman, Ohio (near Youngstown). 

Happily, she's still with us. Here's a link to her Wikipedia entry.

She didn’t make a lot of movies, but at least one is a cult favorite: Voodoo Woman. Here are two publicity photos from the movie.

And here’s the trailer.