Mid-America Boat Show Advertising – 1965, 1969 & 1970

It's a real sign of January when you start seeing TV commercials for the annual boat show. But the commercials I've seen are for the Progressive Cleveland Boat Show. What happened to the Mid-America Boat Show?

1965 flyer for the Mid-America Boat Show
(Note the appearance by the Harmonicats!)

I assumed that the old show went away and was replaced by a new one, much like what happened to the old Cleveland Home and Flower Show.

But it turns out that it's the same boat show; it's just been renamed.

The explanation (found here) is that the annual show had been loosely referred to as 'The Cleveland Boat Show' for some time, so the promoters decided to make it just that. (I dunno, I think Mid-America still sounds more impressive.)

I wonder if Twiggy the water-skiing squirrel will be there? I didn't see him on the commercials.

Anyway, it's a good time to post these ads for the Mid-America Boat Show that ran in the Journal. They're interesting because they take two different approaches.

First up is one from 1969. It ran in the Journal on January 19, 1969.

I suspect the attractive woman wearing a crown in the ad is Miss Boat Show 1969.

A year later, the show promoters decided to take a different advertising approach. They enlisted the help of one of the world's best known sailors – Popeye the Sailor Man (subject of a few posts here on the blog) – to advertise the show. 

This ad ran in the Journal on January 16, 1970.

I wonder if the spinach-munching sailor (known for packing a wallop) helped pack them in at Public Hall.

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Looks like even good ol' Barnaby was enlisted to promote the Boat Show in the early 1960s.