Marshall’s Easter Ad – April 7, 1965

Since Easter is only a few days away, it’s a good time to post this ad from 55 years ago this month. It’s an ad for Marshall's from the April 7, 1965 edition of the Vermilion Photojournal.

Marshall’s was part of the small Marshall Drug Co. chain out of Cleveland (which you can read about here) that had merged with Cunningham Drug. The Vermilion outlet was located in the South Shore Shopping Center.

Of course, the focus of the ad is the coloring contest for kids, with the winner receiving a “Big Georgi” plush doll. The special “Big Georgi” promotion had already appeared a few years earlier in some Cunningham Drug ads, and if you look closely at the artwork here, you can see that someone merely slapped the word MARSHALL’S over some other store name.

I scoured Ebay to see if I could find a nice photo of a Big Georgi that somehow survived, but if one is out there for sale, I don’t think his owner is aware of the bunny's mobster-sounding name to identify him as such. However, I did find a small photo of one from another drug store chain's 1960s ad (at right), which doesn’t seem to resemble the drawing in the Marshall’s ad too much. It’s not too surprising, because during the 3 or 4 year span that the “Big Georgi” promotion ran, it seems a different doll was used each year.

Anyway, here’s hoping you have a Happy Easter!