Just like it just wouldn’t be Christmas here on the blog without an appearance by Reddy Kilowatt, similarly it would be hard to celebrate the holiday without some vintage ads that would be seen as sexist today.
It’s surprising, but fifty years ago there were still newspaper ads in the Journal with cartoon illustrations that looked like they belonged in a cartoon found in the back of a True magazine.
First up is an ad for Diamond’s Mens Stores at Midway Mall that ran in the Journal on December 8, 1971.
Despite the illustration, the ad is actually directed towards women, with various suggestions for mens gifts. Lots of knit products in that ad!
A second ad for the store ran in the Journal on December 16, 1971. This one is more typical, with a Santa Showgirl that would look right at home at a Rat Pack Christmas Party. Lots of knits in this one too!
I like the three cartoon mens heads. The pipe smoker looks like he could be a modern version of
Cappy Dick.
Lastly, here’s an ad for Northern Savings and Loan Company promoting their 1972 Christmas Club. The ad ran in the Journal on November 8, 1971.
In this case, I think the Santa gal was just an attention getter, something a little more interesting to look at than a photo of the free jar of Smucker’s Jelly "in a specially packaged apothecary jar” mentioned in the ad. Plus it seems somewhat appropriate with the protest movement going on at that time.
As a bonus, here's a Sam Klein Co. ad from the Dec. 18, 1972 Journal with another attention-getting Santa babe.
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Back in 2018, I did a
whole post devoted to ads of this sort.
Of course, Diamond’s Mens Stores was one of the stores whose ad was featured. By the way, it appears that at least one store is still around. Here’s
the link to its website, where it's described as “A Cleveland Tradition Since 1941."
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