Monday, November 7, 2022

Lee Furniture Ad – November 2, 1962


Well, tomorrow's Election Day, so here's a timely vintage ad featuring a political theme. It's for Lee Furniture and it ran in the Journal back on November 2, 1962.

It's a cute, pun-filled ad. The smiling Republican elephant and the Democratic donkey seem to be in rare agreement – about Lee's great value and savings. (As usual, the 1962 prices are mind-blowing.)

These days, you don't see retail advertising featuring the two political symbols. I think people (myself included) are just sick of politics in general, and the marketing gurus have decided to avoid that theme in their ads.

You don't see the donkey and the elephant very much in the few editorial cartoons being published, either. Today's political cartoonists have very little depth in their thinking, choosing only to ridicule the politicians (usually Republicans) that they don't like, 

Sadly, the golden age of editorial cartooning is long passed, and the regular use of the two symbols along with it.

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(Follow this link to an interesting article on CNN.com about how cartoonist Thomas Nast popularized the two symbols.) 

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