Lee Furniture Christmas Ad – November 13, 1962

Remember the Lee Furniture newspaper ad that I posted around Election Day? It featured the Republican elephant and Democratic donkey prominently at the top of the page.

Well, those two political icons make cameo appearances in this ad for the furniture company, which ran in the Journal on November 13, 1962 with a Christmas theme. The political pair make incongruous showings in the 'carpet' portion of the ad, while the donkey flies solo in the appliance box. I wonder if anyone reading the ad noticed – or cared?

The strangest thing about the ad (to me at least, reflecting my graphic design background) is the ancient Santa Claus and reindeer artwork at the top of the ad. At a time when many companies were employing totally modern images of St. Nick in their ads that reflected the changing times, Lee's ad seems to look backwards towards the 1920s or 30s.

Anyway, as usual it's interesting to see the prices back then. Sixty years ago, a whole bedroom set including a double dresser, mirror, bookcase bed, and chest was priced at $88. (That's 886 clams today, using one of those inflation calculators.)

I'd never heard of a bookcase bed before, but after looking at a few pictures on Google, I think I could use one. It looks perfect for stashing things quickly for a quick decluttering.