Tuesday, January 24, 2023

Laundry Detergent Ads – January 1953

Are you loyal to one brand of laundry detergent – perhaps the one that your mother always used?

Mom used Cheer (in the blue box) over the years, but I usually buy all®. It claims to be a good choice if you have sensitive skin, so that's enough to sucker me in. But I've bought other brands too that were on sale.

Seventy years ago in the 1950s, there was a lot of competition for the loyalty of housewives when it came to laundry detergent. Below is an ad for Tide that ran in the Lorain Journal on January 15, 1953.

It's an attractive layout, with the ecstatic housewife neatly dividing the ad page into copy sections with her extended arms and legs. I also like the Tide package design, which reminds me of the concentric circles seen at the beginning of a Looney Tune.

As we all know, Tide is still going strong today, with the current packaging still hearkening back to the original box.
Since Mom never bought Tide, the first time I ever really thought about the brand was when it was lampooned as a Wacky Package (below). And I still associate Tide with the slogan, "Your Clothes Will Be Fit To Be Tied."
Another detergent advertising in the Journal back then was Surf. It was a new product at the time of the ad below, which ran in the paper on January 29, 1953. 

It's another attractive ad layout. What's interesting is that Surf was hoping to 'clean up' by borrowing the brand equity of another product, Lux soap.
It's funny how many of the names of these laundry detergents are 'tied' in with bodies of fresh water (which many of these products probably helped to pollute).
Anyway, Surf and Lux are still around today. 
But don't plan on scrubbing up with a bar of Lux anytime soon, since (according to its Wiki page) it's mainly marketed in Brazil, India, Thailand and South Africa.

13 comments:

  1. We were "Tide-ers." Mostly.

    Though, for a while, Mom did buy boxes of detergent that were delivered by the milkman.

    I used Tied powder for years until my skin went suddenly allergic on me.

    There's a bottle of Tide "Free and Clear" in the laundry right now!

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  2. My Mom used Oxydol (?) detergent and sweetheart bar soap. Interesting to note the large number of national ads in The Journal from the 50’s - 70’s. By the 80’s when I was working there the decline in national ads was already in full swing with national ad budgets switching to co-op ad funds or moving to other media. Todd

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  3. We used Cheer for a long time, then for a while we got the Lorain Creamery detergent, then switched to Trend about 1973. Me, I 'm not proud; I usually buy the liquid cheap stuff from Dollar General.
    We used a detergent in the Sixties that had a cheap dishrag in the box; I think it was called Bonus.

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  4. I wonder if teenagers in the 50's thru the 80's would eat laundry detergent pods like they do today?

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    1. There's actually a video on YouTube where someone makes an edible "snack" that looks like Tide Pods.It's made out of Jell-O, gelatin and pudding.And it's in a cool little pod.So todays kids really are mixed up when it comes to choices.Is it real?Is it fake?Is it detergent?Is it candy?I'll take my good old fashioned "smoking" gum cigarettes sticks any day of the week.

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  5. They probably wouldn't eat the laundry detergent in Kazakhstan called "Barf" but then again, maybe they would. The ever-popular "Barf" could be found in other "...stan" countries.

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  6. Not for nothing, Dan, and with all due respect, but what do any of these ads have to do about nostalgia,specific to Lorain County?

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  7. I'm a little surprised at your question. It has been many years since this blog wandered beyond the confines of Lorain County and into the realm of whatever I find interesting, as long as there is some nostalgia factor.

    As for this week, since there wasn't too much interesting from January 1973, I went back to 1953 and found these nostalgic ads. By posting them in groups, I hoped to trigger some comments/reminisces/discussion from my regulars, and they did not disappoint.

    I'm sorry if you are disappointed, perhaps I will be changing the name of this blog soon to eliminate the Lorain County verbiage and thus avoid future disappointment from readers expecting only stories about Lorain, Elyria, Sheffield Lake, etc.

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  8. Please don't change a thing Dan.....That's all we need now the "woke" brigade ruining another piece of Americana history.I like all the stories.Granted some people get a little hot and bothered,but who cares?Keep on posting about whatever you want....I mean it's your blog for crying out loud.Remember what "The Fonz" used to say besides Aaaaay?........."Sit on it!"...Just tell them all to sit on it!

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  9. These types of articles are both fun and interesting. Really enjoy seeing them,appreciate the art work and hope you have more in store. Great job!

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  10. I am sorry, Dan. My comment was rude and insensitive to all the work you do to entertain us. Please accept my apology.

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  11. Hi LHS Blazer Man, no need to apologize, it was a perfectly good question. I really should change the name of the blog to reflect the change in content that has occurred over the years.

    As an explanation as to why the change, the answer is a lack of time. When I started the blog back in 2009, I had a lot of free time to go to the library or Historical Society to do research, and to drive around and take pictures. Now due to work and personal commitments I simply don't have the time any more. I have about an hour each evening to prepare the next day's post (usually right before going to bed), and I spend about 2 hours on the weekend cleaning up images in Photoshop. So that's why the blog has largely evolved into "What was in the Journal 50 years ago this month? (or 60 or 70 years). There are still some great local things that I already researched that will show up eventually, when I have a chance to write them up, so please do keep coming back.

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  12. Please Dan,don't bow down to The Man.I like this blog.It brings back good memories of yesteryear before the problems of today took over our lives.If I were you,I would either keep it like it is or just quit altogether.But never cave in to such frivolous demands over nothing.

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