Monday, March 17, 2025

St. Patrick's Day Ads – 1965

 

And a top o' the morning to you! Here's hoping you have a Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I started my day the way I do each St. Patrick's Day – with a bowl of Lucky Charms. I know, it's a wee bit goofy. But they are magically delicious, you know.

Speaking of Lucky Charms, here's what is supposed to be the very first commercial featuring Lucky the Leprechaun. He's kind of sadistic in these early TV commercials. 

Lucky's goading the two Lucky Charms-loving kids to come after him reminds me of Captain Kirk's old Irish academy classmate Finnegan in the classic Star Trek episode "Shore Leave." Finnegan kept Kirk on the run for a while, popping up here and there and teasing him to chase him, until Kirk finally catches him and beats the crap out of him. Maybe that's what those kids should have done to Lucky.

But getting back to my St. Pat's schedule. Lunch will be fairly light, because I know I'll be having a nice corned beef sandwich for dinner. The sandwich has been an annual ritual for decades. Starting in the 1990s, I used to pick up sandwiches (usually reubens) for my parents and drop them off, so Mom and Dad didn't have to go out on the holiday. After Dad passed away, I did it for Mom for another 15+ years. So I'll be a-thinking of Mom tonight.
The evening will reach a feverish Irish pitch when I pop in my DVD of The Quiet Man. Once in a while I postpone it for another night, especially when I'm tied up doing something else (like working on my blog).
Anyway – finally – here's a not-so-ample sample of St. Patrick's Day-themed ads from 1965. As you can see, dances were a longstanding St. Pat tradition.
March 15, 1965
March 16, 1965
March 16, 1965
March 17, 1965
For more St. Patrick's Day fun, feel free to visit the vast archive of posts with that theme, as well as my post in which I reflect on my Irish heritage.


9 comments:

Rae said...

Slainte! to the O' Brady's!

-Alan D Hopewell said...

And to you, lass!

-Alan D Hopewell said...

A wee pep for your step, me boy...

https://youtu.be/U1E-7bELw2c?feature=shared

Don Hilton said...

I may have told this story here, before. If so, the gentle reader may ignore it:

When I was in Gradual Skool, in the dorm, I had a friend (Ouma) from Kenya whose skin was purple-black. It being his first semester in the US, everything was new to him. One morning, while we were brushing our teeth, he asked me about the dorm's upcoming St. Patrick's Day Party - something outside of his experience.

I explained it to him, winding up by saying, "On St. Patrick's Day, Ouma, everyone is Irish. Including you."

He looked at me, looked in the mirror, and said, "I don't look Irish."

Buster said...

Dan - I did look back on your Irish heritage post - exceptionally well done! Happy St. Patrick's Day from one part-Irish person to another!

Anonymous said...

St Patty's Day is always a good time to crack out the 1993 horror/comedy cult classic movie Leprechaun.Starring Jennifer Aniston in one of her only good acting roles in my opinion.

Don Hilton said...

I looked back at your St. Patrick posts and I see that I have told the above story *at least* three times. The guy's name keeps changing. I should make up my mind, I suppose. Not Irish, I am, but still with the blarney!

Dan Brady said...

Thanks, Rae!!

Dan Brady said...

Thanks, Buster! Hope you're having a good St. Patrick's Day too!