Kline's Mothers Day Ad – May 5, 1955

Mother's Day is this Sunday. For those of you lucky enough to still have your mothers, are you done shopping yet?

Seventy years ago, Kline's (the department store where my Grandma Brady worked most of her adult life) ran this nearly full-page ad (below) in the Lorain Journal of May 5, 1955, with gift ideas.

It's fascinating in that it captures what women bought back then: seasonal blouses, slips, nylons, gloves, dusters (?) etc. In a society now that is much more casual than it was in 1955, most of these items simply are not part of a woman's wardrobe any more (I'm assuming).

The duster reference intrigued and amused me. My older brother Ken had a Plymouth Duster for a while. But I had to look up what a duster was when it came to clothing. It turns out that it was a house dress. I remember that Grandma Brady and Grandma Esterle (her step-mom) wore them a lot, seemingly in the most of the old photos we have of them. Maybe they bought them from Kline's.

Finally, I had to chuckle at the slogan at the top of the ad: REMEMBER MOTHER... she never forgets. Isn't that usually used in references to elephants?

I'm not sure as it is used here if it is supposed to appeal to your heart (Mom would never forget you) or if it's a threat (Mom would never forget if you got her a crummy gift – or no gift at all).