The Fourth of July is coming up fast –can you believe it?
For many of us, that means a cookout or perhaps even a picnic (or pic-a-nic, if you're a Yogi Bear fan). If you're in the latter camp, then the ad below for Fisher Foods might be of interest. It's from the June 28, 1945 Lorain Journal and it offers suggestions regarding what foods you might need for your outing.
I'm happy to see that the list of foods includes
South Shore Pepper-stuffed Olives, fresh from Vermilion, Ohio. But the ad also has some curious items, like a one-pound jar of Derby Hot Tamales. Here's a 1946 magazine ad for Derby Tamales.
I had to chuckle a bit when I saw this, because tamales in a jar were a staple in the Brady household in the 1960s and beyond. If you think about it, there really weren't a lot of nationally distributed Mexican food items that would find their way onto the shelves of a west side Lorain grocer back then. You didn't have a Goya food aisle like you have now.
The funny thing is, I still buy canned tamales. They're like a nostalgic treat.
As for Derby, I remember that they also produced Peter Pan Peanut Butter. Mom never bought it (she was a choosy mother that chose Jif). But somehow – probably through magazine ads – I was aware of the Peter Pan brand, and the fact that the ad mascot was a woman dressed in a Peter Pan outfit. Here are a few vintage ads featuring the unusual mascot.
Maybe it's not so unusual when you consider that for years, a woman traditionally portrayed Peter Pan in those stage musicals that were sometimes seen on TV. Of course, sooner or later the Disney suits would get involved, and today the Disney version is on the label in silhouette. But I've got to say that the Honey Roast (below) is the peanut butter I buy today.
