A Slice of Christmas Cheesecake – 1953 Edition

Yesterday's post about Woodrow the Woodsman was kiddie-oriented. Today's post is directed more for men – specifically bachelors.

That's right, it's time for my annual parade of cheesy cheesecake-type ads with a Christmas theme. The Journal ran these types of ads during the holidays, from the 1950s right into the 1970s. The year 1971 was particularly fruitful; and this post featured a multi-pack of ads from 1959, 1967 and 1968.

But sorry, guys – there wasn't much of a parade of ads around Christmas 1953 that would be seen as sexist today. In fact, there was only one piece of clip art that seemed to be used over and over. 

And here it is, first used in an ad for Atkinson & Williams Ford A-1 Used Cars. I suppose the idea was that shopping for cars was man's work. The ad ran on December 3, 1953.

The leggy Santa's helper turned up again on December 10, 1953 in this manly ad for Oros & Chevers Sport Shop. I like the typography at the top of the ad, but the small picture of the pointer in the 'O' makes the company name look like Ros & Chevers. 

Lastly, our Santa Baby made one last local appearance in this ad for K. D. Construction Company which ran in the paper on December 18th. At least the Journal layout artist spaced out his usage of the artwork over a few weeks so readers wouldn't get too used to it.

Unlike the second ad (where the woman has nothing to lean on) at least this one uses the clip art properly.

I've mentioned before how I started my career as a paste-up artist at an old printing and mailing firm in Downtown Cleveland in 1985. We had tons of clip art on file, including some stuff like this. But I don't think our art director would have approved my using it, especially since we had a lot of stuffy clients such as the Cleveland Rotary Club.

Politically Incorrect Christmas Ads – 1971 Edition

Just like it just wouldn’t be Christmas here on the blog without an appearance by Reddy Kilowatt, similarly it would be hard to celebrate the holiday without some vintage ads that would be seen as sexist today. 

It’s surprising, but fifty years ago there were still newspaper ads in the Journal with cartoon illustrations that looked like they belonged in a cartoon found in the back of a True magazine.

First up is an ad for Diamond’s Mens Stores at Midway Mall that ran in the Journal on December 8, 1971.

Despite the illustration, the ad is actually directed towards women, with various suggestions for mens gifts. Lots of knit products in that ad!

A second ad for the store ran in the Journal on December 16, 1971. This one is more typical, with a Santa Showgirl that would look right at home at a Rat Pack Christmas Party. Lots of knits in this one too!

I like the three cartoon mens heads. The pipe smoker looks like he could be a modern version of Cappy Dick.

Lastly, here’s an ad for Northern Savings and Loan Company promoting their 1972 Christmas Club. The ad ran in the Journal on November 8, 1971.

In this case, I think the Santa gal was just an attention getter, something a little more interesting to look at than a photo of the free jar of Smucker’s Jelly "in a specially packaged apothecary jar” mentioned in the ad. Plus it seems somewhat appropriate with the protest movement going on at that time.

As a bonus, here's a Sam Klein Co. ad from the Dec. 18, 1972 Journal with another attention-getting Santa babe. 

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Back in 2018, I did a whole post devoted to ads of this sort. 

Of course, Diamond’s Mens Stores was one of the stores whose ad was featured. By the way, it appears that at least one store is still around. Here’s the link to its website, where it's described as “A Cleveland Tradition Since 1941."

Christmas Club Ads – 1970

The concept of Christmas clubs is a topic that I’ve pretty much beaten to death (with a club, natch) annually over the years on this blog. I’ve done about eight different posts, with a sampling of ads from 1950, 1953, 1956, 1957 1963, 1966, 1967 and 1968. 

For decades – even in the late 1960s – the banks featured some kind of illustration of Santa Claus in their ads. It was an easy way to symbolize the holiday at a glance.

But for some reason, the 1970 crop of ads seemed to be different. Here are some of ads to prove my point.

First up is the ad for Elyria Savings & Trust that ran in the Journal on December 2, 1970.

By George, there’s no Santa at all – just a nebbish-like character with a Santa hat. 

With his lack of definable clothes, he kind of resembles the comic strip character Smidgens, which ran in the Journal for years (and was always great).

Next is an ad for Citizens Home and Savings Association that ran in the paper on December 1, 1970. No Santa in this one either – just a pants-suited woman frolicking on a Publishers Clearing House-sized check.

At least this ad for Lorain County Savings & Trust Company (that ran in the Journal on December 11, 1970) features a Santa – well, a comely Santa babe. 

(A couple years ago I did a post about Christmas ads that would be seen as politically incorrect today.)

And although this next bank ad is for one of them newfangled credit cards rather than a Christmas club, it follows the same theme of going with something other than the classic illustration of Santa Claus. It’s for Central Security National Bank and ran in the Journal on December 5, 1970.

This Santa looks more like a Rankin-Bass TV puppet than the jolly old elf we all know.

Oh well, that’s the 1970s for you.

Christmas Ads – 1959

Sixty years ago, you might have seen some of the ads being posted on today's blog in the newspaper. They all appeared in the Lorain Journal during the holiday season in December 1959.

First up is a seasonal ad for Kutza Pharmacy that ran on December 15th (I posted a full-page 50th Anniversary ad for the Lorain drug store last month here.)

That's a good looking Santa. But isn't the 15th a little late to have a sale on Christmas cards? (By the way, I haven't received a single Christmas card yet this year. Actually I did, but it was for the person who lived at my address before I did!)

And just to show every holiday ad didn't have to have Santa Claus in it, here's one with an elf. The ad is for Herb and Millie Smithberger's 333 Bar (one of the subjects of a post back here). Hey, we had a modern tree topper similar to the one in the ad.

Here's a December 24th ad for Lorain Lumber Company with two other holiday icons: a snowman and a reindeer. The snowman is unlike Frosty in that he is fully clothed. I wonder who sat on his hat? It gives him a hobo-like appearance.

Church attendance is going down pretty rapidly in the United States, so I guess this ad layout for the Lorain Real Estate Board (which ran on December 24, 1969) isn't going to be making a comeback anytime soon.

And lastly, it wouldn't be a vintage collection of Christmas ads on this blog without one that would now be considered politically incorrect. The ad is for Gary Motor Sales and ran in the Journal on December 17th. 

Last year I did a whole post on politically incorrect Christmas ads here, which featured another Gary Motor Sales ad with a Santa babe. 

Politically Incorrect Christmas Ads – 1959, 1967 & 1968

One of the things that continues to surprise me when I’m looking at old newspaper microfilm is the amount of cheesecake that the Journal served up each day (and I’m not talking about the kind with a graham cracker crust). Ads featuring illustrations and clip art of attractive women that were designed to get the attention of male readers could pop up anywhere in the paper during the 1950s.

It seems that Christmas-themed ads were no exception.

Here's one for Gary Motors at 1532 Broadway in Lorain. Since men were probably the ones looking at car ads back then, the advertisement (which ran in the Lorain Journal on December 5, 1959) includes a Santa babe riding on a reindeer.

Hey that Rockette wanna-be looks familiar. Longtime readers of this blog might remember that she already made an appearance here back in 2014 (here), in a Chronicle-Telegram ad from December 1958.

But in case you think that this Christmas Cheesecake trend was merely a 1950s thing, here’s evidence that it was still going strong in the late 1960s. The ad for Putnam Furniture Carpet and Appliance on Routes 2 & 6 in Vermilion ran in the Journal on November 13, 1967.

By George, I think I recognize one of the Brady TVs in that ad. One of our first color televisions (if I remember correctly) sat on a metal rack with wheels.

Lastly, here’s an ad for Diamond’s Men’s Store at Midway Mall, featuring a Santa Babe with a particularly vacuous look. The ad ran in the Journal on December 22, 1968.

Anyway, I’m guessing that by the 1980s things had become more sophisticated advertising-wise. The printing company that I work for still has its clip art library from the 1980s, and the type of illustrations as seen in these ads were pretty much gone by then, with a few exceptions. But I think my boss would have raised an eyebrow if I had used anything like that in an ad anyway.

Lorain Stores Christmas Ads – December 1965

As long as I seem to be stuck in 1965, here are a pair of ads from the pages of the Lorain Journal that December – 50 years ago.

First up is an ad for Sam Klein that ran on December 17, 1965. It features a comely Santa’s helper, which no doubt would be considered politically incorrect by today’s standards. Seeing as all of the things on sale are for men and boys, perhaps a beefcake Santa would have been more appropriate in the ad to catch the attention of female shoppers.

But the gimmick of staying open until Midnight with free coffee and donuts available is a good one.

The other ad (below) is for the iconic Hills store on Route 57 and ran on December 18, 1965. It features a rather abstract Santa Claus graphic, along with a more conventional drawing of crowd of happy shoppers. 

 

Note all of the men in the ad wear fedoras. (Dad had one too, and it was up on his bedroom shelf all the way into the 1970s, when we would use it to imitate Crazy Guggenheim.)