Two more Twenties ads

To make up for my posting lapse here are a couple of colourful ads from 1928 editions of the Strand Magazine. Through the summer months in the Twenties Bird's seemed to always take the back page spot, with Bovril taking it over in the autumn and winter (but not necessarily the prime Christmas position, which as likely as not would be had by the now-defunct Super-Kreem Toffees). These two appeared in September and November. What amuses me about the Bird's advert is that I'm willing to bet the 'Cheerio! Jolly old etc' tagline was just as naff to the youngsters it was aimed at as any attempted youth-speak by corporate advertisers is today. 'Oh crikey, mummy, simply nobody says "Cheerio" these days, that's so 1926,' you can almsot hear the young deb say. 'Dude, I mean, totally.' Well, maybe not that.

Cheerful ads

Just in case that last pic creeped you out, here are a couple more jolly ads from the Strand Magazine (December 1927). A much more appropriate one for Bovril than the last one I posted. Birds Custard on the the other hand always seemed to produce attractive ads.

Roaring twenties

This rather handsome advert for Douglas motorcycles appeared on the back of the May 1927 edition of The Strand Magazine. I don't think I'd heard of Douglas bikes before but fins on t'internet that they were an important British manufacturer during the First World War; were the inventors of the disc brake; and pioneered the production of dirt-track bikes. How many of their customers rode them wearing kilts is another question - actually the chap seems to be putting the Vs up to anyone who'd dare ask.

Three adverts from 1927 editions of The Strand Magazine

The Bovril ad is wonderfully absurd and clearly fits into the aspirational market: can you imagine the types who went to country house fancy dress balls, supping on Bovril in little branded mugs? Oxo are a bit more sensible, showing a girl who could be anything from a flapper who's got up late after a hard night's partying to a student nurse. The Birds Custard one is cute, but shows the clumsy 'sells' which seem typical of the time. The main catchline is oddly inappropriate. OK Birds Custard is great, we get that, but how is the saying relevant to small boys in Indian playsuits? Hedging their bets, they then shove in the standby line for mums, implying that custard is somehow good for growing kids. I've noticed that Super-Kreem toffees and Roundtree fruit gums, both of whom advertise regularly, try the same dodge. They wouldn't get away with such nonsense today.

Back cover, front cover

Back of the September 1926 edition of The Strand with the front cover of the October edition opposite. Particularly striking cover on the October issue - that's Steve Dixie threatening Sherlock from The Three Gables.

But I find the Rinso ad fascinating too with its strict demarcation of the gender roles - He goes out to work, She stays at home and does the laundry. Note too how much older he looks than her - but that's a commercially important male fantasy, one that was upheld in films, I've noticed, way into the 60s and occasionally beyond. It was seen as perfectly normal that a young woman in her early 20s should find attractive men in their 40s or 50s.

In the advert the chap is announcing: 'What I want is a fresh, happy-looking wife on a Monday evening. And that's what Rinso gives me' - by saving her labour and making sure she's still keen to make him his dinner. He continues: 'I don't understand how any man can bear to see his wife struggling with old methods, and aging in the process...' She must remain 'fresh', you see. And hey, she's not even capable of choosing her own washing powder - even that, according to this ad, should be left up to the men folk.