All American Ads of the 60's (Midi Series) [Paperback]

The book begins with a couple of pages of commentary by the author explaining the power of advertising and consumer consumption in the 1960s. If someone doesn't read English, then he can read it in 4 other languages - German, French, Spanish, and an Asian language (not Chinese, but possibly Japanese or Korean).

Most of the ads are in color, though a few are in their original black-and-white design. The ads are divided into nine categories, starting with the early part of the decade, progressing to the end. There are approximately 60 pages on alcohol and tobacco, 160 pages on automobiles, 100 on business and industry, 160 pages on consumer products, 50 pages on entertainment, 150 pages on fashion and beauty, 100 pages on food and beverage, 60 pages on furniture and appliances, and 50 pages on the travel industry. Thus, the book is not geared towards men or women or any age group.

Inside, you'll find the one-and-only Groucho Marx declaring, "If you don't serve Smirnoff (vodka)....hide the label!"

For those who think that foreign imports are just little toys, an ad for the 1966 Dodge Dart proclaims, "Join the Dodge Rebellion. Stamp out cramped compacts. Up with man-sized Dodge Dart."

One of the more surprising ads was for Motorola television in 1962. About a dozen nude, smiling people (you can't see private parts) are outside in a meadow, all gathered around a tiny television set displaying the face of a little boy.

In 1965, the Hoover company shows a smiling man in a neat little shirt and tie with thick black glasses and a crewcut surrounded by a mop, dustpan, and other household goods. The ad declares, "Chances are you won't marry a guy who cooks, cleans, irons, scrubs, and sweeps." The next picture shows several vacuum cleaners and other household products and says, "We've thought about that."

"How come all non-conformists look alike?" In 1969, with a picture of a Janis Joplin look-alike, Simplicity states, "Sew your own thing."

"When your TV screen goes black for an hour, you're watching ABC," the company's ad says in 1969. "Because ABC is five major television stations that are the leaders in community-minded broadcasting. Each one, for instance, is currently involved in programming exclusively for black people. On San Francisco's KGO-TV, it's `Black Dignity,' an hour program every Sunday. Originated and produced by black people. For black people."

To appeal to the teenage mod community, who apparently were threatening to consume mass quantities of diet colas, the sugar industry began telling us that we need more sugar in our lives. In 1966, we see a girl with a slightly thick midriff in a bikini on a surfboard with the caption, "Lisa needs a sugarless, energy-less soft drink like a kangaroo needs a baby buggy. Lisa's strictly the go-go type. After sunning, shopping, afternoon tennis date, and discothèquing into the wee hours, she's up first thing to catch the early morning surf. What keeps Lisa from washing out? Energy...And sugar's got it. That's right, sugar. Everything in it is go. Note to people on the go: Exhaustion may be dangerous. It can even rob you of your resistance to illness. But sugar helps offset exhaustion - puts back energy fast. Synthetic sweeteners put back nothing. So play safe - make sure you get sugar every day. People need what sugar's got.....18 calories per teaspoon....and it's all energy."

That's all I needed to hear. I'm off to energize my life with some Krispy Kreme donuts. For my health, you know.

Unlike the ads from previous decades I found these from the Sixties show a new awareness of design. Shapes and the use of white space is much more creative than in the past, typography, with increased use of photo-setting for headlines and text, gave the hard sell a crispness not seen before. Also Madison Avenue happily turned trend spotter and used psychedelic and op-art, for instance, to convey the message to the reader.

There is something for everybody in the nine chapters, my favorites are in Automobiles (164 pages) where twenty-four ads use the painting skills of Arthur Fitzpatrick and Van Kaufman to sell Pontiac cars, these pictures still look great today. In Consumer Products (166 pages) I can even remember one ad, for MasterCard, from Christmas 1969, it showed a realistic model of a city square with some of the buildings made from everyday products, when you get the book turn to pages 428-9 and be amazed.

If you lived through the Sixties you'll enjoy this huge book, if you didn't you'll have a chance to catch up on some interesting popular culture.