20th Century Ads

Zam-Buk - From England To Four Continents...

2008-12-01T12:48:00.000-08:00

English newspaper advertisements tracing the spread of the Zam-Buk herbal balm from England - where it was first manufactured and sold by CE Fulford - to four continents. "The Great English Remedy" - 1907. And what's more there was no "flummery" and the testimonials to the cure were not bought or manufactured!

1907 again - and Mrs Scotchford of Walthamstow has nothing but praise for Zam-Buk...

A final ad from 1907 - "Do the damp, boisterous, biting March winds make your face and lips sore or your hands and arms red, rough and scaly? Help is at hand!

1908 - Zam-Buk was essential in cases of "seaside rash"!

1916: Zam-Buk - now available on four continents!
1917: "Of all Chemists and Drug Stores or the Zam-Buk Laboratories, Leeds" - "Keep a box always handy"!

1917: THE BRITISH REMEDY FOR SKIN TROUBLES - just look at that bulldog!

1918: The ever-ready ambulance!

Although first manufactured in England, Zam-Buk vanished from our shores around the early 1990s. But since then it has made a comeback. Take a look here for details.

Yeast Vite

2008-09-12T10:03:00.000-07:00

A v ery early Yeast Vite bottle - "The New And Wonderful Treatment of Pure Yeast Vitamins".

A box of Yeast Vite was always to be found in my grandmother's handbag. She swore by the little brown tablets to give an energy boost and settle the nerves. This blotter, printed in 1929 ready for 1930, proclaims: "YEAST-VITE TABLETS - The greatest Medical Discovery of the Century."

A whole series of ads, depicting men and women discovering the benefits of Yeast-Vite, appeared in newspapers in 1947 and 1948.

A Yeast-Vite box from the 1960s.

1982 - a far cry from the 1947 woman "done up, aching all over" and not half finished the washing yet! This lady has big hair, no doubt an automatic washing machine, and is evidently going places!

Yeast Vite are still available today - manufactured by Thornton & Ross of Huddersfield, England.

I was introduced to them by my gran years ago and still rate them as a handy boost when my eyelids start to droop at inappropriate times!

1980: The Launch of the Shake 'n' Vac TV Ad!

2007-10-04T19:03:00.002-07:00

A fondly remembered TV ad, featuring Jenny Logan doing a wonderful 1950s style song and dance routine around her living room as she sprinkled Shake 'n' Vac carpet freshener. "Do the Shake 'n' Vac and put the freshness back, do the Shake 'n' Vac and put the freshness back, when your carpet smells fresh, your room does too, every time you vacuum, remember what to do..."

The ad is often quoted by ITV, Channel Four, the BBC, old Uncle Tom Cobbley and all, as being first broadcast in 1979, but this is incorrect. The product was first on sale in 1979, but the advertising was delayed until 1980 due to the 1979 ITV strike.

The World Advertising Research Center site provides fascinating information from 1980:

-
Shake n' Vac: A New Product Launch

Hilary Rose, Mike Stefan and Carol Reay, Institute of Practitioners in Advertising, IPA Effectiveness Awards, 1980

-
Launch of a new powder carpet and room freshener. Sold in 1979, but advertising delayed to 1980 by ITV strike. TV only used. Results: consistent sales growth (Nielsen Food Index); sales growth linked to advertising; awareness, brand recall, levels of trial, all satisfactory. Regional variations on ad weight relate positively to sales and share (Nielsen). Contribution to profit and overheads in first year claimed, though not substantiated.

Go to the WARC site Shake 'n' Vac info by clicking here.

1944: Shut That Door!

2007-02-10T05:13:00.000-08:00

A fuel saving reminder from the Ministry of Fuel and Power - and inspiration for popular 1970s and '80s television presenter and comedian Larry Grayson.

1944: Rennies Indigestion Remedy

2007-01-31T05:47:00.000-08:00

Rennies indigestion tablets - tried and trusted!

1944: Colgate Dental Cream

2007-01-31T05:39:00.000-08:00

Colgate - Don't be guilty of oral offence!

July 1979: Smurf of the Month

2007-01-24T09:52:00.000-08:00

This is "Smurf of the Month", July 1979 - one of a series of collectable figurines, available at National petrol stations.

The Smurfs' origins actually date back to the late 1950s, but over here in England most of us had never heard of them until they released a pop record called The Smurf Song, which entered our pop charts on 10/6/1978.

"Where are you all coming from?"

"From Smurfland where we belong."

Of course there was the invitable spoof version: "Where are you all coming from?"

"We're from Brixton on the run!"

The Smurf craze continued into the 1980s.

"You Got An Ology?" - 1987 - The Launch of the BT Beattie Ads...

2007-01-23T03:28:00.000-08:00

Having just been told by her grandson Anthony that he's flunked his exams, passing only pottery and sociology, Beattie says: "He gets an ology and he says he's failed... you get an ology you're a scientist..."

Mrs Beattie Bellman was created by Richard Phillips of the J Walter Thompson advertising agency in 1987.

And she was originally to have been called Dora.

The BT Beattie ads were launched around December 1987. It is often stated on the web, and indeed on a "Greatest Ads" TV show, that 1988 was the launch year, but the BT site lists the first appearance as 1987, and Maureen Lipman states in the 1989 script book You Got An Ology? that the recording of the first ten ads, accomplished in just over two weeks, took place before and after the great gale of October 1987!

Those first ten ads included the legendary "Ology".

Here's what the BT site says:

A star is born and Beattie takes the nation by storm. Maureen Lipman's Jewish granny goes on to star in 32 TV commercials and contributes the word "ology" to the English language.

See the full article here and scroll down to the 1987 section for the Beattie info.

The phone used by Beattie in the "ology" ad was a red BT Tribune - released in 1987.

"You Got An Ology?" by Maureen Lipman and Richard Phillips, 1989. Beattie had become a major celebrity in two years, justifying the publication of this funny book - which included twenty ad scripts, the thoughts of Beattie, and various household hints and recipes from the great lady!

Milk: Post-60s Sauce!

2007-01-22T04:00:00.000-08:00

A magazine advertisement from 1973.

Are you getting enough? (nudge, nudge, wink, wink, oower missis, etc, etc).

Following the 1960s sexual revolution, "amusing" double entendres were everywhere.

Zam-Buk Foot Baths...

2007-01-20T16:26:00.000-08:00

Zam-Buk is a green herbal balm, which originated in England over a century ago. Having vanished from our chemists' shelves in the early 1990s, Zam-Buk herbal balm is now being manufactured again by Rose & Co of Yorkshire. I highly recommend it. Details here.

The Zam-Buk foot bath featured in the 1919 newspaper advertisement above has long gone and shows no sign of a revival.

1968 - a Cat in a Groovy Motor & Abbey Fabby National

2006-12-22T17:21:00.000-08:00

The groovy, free lovin', free wheelin', non-materialistic 60s...

But how could you be "with it" without "dough"?

Abbey National aimed this ad at "hip" youngsters.

1927: Ovaltine - Do Your Nerves Stay Up When You Go To Bed?

2006-12-22T10:49:00.000-08:00

What could be more soothing at the end of the day than a nice mug of Ovaltine?

1980s - The Sony Walkman Arrives...

2006-12-21T15:50:00.000-08:00

Invented in Japan in 1979, and first released in Britain as the "Sony Stowaway" in 1980 (also its American release year), the personal stereo was first patented here under its original name, "Sony Walkman", in 1981.

Cheaper versions were available, but this advertisement from late 1984 shows the original mobile music gadget dropping below £30.

Beecham's Pills

2006-12-16T12:50:00.000-08:00

This 1929 newspaper advertisement for Beecham's Pills makes me smile. My grandmother often talked of an aunt of hers who was most possessive of her only daughter. Whenever this poor girl was due to go out to a dance, back in the '20s and '30s, her mother would always have a "bilious attack". Very convenient!

Not even Beecham's Pills relieved those attacks!

Mateus Rosé

2006-12-16T03:24:00.000-08:00

A 1968 magazine advertisement for Mateus Rosé - fondly remembered by many of the "children of the 60s".

"It's All At The Co-op NOW!"

2006-12-05T14:41:00.000-08:00

"It's All At Your Co-op NOW!" or "It's All At The Co-op NOW" were famous TV ad slogans and jingles of the 1960s and early 1970s.

In the hard times of the '70s, the slogan changed to the far less catchy "Your Caring Sharing Co-op".

Shame.

1980s: The Scotch Skeleton Ads

2006-12-05T12:36:00.000-08:00

Video technology had been around for yonks, but domestic VCRs had only been around for a few years by the 1980s.

In 1980, only 5% of UK households had a VCR. As the decade progressed, the beasts became cheaper to buy or rent and our home entertainment went through something of a revolution.

Of course, advertisements reflected the trend. The ad above, featured in the TV Times in December 1985, shows the popular Scotch skeleton, voiced by Deryck Guyler of Please Sir! and Sykes fame.

"Re-record not fade away, re-record not fade away..." was the skeleton's famous catchphrase, from 1985 onwards. The skeleton made his debut in 1983, when nearly 20% of UK households had a VCR. By the time of the "re-record..." ad of 1985, it was 25%.

1960s: Plastic Money...

2006-05-20T16:17:00.000-07:00

A 1967 magazine advertisement for Barclaycard. "Plastic money" did not become commonplace until the 1980s. The first UK debit card, Barclays Connect, was released in 1985.

Buzby and the Arrival of British Telecom

2006-01-24T03:40:00.000-08:00

Buzby - the talking cartoon bird, voiced by Bernard Cribbins, was launched c. 1977 and was around well into the 1980s. Buzby's catchphrase was: "Make someone happy with a phone call." A cynical play on this, very prevalent in the late 1970s and early 1980s, was: "Make someone happy - wring Buzby's neck!"

Keeping in touch with developments at the All England Club - via "the blower"! In 1980, Post Office Telecommunications became British Telecom and would become a totally separate public corporation on 1 October 1981.

British Telecom has arrived, as seen in this newspaper advertisement from July 1980.