Old Chestnut found in an attic

A chestnut or "old Chestnut" is a reference to an old joke or story:

Slang sense of "venerable joke or story" is from 1885, explained 1888 by Joseph Jefferson (see "Lippincott's Monthly Magazine," January 1888) as probably abstracted from the 1816 melodrama "The Broken Sword" by William Dimond where an oft-repeated story involving a chestnut tree figures in an exchange between the characters "Captain Zavior" and "Pablo":

Whether this is true or not, the phase or term is actually British in origin, and in this case refers to a scrap of paper I found while picking through an attic in Bethlehem CT this past weekend.

Click on the image to read the joke, it's old but a good laugh.

Video Dig Report

This was the kind of sale I like, and I was able to see it while it was being set-up. Watch below!


You've now seen the "before" maybe I should return to do the "after" video.

The Popular Science of Stork choking?

Face it, Storks love the smell of fine tobacco. So, save a baby's life and switch from those leaves and twigs you've been smoking! Other than the physical property of heated smoke being lighter than air...this ad just makes no sense. However, if it did make sense I couldn't post it, so thank you mad men of the early 20th century ad agencies.

Busy Day - Louis Armstrong and George Raft in Person!

 

Though I do wonder where his right hand, and her right leg have gone?...I don't collect postcard for the pictures, no! I collect them for the great messages on the back. See.

Either John was all talk or he was somebody who knew some of the coolest people of the day. More than the Brooklyn stamp, I think the Coney Island Station cancellation is a gem.

Ad Quiz #26 Dad can't get to first base with who? (SOLVED!)

The advertising geniuses strike again! Look at this latest ad quiz below and see if you can guess the product (hint: it's a service). Now, because I believe that no ad was just thought up, designed, and then rolled it out on a lark... I have to wonder who came up with the lead text?:

 I'll reveal the company soon, in the meantime, do you think the bottom half of this ad will make the lead text acceptable? 

SOLUTION
Is it the titillation of the double entendre? The girls against the guys theme, the image of a dad you don't want to be? - that was supposed to make this ad memorable beyond the glance from dentist's office waiting room? Or maybe there was no double meaning at all? Seems odd that if dad is the target why would he need to get to first base? Just because he's the "OACH?"  No, jimmy needs to get to the field so he can get to first base. 

When did "First Base" become a metaphor for the early stages of courtship? 

They emphasize the rest of the pattern of their use of baseball terms as a metaphor for getting things done with a busy family.  I would argue that the baseball metaphor for sexual conquest has been around as long as baseball and the ad executives knew exactly what they were doing.

Can you find the hidden images from 1890?

This is a great advertising card from the 19th century. In Pittsfield, MA on North street was Nugent's store. If you were a kid growing up in that era, this would have been a true daily destination. 

 I have no idea why it would be important to know why this store is 1.5 miles from the Pittsfield Cemetery. 

I thought briefly that the phrase "Stop the Car" on the face of the card indicated that this was maybe from the 20's or 30's until I discovered that street cars were common on North Street.

Bacon Cures Everything! Proof!

I saw this curative from the early 19th century and I had to have it. However, being that I don't have room to store everything I see, the booth owner at the flea market was nice enough to let me take a picture of it. 

So I took a little poetic license with Bacon's product, still a great moment in marketing history. 

A Quick Look at Scanty Panties-1950

Gossip and Hollywood profile magazines have been around as long as Hollywood (and longer) but if you were too busy to look at a full-size magazine in 1950, you could always turn to Quick.

This was a short-lived pamphlet sized publication (though it sported about 60 pages) and featured the starlet of the week and other random tid-bits. Some titillating (Shelly Winters - Hubba! Hubba!) or Ozzie and Harriet Nelson. Click each for a larger image and don't miss the scanty panty scandal in the final image below.

Subliminal Advertising - Can you find the drunken Yeti?

When this topic has been discussed before, I have to admit, I always feel left out. Before you say "Awwww!" Let me explain. I took plenty of marketing classes in college and remember the controversy over the use of suggestive imagery and/or text, (Enjoy Coke) or (go buy a dumpster full of popcorn). Ad agencies have always created ads that would elicit a certain emotional response from the correct demographic, intended to lead to a sale of course. However, from the looks of many ads (since the dawn of time) most of us look at these and say "I don't even know what they are selling." or, "What the hell is that?" Maybe they are looking for the watercooler factor, or maybe zapping the right neuron will sear their product indelibly on your psyche. Here is an ad from a 1967 Life magazine. See if you can find the implanted imagery I think I see.

 

Seems pretty obvious, doesn't it? If you do not see it, maybe this is the UFO factor at work here. Meaning: We see something we're not sure of and then doubt or deny we've seen it because we either don't understand it, or are concerned that anyone else we show it to will dismiss it or just not see it. We are then left with a dilemma unresolved but imprinted and still there a week later on the mind. Here take a closer look:

  Do you see it now? Well, here is the question of the day....What is it? What do you see staring back at you? Leave your guess in the comments. Me? I'm going out for a bottle of Johnnie Walker Yeti.