Gypsy Creams
Westclox
Woman's Realm / 6th October 1967
I’ve noticed a fair bit of sexual innuendo in some of these ads, but I bet the copywriters didn’t spot the ‘flick of a knob’ joke. Hur hur. It’s easy to forget that an alarm clock used to be a far louder affair than the half-hearted beeping that my clock radio gives out. I did use a traditional alarm clock for a limited period 10 years ago, but soon got fed up with being awoken with a heart-stopping crescendo of clangs. I remember my dad having one of these, though, so perhaps the innuendo worked on my mother…
Tags: blatant sexism, household, retail
8 Comments
Anonymous on 14 June 2010 @ 1pm
It’s not what all men want first thing in the morning, but “a little kindness” from the missus?. That sounds more appealing……..maybe that is a little bit of, far subtler, further innuendo.
Haverford West on 14 June 2010 @ 2pm
Argh! I remember this bloody machine all too well. Used to blast my ears off every morning for school – maybe that’s what the earrings are symbolizing… Damned good to see an advert making non-smirking use of the adjective ‘sturdy’.
Jamie on 14 June 2010 @ 5pm
Your adverts and cuttings often go from amusing to uncomfortable quite quickly. Nice to see an advert that starts uncomfortable and heads for a whole new level of wrong as soon as possible.
My dad also had Westclox alarm clocks. And that really doesn’t help matters.
Estelle on 14 June 2010 @ 8pm
Those odd screwy earrings…
Tanya Jones on 14 June 2010 @ 10pm
Actually, I meant to mention the earrings. What are they doing there? That’s a man’s hand, so we’re probably meant to assume that the clock’s on his side of the bed…
Von Paz on 30 June 2010 @ 10pm
I had one of these when I was a child. I used to have two alarms. A soft beepy one went off first, next to my bed, thus giving me the chance to get up and switch the ‘bells of satan’ off before it went off on the other side of the room. I can still remember the folly of ignoring the first alarm, the heart stopping terror of lurching out of bed, flinging myself across the room, covers flying, must stop the bells….
It really worked, I can tell you!
TheLeen on 14 June 2010 @ 11am
At the flick of a knob?
I love your site.