Gypsy Creams

“dodgy advice” Tag

A Man in Your Position

Men Only / September 1951

Sitting up straight is not mere vanity, it’s true. I’m not convinced that a humble belt would help all that much, though.

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Take Up Pelmanism

Men Only / July 1950

No, I don’t know either. But the discount for ex- and serving forces members is very canny, given the time of the ad. Another thing I don’t understand is the shoe polish ad. Is it trying to sell to women by making them paranoid about their shoes, or support men judging women by their appearance, therefore getting an indirect sale? It’s all too complicated for this woman, frankly.

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An unusual TA recruitment tactic

Men Only / July 1950

Ah, nothing like a bit of emotional blackmail to help a government hedge its bets in a brave new post-WW2 world.

The Territorial Army is the official reserve armed force for the UK, although the situation in 1951 was complicated by the fact that conscription into National Service for 17-21 year olds wasn’t to end until the early 1960s. However, the advert here is aimed at men who served in WW2 and had been sent home after the war to either continue to support their families, or to start one. Given that some conscripts weren’t sent home until 1949, it seems rather unfair to immediately haul them back, just because Britain wasn’t getting its own way in the post-WW2 world.

But then, for men brought up on the idea of British Empire, the early 1950s would indeed have been frightening; the various conflicts related to the Cold War, such as the Korean War lasting from 1950-1953, the Malayan Emergency lasting throughout the 1950s, and the chaos of Indian independence in 1947 would have all contributed to a feeling of the world order as most Britons knew it falling apart. No wonder some feared that they’d have to go through it all again.

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Womanhood

Men Only / September 1951

I think the copywriters might have sunk several pints themselves in the sun, because this advert has many words, few of which make any real sense. The comment referring to ‘womanlike’ is very confused, and it’s hard to make out who is actually being sold to. Perhaps this is the sort of rambling mess these ad men offered their own wives when stumbling back from a long liquid lunch.

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Pipe Accounts for Promotion

Men Only / September 1951

Will’s Cut Golden Bar, a product of a bygone age (in the UK, at least). The advice is also from a bygone age, when pipe smoking was a sign of manhood, and smoking a routine sight in British offices.

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Leafing Through the Classifieds…

Weekend / 30th January 1974

So many gems here, but what really leaped out at me from this collection was the topless catsuit, as I remember ads for something similar in the News of the World, which my parents read regularly when I grew up. The weekend supplement was responsible for a fair bit of my sex education; thank goodness my parents were willing to answer the questions I had after reading the articles!

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Keeping It In The Family

Woman's Weekly / 30th April 1965

Ah, the past. Young heterosexual relationships are rarely policed in this fashion nowadays, of course, but we can’t make the same assumptions for everyone. It’s also worth noticing that there’s no mention of whether race is playing a part in the father’s reaction, but, to be fair, interracial relationships were very rare in 1965. Mary actually gives some good advice here, which makes a nice change. Her advice to the young woman being sexually bullied by her boyfriend’s father, although, is quite typical of the time. A quick web search does suggest that this problem still exists nowadays, but it is a good sign that the advice given is more empowering than Mary’s, and I do get the impression that it’s a bit rarer.

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McDougalls

Woman's Weekly / 30th April 1965

Goodness me, this is a bit blatant. I wouldn’t mind betting that this sort of thing is no longer allowed under the CAP code…

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Concertina Syndrome

Woman's Weekly / 14th May 1965

She ought to get that seen to. Seriously, though, and I know I’ve gone on about this before, but aren’t Trimmetts basically advocating that you eat their biscuits for the rest of your life? I reckon you’d have far more fun as a ‘fat maiden’.

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Sweetex

Woman's Weekly / 4th July 1969

Oh, Sweetex. It’s really very lazy just to have an already-thin model hold up a dress of the same size against her, and just tighten the belt. Not to mention that if her waist really was that small, she’d be very ill indeed…

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