18th July 2017 / No Comments Yet
Woman /
25 December 1965
Godfrey Winn is a name almost forgotten today, but thanks to the wonders of Wikipedia, I’m able to tell you that he was a respected war journalist, actor and author. However, at this point, Winn was a much-loved columnist, writing for women, and this advert clearly shows him in this role.
Two things clearly leap out at me from this ad copy; that being in your 40s was considered vaguely shameful for women back then, whereas the stigma is considerably reduced nowadays, and that her appearance is much older than would be expected of someone her age now. Not only does she LOOK older than she is by modern standards, but her description of her ‘rheumatism’ is akin to something I might expect from someone at least 20 years older than her. Getting older in the 1960s does sound a little like Logan’s Run, but it’s important to realise that life expectancy for women when Mrs Baker was born was around 60, so perhaps it’s not that surprising that her attitude might be one of a woman approaching old age.
I’ve put rheumatism in quotes for a reason, as Fynnon Salt, from what I can gather online, is another name for Epsom Salts, still sold today as a treatment for aching muscles, and rheumatism is nowadays recognised as an umbrella term for various muscular aches. Given the description of her job and her age, I would expect Mrs Baker to experience pain in her legs, but the attitude in the advert suggests that this is an actual condition, rather than a normal reaction to fatigue. Plenty has been written about the ‘medicalisation’ of human pain, and it continues to be a controversial and complicated subject, but this seems to typify a common attitude of the time, where normal pain is seen as something wrong with the person, rather than the pressures they are subject to.
Tags: 1960s, blatant sexism, dodgy advice, health
2nd July 2017 / 1 Comment
Woman's Realm /
15 July 1961
These appear to be ‘Pull-up’ pants for teenage girls, so I’m not all that surprised that they didn’t become popular. I suspect part of the failure might be the ‘fleecenap’ that’s meant to absorb menses, although I can’t say for sure how it measured up against other sanitary alternatives of the time. Another attempt was made a few years later in the shape of Nikini, but the failure of this product suggests that, amazingly, not all women are made to the same shape and size, and so they’re better off deciding for themselves exactly where their sanitary protection should sit. A secondary reason why this kind of product isn’t likely to be making a comeback is the loss of social stigma around tampons, and even the reputation of menstrual cups is changing from being too ‘hippy’, due to some canny advertising praising their ecologically-friendly credentials.
Tags: blatant sexism, health, periods, social history, Tampax, teenagers
17th February 2017 / No Comments Yet
Woman /
25 December 1965
I can only presume that this campaign was in response to consumer research, but I must admit that I’m puzzled. Surely, if you’re already being kept up by a bunged-up kid, rubbing some Vicks on their chest isn’t THAT much of a hardship?
Tags: 1960s, emotional blackmail, health
1st April 2015 / No Comments Yet
Woman's Realm /
15 July 1961
Nope, not an April Fool, but a reminder of how times have changed!
Tags: dodgy advice, food, health, kids, retail, social history
14th November 2014 / No Comments Yet
Men Only /
July 1950
Blimey, I honestly can’t find anything to really object to in this advert. This bloke actually seems to *like* his wife…
Tags: health, retail, social history
24th August 2014 / 3 Comments
Men Only /
July 1950
Now, these ads really WERE written by drunkards, weren’t they? “Cheer up!” and “THIS IS THE GIN” indeed.
Tags: booze, dodgy advice, health, retail
18th June 2014 / 3 Comments
Men Only /
July 1950
Well, it’s not quite as awful as this corker from Amplex, but how fascinating to see men’s grooming as closely scrutinised as women’s, so early on in the development of deodorant. Naturally, the approach is to appeal to men’s ambition, rather than whether their very existence is causing offence to others, but the message is clear; high-ranking men might sweat the same as a spot welder, but they’re not allowed to show it.
Tags: dodgy advice, emotional blackmail, health, retail, social history
22nd November 2013 / 1 Comment
Woman's Weekly /
4th July 1969
White. The brave woman’s choice. Although tampons are certainly less cumbersome than other methods of sanitary protection, it doesn’t protect against other symptoms, such as pain, tiredness and irritation with men making jokes about PMT. Mind you, the irritation with men lasts all month round…
Tags: health, Lil-lets, retail
16th June 2012 / 5 Comments
Woman's Weekly /
30th April 1965
I don’t know for sure whether Lucozade was regularly recommended for an upset stomach by the medical profession in the past, but my mother certainly gave me Lucozade when I was sick as a child. However, the Wikipedia entry states clearly that it’s not recommended for sodium and electrolyte replacement.
Tags: health, Lucozade
24th May 2012 / 3 Comments
Woman's Weekly /
14th May 1965
I’ve written about Phensic before, but I find their code for period pain quite fascinating. No wonder so many people were confused about sex and periods, if the only references made were as heavily veiled as this.
Tags: blatant sexism, health, periods