hey guys we’re back at it with another they’re doing it right. This time im making you look at some very cool very interesting advertisements from the turn of the 20th century. around the 1900s. A lot of very popular brands emerged from this time, and we can see them reference these old ads for collectibles, merch, and other fun stuff. But thats neither here nor there so c’mon hop in and lets take a joy ride weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Italian poster advertising Delser biscuits.
Designed by Osvaldo Ballerio around 1905.
A common theme you see in 1920s ads is that they are extremely ornate, illustrated, and warm. This is a result of the art nouveau style that was extremely popular in the U.S. and Europe at the time. The poster above is a great example of this style. The product being advertised is almost used as a prop to further a story being told. I, for one, miss when common items were designed in this manner. There are still some brand that do this sort of decor for their products, but they are few and far between. I love the font pairing of the stylized text at the top for the type of food and company, contrasted by the full company name and region of Italy from where they are based.
Edison Form advertising Edison products
Circa. 1900 from Edison Records, founded by Thomas Edison! Wow!!!
This ad most likely comes from a newspaper where forums like this were common in the early 1900s. I am in love with the use of minimal colors, with the only color really being used is red. I’m not sure if this is product of limitations or intentional designs, but sometimes the best designs come from things out of our control! I also love the choice to put the logo of the company on top of the hand which draws even more attention to it. This ad is very text heavy, but I think it handles all the test well by using different weights, serifs, and styles. Even if one were to only read the big highlighted words we would still get the message.
Whitman’s Chocolates ad circa. 1940s
This ad was produced towards the end of World War 2 which is why it features a man in uniform coming home to his lady.
Here we have an ad coming from the WW2 era. There are so many good ones to choose from this era; especially ads concerning social causes and the war effort. This Whitman’s Chocolates ad is one of the more famous ones. The colors and copy is really what gets me. I love how they chose to color the ad based on colors off of their product, which is done quite a lot but I think in this case it is done exceptionally well. The green on her dress, the creme on her apron, the brown of the uniform all goes back to the packaging and the chocolates. The tagline of “A WOMAN NEVER FORGETS THE MAN WHO REMEBERS” is just *mwuah!!!* Especially with that bold font and spacing. Also I really enjoy the little guy walking off the ad like he’s done his job here and is on to the next mission.