Ken's Posterous |
My name is Ken. I'll be your server tonight. Smoking or non-smoking? |
Hey kids, jump in the Delorean, fire up the Flux Capacitor, then journey back in time with us to an era when tobacco companies had truckloads of money and their commercials ruled the airwaves.
Remember when radio and TV commercials had pleasant tunes and friendly singers that didn't hit you over the head? No? Well then just you wait. Someday your own kids will be listening to even more obnoxious broadcasting than you currently endure.
Are you set? Are you safe? Are you sure?
This would've been added to the end of sponsor's spot. Another classic radio tag for the attention impaired of you out there in radioland.
Ahh the good old days, when car commercials on the radio had swing! This is probably from the late 1950's to early 1960's. It makes you realize how today's ads keep getting progressively louder and more obnoxious.
Copied from an original source 1950's-60's California radio station reel found by yours truly.
My Dad's father was an Italian immigrant of the early 1900's, and raised his family in the house that he bought near Pittsburgh. He lived there until he was in his 90's, when he passed away in the early 1980's. Years after he was gone, the family who bought the house contacted my father, and said they found a box of glassplate negatives sitting on the rafter inside the upstairs attic.
I scanned these glassplate negatives on a regular flatbed scanner. View the large versions if you can. The detail is so incredible, I feel like I want to jump into the scenes. The compressed jpegs here don't do the images proper justice.
Why do companies even need to convince us to buy their shaving cream? Just make it foamy and cheap and I'll buy it.
Here we have a tale of two singers. The "smooth" guy is a kind of young Bing Crosby crooner type. The "quick" singer sounds like he had more sleep than necessary and too much morning coffee. I get the feeling that the "smooth" crooner would like to deck Mr. Quick once this spot is over - Copied from an original source 1950's-60's California radio station reel found by yours truly.
Hey kids, come back with us to an era when tobacco companies had truckloads of money and their commercials were all over the airwaves.
What is the best way to sell a sexy swim suit on the radio? How about cheesy organ music with singers that would please your grandmother? "No" you say? Well, things must've been different in the 1950's. Copied from an original source 1950's-60's California radio station reel found by yours truly.
You have no excuse not to click this and listen to it, even if you have the shortest of attention spans. C'mon, it's literally 8 seconds long! - Copied from an original source 1950's-60's California radio station reel found by yours truly.
I really love this. I'm serious. It has all the elements of a great jingle: short, sweet and instantly memorable. This was probably sent to local radio stations to tag the end of their own Safeway Store spots. When I finally got to visit California a few years ago, I was so excited to visit my first Safeway store because I already listened to this jingle 50 times. - Copied from a 1950's-60's California radio station reel found by yours truly.
I can't think of anything clever or funny to fill in here... But hey, it's been a long day. And have you ever tried to type something clever and funny while balancing an overactive 9 year old who has cerebral palsy on your lap? I didn't think so.
