Category: Nostalgia

Keep ‘Em Shining With Shinola White

1946

Looks like Pat Boone should have used Shinola White on his signature shoes. Why so scuffed? Looks like he just left the coalmine. 







	


	









	

		
		
Degree’s New Aloha Fresh Deodorant Kills With Undergrads
	


	
	
	

		

UT 1947





Here you see Horace offering his armpit to Shirley, who tries her best to look unimpressed, though the combination of pineapple pulp, hibiscus, and Polynesian breeze are an intoxicating aphrodisiac indeed. Phillip, downwind of him, seems overcome by the pheromones. 





Don’t look now, but the fumes of anti-perspirant have attracted the coeds from down the hall! Everyone’s up for Aloha Fresh. 










While tiki torches burn, Raynard and Viv spark it up. Aloha Fresh neutralizes that irritating side smoke, and even the stench of cheap domestic beer. 










The truth is, no one wants to believe he or she has an issue with odor. But we’ve all been in cabs. It’s real. Better safe than sorry. Shouldn’t you be Aloha Fresh today? 






	


	







	

		
		
And Then They Plummeted To Their Deaths
	


	
	
	

		






It’s Portugal, 1949. A good time to be alive. Maybe don’t sit at the edge of a lake on the Azores Volcanic Crater, unless you have seriously good balance.

	


	





	

		
		
Post-War Pig Insecurities
	


	
	
	

		






What could be sadder than Prolon-induced pig anxiety? Perhaps hooves clutching a wishbone of a fellow creature? Who cares? Hitler is dead! 





All of today’s ads come to us from the summer of 1946, when the country was just beginning to get back on her feet. The war was in the past, and so was hog bristle. In this new age, science was the winner, and pigs vs prophylactic Prolon made good copy. 





But not as good as a head of youthful, vibrant, slick hair that caught a young lady’s eye. Watch as his locks emanate vitality.





Good night, nurse! He could inspect my rigging any day. 





And speaking of crushes, why not try Orange Crush, filled with the juice of tree-ripened Valencia oranges? Yes, that’s right. Actual juice in the bottle, as well as pulp!










Not a fan of orange? Then pause to refresh with Hires. Cheers to silly puns! Now let me dig, woman. 










Not a soda person? Maybe a Bloody Mary is in your future. Make it sing with A-1, the dash that makes the dish!










After all that imbibing, it’s time to wind down, head to the parlor, and listen to some Big Band on the Crosley radio. Perhaps make room for a cooling after-dinner mint. Everyone’s heard of Richardson’s mints. U-All-No!






	


	





	

		
		
Waterbowl Wednesday
	


	
	
	

		






Set down your coffee to read this one, folks. It doesn’t marry well with toilet bowl. I stumbled upon this image early this morning, perusing pics for a Facebook birthday post. I wondered why I had kept this Polaroid for nigh on 40 years. You can see the Polaroid edges, no? In it, the family cat of my tweens, Ran Tan, has decided to rehydrate from an exhaustive day of lounging and nibbling. 





Did I keep it because I will always have a special place in my heart for her? No. She was a cat. She was not a dog. The special place is clearly filled with our dog. 





But it speaks to a time where one did not have a camera in one’s pocket. If one had stumbled upon the cat mid-drink, one would never have time enough to go find the Polaroid and lug it to the water closet before said cat had vanished. I don’t recall the circumstances of how perchance the shot exists, or even who took it, though it’s been in my possession all these decades. It must have been happenstance.





It also speaks to growing up in a house with one potty for all to share. Patience was a virtue. My son grew up in a home where each bottom has its own toilet. Ah, luxury! 





I imagine we sprinkled the bowl with Comet soon afterward. Note the stylish tiles, which, if original to the home, would be nearly 100 years old now. And how often do you see a black toilet seat? It complimented Ran Tan’s fur just fine. 





Perhaps the point is the cliché seize the day, seize pleasure where you find it. Perhaps the point is to stay hydrated. Or perhaps the point is to save at least one picture of your family cat, even if it’s just the tail. 

	


	





	

		
		
heard it from a friend who heard it from a friend who
	


	
	
	

		

Miami University 1955





Sometimes when infatuation spills out of you so effusively that you can’t hold your dimples in, you just need your bestie to have your back, and go tell it on the mountain–or go tell the bestie of your crush that you think he’s the most. 





Then he can relay the information. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.





“Really? Sheila likes me?”





Then it’s up to him to make the next move. Or bring his buddies with him as wingmen. 










Sparks may fly between you. 










And who knows where that could lead?






	


	





	

		
		
Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep
	


	
	
	

		

Elvis, NOLA, Aug 12, 1956 by Jay B. Leviton





What is going on here? No one is rushing the stage. Folks are in their seats. No Zippos in the air. No bra straps showing. Petticoats are full, waists cinched nicely. It’s a remarkable expression of containment and decorum, when you know full well those girls are about to. lose. their. minds. 





And there is Elvis, prostrate, barely legal to drink, full of chills that are multiplying and sending electric shocks up the spines of the mostly female audience. I would say he’s all shook up, but that won’t come out till next year, the year he buys Graceland and is drafted into the military. 





Fortunately, Elvis lives to tour again and continues the theme of lying down during set lists, even as his age doubles from 21 to 42. Yes, the sideburns and jumpsuits (and karate moves) are new. But some things never change. 






	


	







	

		
		
Rib-Tickling, Spine-Splitting Pie
	


	
	
	

		
shorpy


I do love pie (even chose it instead of wedding cake), but I must admit I’ve never consumed it whilst donning a bathing suit, as these lasses did on July 31, 1921 in the nation’s capital. Tidal Basin Bathing Beach had opened only three years prior, and then closed four years after this shot.  Seize the moments while you can.