I enjoy finding old ads, and it seems there is no end to the supply. Over the weekend, I found a couple of dog-eared, musty editions of Popular Mechanics magazine from 1916. Inside were a year's worth of funny ads, many were so direct that I began to sense an assault.
Loud and crass ads are nothing new. Advertisers long ago learned that in order to get the audience's attention, YELLING is a necessity, and exaggeration is the most important thing in the world.
The magazine content itself is a mix of ideas and hopeful solutions and revelations for a better tomorrow. The attraction to the dreamers of the next big technological discovery also attracted advertisers who fed right into the dream factory.
Other than the myriad ads from correspondence schools promising to teach everything from wrestling to driving and finding government jobs, are the ads pushing method after method of self improvement. It's how they yell and exaggerate that keeps me coming back for more.
Another example: Could you really learn to type in 1916 by using a form of bondage? Click here, because someone thought so.
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