Continuing on the theme “Visited the Library Of Congress” to explore American press during WWII. Here’s a page of advertising from The Saturday Evening Post from September 8, 1945.
First thing that strikes you — all the advertising from that time in TSEP is text-heavy, and to understand what is being advertised, you need to read closely. Secondly, the advertising messages are quite elaborate. That’s not something you see nowadays. Today, people would be tired of reading by the third line. But back then, it seems it was a GENRE.
So, it all starts with the phrase “Look what the war has done”. You expect to see a girl missing an eye, but no, it continues “what it did FOR Patsy Ann”. It then explains why her glasses have different lenses. It’s on purpose for the advertisement. One lens is clear and glare-free, the other — with glare. It became possible due to a process perfected during war to reduce blinding glare on sights and rangefinders. Now, this discovery is being adapted for many civilian services.
Aha, thinks the modern reader, then this is an optics advertisement. Think again. Read on. “We, at Crane company, have admired such developments because glass production and glassware include thousands of valves and pipeline equipment, which is exactly what we do.”
Meaning, this is an advertisement for a manufacturer of valves, fittings, and plumbing equipment. And that’s actually what’s written at the bottom. Everything above — is just lyrical. Creative. Meanwhile, every second advertisement has something about the war. Either its products are somehow used, or military technology is somehow used in their products. This was always emphasized both in the text and the illustrations.
And another thing. Since color photography was apparently more expensive than hiring an artist, the illustrations are uniformly drawn. This really creates such a “warm, cozy atmosphere”.
There are many such examples. Will post more from time to time.
Hi, I'm Rauf Aliev. 