Fallen Civilization

What’s that?  You’re going on a trip?  Oh how nice.  Would you bring me back a statue of Ramses II, please?

Punny Wisdom

This is a postcard from the early 20th century, one in a series that includes this former entry.

The Ripples Have It

I mentioned in an earlier post that I received the gift of toilet paper for Christmas.  Nope, it wasn’t a gag, or because I was naughty in 2012.  Nor was it a veiled hint like when you give someone a tin of mints.  My parents just happened to be in the right place at the right time and found a genuine unused roll of t.p. from 1924 in the original Egyptian themed wrapper.  People sell all sorts of stuff and thank goodness for me they do!!!  Isn’t it incredible that this item has even survived this long?  Eighty-nine years of survival against rodents, water, mold, and desperate visitors to the throne room.  The label text reads: “Nile Queen meets strict requirements for purity and cleanliness.  It is made of high grade materials.  It contains no harsh, gritty substance. It is downy soft in texture – pure white in color – and has a gently rippled surface which aids safe, complete, personal hygiene.  Because it is so soft and absorbent, Nile Queen can be used to remove cold cream and lip stick.  It can also be used as a disposable handkerchief in time of colds.”  If that wasn’t enough to convince timid housewives to ask their grocery clerk to grab a few rolls off the shelf for them (this was pre-shopping cart, folks), the label graphic certainly would have.  Cleverly working those ripples mentioned in the description into the design as the waves of the Nile, upon which sails Cleopatra in her barge, the image evokes a level of sophistication way over the top for selling something as basic and necessary as toilet tissue.  And yet, from an advertising standpoint, that may have been exactly the intent – feeding into the us vs. them mentality that most consumers suffer from.  Let the riff-raff buy the toilet paper that bears in the woods use – I’m going with the elegant stuff.

Well-Preserved

The May 1919 issue of Judge magazine featured a colorful and witty cover illustration depicting an Egyptian maiden so attractively made up that she has caught the attention of…a dead guy!  Or, maybe it’s that she’s topless. That’s usually an attention-grabber.

…Look Out Stomach, Here it Comes

“Do you eat?” queries this early 20th century ad for Pabst Malt Extract.  Yeah – I don’t know what this is/was either.  Being of an older vintage than today’s advertising, the answer is phrased more elegantly than “Duh”.  Apparently, not satisfied with making beer, or perhaps ridding themselves of excess ingredients, the Pabst brewing company offered the public a nourishing tonic that stimulated appetites and braced constitutions everywhere.  Or at least to those brave enough to try it.  Dubious marketing tactics aside, the graphics are particularly artistic and rendered in the classical style popular during that time period.