Ads from the 1920s
868 ads and videos in the library ran between 1920 and 1929.
Most common in these ads
Goals
- Build the brand 441 ads and videos
- Sell now 281 ads and videos
- Get an enquiry or a sign-up 112 ads and videos
Industries
- Health and medicine 296 ads and videos
- Beauty and personal care 109 ads and videos
- Home and household 72 ads and videos
Patterns
- Borrowed medical authority 110 ads and videos
- Problem-agitate-solve 88 ads and videos
- Image carries the claim 56 ads and videos
The ads
Ovaltine malted drink ad, al-Lataif al-Musawwarah 1928
A healthy baby depends on rich, plentiful breast milk, and Ovaltine, which doctors and nurses say gives nursing mothers exactly that, keeps both baby and mother well.
Arrow Collar "Marcy" Arrow Collar Man ad, 1920
A handsome face sells the collar: the shape gets a name, Marcy, so the reader can ask for the look, and one line ties it to the tight-knotted cravat.
Glax-Ovo nerve food drink ad, al-Lataif al-Musawwarah 1928
After a draining day at work the tired man needs real rest, and a cup of Glax-Ovo at night calms and feeds the nerves so sleep comes.
Pond's Two Creams ad with Mrs. O.H.P. Belmont, Vogue, 1924
A woman who neglects her appearance loses half her influence, says a leading suffragist, and keeping it takes two creams: one to cleanse, one to protect.
Sun Life of Canada life insurance ad, al-Lataif al-Musawwarah 1928
A promise to pay decades from now is only as good as the company behind it, so Sun Life shows its new tower and its balance sheet as the guarantee.
Pelmanism ad by Judge Ben B. Lindsey, Mid-Week Pictorial, 1926
A judge who has watched twenty years of failure from the bench says will power and initiative are not gifts but results, built by exercise, and Pelmanism is that exercise.
Bosch spark plugs ad, al-Lataif al-Musawwarah 1928
Most cars that stall mid-road carry the wrong spark plug, and the right one is the Bosch in the blue box with the orange stripe.
Jordan Playboy 'Somewhere West of Laramie' ad, 1923
The Playboy was built for a broncho-busting girl west of Laramie, and buying it puts the reader in her wild company instead of a dull, stale hour.
Zenith pocket watch ad, al-Lataif al-Musawwarah 1928
Zenith is the most famous precision watch and the easiest to repair, certified for accuracy by an observatory and guaranteed by the factory for 25 years.
Jordan Playboy 'The Port of Missing Men' ad, 1920
The Playboy is a passage out of dull city winter to the Port of Missing Men, a place of lasting youth, painted as a red car waiting in the snow.
Gillette safety razor ad, al-Lataif al-Musawwarah 1928
The pleasure of shaving comes only with the genuine Gillette, and the embrace above the razor shows where that pleasure ends: a smooth cheek she wants to touch.
E.R. Squibb & Sons 'The Priceless Ingredient' ad, 1921
What a buyer really pays for in any medicine is the maker's honor and integrity, told as a Bagdad parable, and Squibb is the name that carries it.
Chevrolet delivery van ad, al-Lataif al-Musawwarah 1928
A Chevrolet delivery truck costs little to run and does a lot of work, so the trader covers more ground, takes on more jobs and delivers on time.
Sackheim & Scherman agency page in The Fourth Estate, 1926
An agency handling many accounts knows more than any single advertiser, and its own principals write every ad to sell goods, not to leave an impression.
Bosch spark plugs ad, al-Lataif al-Musawwarah 1928
A car that dies mid-journey is usually the fault of the wrong spark plug, so the driver should stop choosing by type and ask for the Bosch box.
Palmolive 'Keep That Schoolgirl Complexion' ad, Shadowland, 1921
A schoolgirl complexion can be kept long after youth has flown, by washing daily with the palm and olive oils in Palmolive.
al-Majalla al-Shahriya monthly magazine house ad, al-Lataif al-Musawwarah 1925
The magazine's name, drawn huge, announces the April part and sets a 2500-piastre contest beside a 4-piastre cover price, so each copy is a cheap entry to a big prize.
Book of Etiquette ad, Again She Orders, Screenland, 1924
Small social blunders show to everyone except the person making them, and the two-volume Book of Etiquette ends them by saying exactly what to do and say.
Woodward's Gripe Water ad, al-Lataif al-Musawwarah 1928
The unfinished 'if every mother knew' is completed by one answer: Woodward's Gripe Water eases colic and teething, and it holds no narcotics.
Sherwin Cody School of English ad, Mid-Week Pictorial, 1929
Most people speak and write poor English only because they never formed the habit of doing otherwise, and Cody's self-correcting device builds the habit in 15 minutes a day.
Studebaker President car ad, al-Lataif al-Musawwarah 1928
The most luxurious of fast cars, drawn streaking past palms by the sea, and affordable from your income on instalments without touching your capital.
Sherwin Cody School of English ad, The Mentor, 1922
Every time you speak or write, your English shows what you are, and Cody's habit-forming drills correct it in 15 minutes a day at home.
Chevrolet delivery van ad, al-Lataif al-Musawwarah 1928
A Chevrolet delivery truck costs little to run and does a lot of work, so the trader covers more ground, takes on more jobs and delivers on time.
Does Your Child Ever Embarrass You? ad, McClure's, 1923
A naughty child is a public verdict on the parent, and Professor Beery's home training brings obedience without punishment, so the embarrassment in front of others ends.
Dr Ross pills testimonial ad, al-Lataif al-Musawwarah 1924
Bashir Effendi Thomas, whose stubborn constipation defeated many laxatives, writes that the Dr Ross pills his own doctor prescribed restored his health, and asks that others be told.
I. C. S. training ad, Popular Science Monthly, 1920
A husband hands his wife the first $50 of a raise earned through spare-time I.C.S. study, so the reward for training appears as money on the table at home.
Chevrolet commercial truck ad, al-Lataif al-Musawwarah 1928
A truck is a business tool, so Chevrolet sells it as more output for less cost: heavier loads, longer trips, and customers beyond your own district.
Fool Idea fortune story ad, American Legion Monthly, 1928
The side business his friends called a fool idea, real estate run from home in spare time, made the writer over $100,000, and a free book explains his system.
Zenith watch ad, al-Lataif al-Musawwarah 1928
Zenith is the most famous precision watch and the easiest to repair, certified for accuracy by an observatory and guaranteed by the factory for 25 years.
Baldness remedy story ad, Photoplay, 1925
Hair tonics fail because they treat the leaves, while the Merke treatment feeds dormant hair roots as a gardener feeds a tree, told through one former sceptic's story.
Gillette safety razor for women ad, al-Lataif al-Musawwarah 1928
Gillette is now for women as well as men: a woman in a low-cut evening gown checks her bare shoulders in a mirror as her husband dresses behind her.
Little Leather Library book set ad, Mid-Week Pictorial, 1922
The advertiser says the reader's doubt out loud, thirty leather-bound classics for $2.98 sounds too good to be true, then answers it by sending the whole set on trial.
Glaxo infant milk food ad, al-Lataif al-Musawwarah 1928
Ordinary milk can hide deadly germs the eye cannot see before it reaches the baby, while Glaxo is clean from the start and sealed, so the child's health comes first.
Listerine halitosis ad, Motion Picture Classic, 1922
Geraldine Proctor has beauty and charm yet is always a bridesmaid, because of a breath problem nobody will mention and Listerine quietly removes.
Gillette safety razor ad, al-Lataif al-Musawwarah 1928
Shave in comfort and safety with a genuine Gillette, and the reward is the woman's hand on your smooth cheek.
Hugo French-at-Sight ad, Time, 1927
The diner his friends expected to embarrass himself orders in perfect French, and the reason is a Hugo course that teaches you to speak at home without a teacher.
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