The Car of the Hour!

The 1954 Fiat 1100 sedan - advertised here in the 1954 Courier Mail Queensland Annual.

This looks to be the standard model - the sporty edition had a third headlight in the middle of the grille.

Let's take a look at its features:

"New Performance, Greater Comfort! Higher Speeds, Smarter Acceleration!"

That's the type of sales pitch you want to hear - not fuel economy and CO2 output rubbish.

Here's a site you might find interesting - the Internet Movie Car Database. Here's the entry on the Fiat.

Fishing For Compliments

From a 1964 Mechanix Illustrated magazine - where nothing says sporting and outdoorsy than Winston cigarettes.

Love the illustrations - they tell a story of a love that dare not speak its name:

1. A heterosexual couple, possibly even married, enjoying spending time together in a joint pursuit.

2. They're fishing. Most likely for pleasure - quick where's PETA?.

3. They share a joke (and a fruitless day on the water) with a cigarette.

The third thing on our list is considered bad. Very bad - while there are strong lobby groups that want to degrade the above two pleasures as well.

Considering that there's now a movement looking at influencing movie ratings that show the evil tobacco, enjoy this pic while you can still see it without password protection.

If you're interested in seeing more of these naughty pictures, click on the label links for magazines and old ads.

Shine A Light

Pioneering days and a brave move by American beer maker Schlitz.

A beer, a light beer, something that wouldn't be accepted by Australian beer drinkers until the late 1980s (at least).

This ad (again from Mechanix Illustrated 1964) is great.

It's tight crop infers urgency and speed, a suggestion backed by the sweat pouring down our model's face. The background of sports lockers puts the entire photograph into its suggestive narrative: Spend a hard day on the sport field, quench your thirst quickly with a light beer.

Ford anglia life international 1959

Have you ever wondered why for Ford Anglia is world's most exciting light car?

No?

Neither did we, but considering the trouble Ford is having at the moment, perhaps they need to get back to basics.

After all who could resist the massive 997cc engine or the remarkable 0-60mph in a whopping 28.5 seconds!

Okay, there is a great deal of difference between 1959 and 2008 and without the advances of 50 years, we would have lovely little cars like the Ford Fiesta XR4 which can go from 0-100kmh in 7.9 seconds - a whopping 20.6 seconds faster than our streamlined Anglia.

With fuel prices as they are, it's quite genuinely nice to know that we don't have to suffer the indignity of wretched performance and limited features as well.

This advertisement is from the October 26, 1959 edition of Life International magazine.

So, how popular was the 1959 Ford Anglia?
Enough to give it a starring role in gritty 1960 British film, Never Let Go in which Peter Sellers take a departure from his comic roles to play a Fagin-like used car salesman whose activities hide a 'steal to order' racket.

Richard Todd plays the owner of the stolen Anglia - and whose life isn't going so well to boot - who becomes determine to bring the men to justice.

British teen heart throb Adam Faith stars as one of the thieves in one of his earliest roles.

Here's a snippet:

Oranges and Lemons

From the politically incorrect advertising motifs of our time...

And yet PC squeamishness aside, this is a lovely example of early mid-20th century commercial art with the brand itself a classic example of British Commonwealth enterprise.

According to Wikipedia it was established in Australia, taking a New Zealand name (it comes from a Maori greeting 'be well') and then importing it to Britain 1917.

It's a brand which has disappeared from Australia's supermarket shelves a long time ago but is still going strong in the UK where it is part of the Coca-Cola stable.

Speaking of unPC - a quick look on You Tube has turned up a TV commercial which features the long-standing tag line 'everyone adores a Kia Ora'.



Yes unlike the observation made at #7 of the most racist Disney characters, the crows are relevant and have something to do with the fact that in the real world they don't like oranges. Apparently.

Kia Ora advertisement from Picture Post Magazine, July 28, 1951.

A Touch Of Frost

For a girl growing up in the 1970s there was nothing more special then being allowed to occasionally have your fingernails painted with mum or gran's own nail polish.

In Nora's mind at least there was nothing more glamorous than a Cutex nail polish bottle. No small and stumpy brush handle here - just look at the long handle with its waist nipped in by the gold band.

Perfect for controlling the polish.

Sadly it looks like Cutex is now out of the colour game, instead now concentrating on the all important nail polish removal and general nail care.

BTW, gotta love the names of these colours - Aurora Lights, Blushing, Silver Frost, Wicked White, Nearly Pink, Amethyst, Virgin Pink and Snow White - it can't be easy to differentiate between so many similar hues.

Advertisement - Australian Women's Weekly, February 26, 1969. Click for a larger image.

Are Friends Electric?

Early experiments with electric toothbrushes were a failure.

Following reports that children all over the world were being electrocuted (see exhibit A at left), electric toothbrush manufacturers were forced to revise their 240V mains powered models.

Advertisement from The Australian Women's Weekly February 26, 1969.

Skittish

I've never seen two people looking more raputous at the thought of undies.

The famous "Stretchy Seat" that gives with every move, never creeps or binds.

That quick-adjusting, gap-proof fly and the full cut pouch with its gentle support are mighty welcome, too!

Fear not, there's something for the little woman as well (apart from what's lurking in the full cut pouch):

Not only no buttons - but nothing to iron - and they wash in nothing flat!

Wear? Why, lady, those seams are reinforced - stronger than the material itself!

Besides - admit it - SKIT-Trunks would add to his appearance...

Despite this, the ad, from a February 1948 edition of Saturday Evening Post, is a lot less creepy than this 1970s Jockey ad.

Pam Am Oct 1973 modern motor

It was the symbol of the global village, as ubiquitous as Coca-Cola.

It was Pan Am.

It was the symbol of the future, it's distinct stylised blue globe featuring in both 2001: A Space Odyssey and Blade Runner.

Sadly, it never made the future, having finally collapsed in 1991 following set backs after the murderous Pan Am 103 bombing over the tiny Scottish town of Lockerbie.

But here in this advertisement from the October 1973 edition of Modern Motor, the future seemed assured for Pan Am -even wrapped in a bow.

Gotta love this 1958 ad promoting new jet flight:

We're Men... We're Men In Jocks!

Some how one feels that this post ought to come with a content advisory warning.

There's something... disturbing about these male models.

Almost as if they like grooming themselves in the company other half dressed men.

Homo-erotic subtext aside - our heroes appear in the October 1973 edition of Australia's Modern Motor magazine and Sydney's gay and lesbian mardi gras was a still a sparkly sequin in some rent boy's eye - depiction of men's unmentionables has changed dramatically in 35 years.

Unless there is a celebrity (usually sporting) attached, men's undies today are depicted somewhat anonymously with no scary heads to distract from the, shall we say, business end.

If you've not been put off by frightening 70s fashions, then check out James Lileks frolic through the 1973 Sears Fall/Winter catalogue that he's subtitled Le Chic, C'est Bleak.

Can Get Some Satisfaction

Who 'me' is appears to be Allan Grice pictured in 1973 driving a BMW and looking like a cross between George Lazenby and James Hunt.

According to a quick Google, Grice didn't seem have much luck in the Beamer but finding success driving a locally built Torana. In 1975 Grice won the national touring car round at Oran Park.

While not as phenomenally successful as Peter Brock, Grice still commanded a great deal of respect for conquering 'the Mountain' twice, 1986 and 1990.

He might also hold the record for being the first sitting member of Parliament to win a major motorsport event.

Gricey took the Gold Coast-based seat of Broadwater, previously held by conservative coalition partners, the Liberals in 1989. He held the seat until 2001.

So what has the man been up to since then?

He races a bit (v8 ute racing, very cool) but his main business is now supplying after market LPG tanks - smart business in this day and age.

Click on the ad for a larger view. Modern Motor, October 1973

Flushed With Success

Overheard in an advertising creative meeting in 1948:

Ad man 1: So how are we going to sell toilet cleaner to the little woman?

Ad man 2: What do these broads like any way?

Ad man 3: My wife is always going on about Hollywood movie stars.

Ad man 2: Run through what this stuff is supposed to do will ya Bob.

Ad man 3: Well she sprinkles this stuff into the toilet bowl and it's supposed to have this fast acting ingredient.

Ad man 1: (Clicks fingers as inspiration strikes. A light bulb magically appears over his head and glows but appears only to the other ad men in the room. A secretary brought in to capture the killer idea just rolls her eyes.)

That's it! Acting!

Her ACTIONS put this cleaner in the bowl and the fast ACTING ingredients make it work!!

We'll make cleaning the toilet as glamorous as them Hollywood pictures!!!

Ad from the February 21, 1948 edition of Saturday Evening Post. Don't forget to click the image for a larger view.

Mineral Deposits

It's not exactly the most glamorous image, but in the 1950s, dirty great big smoke stacks meant industry and industry meant wealth that didn't rely 'riding on the sheep's back'.

Click to see a large, readable version of the ad.

Taken from the The Courier Mail's 1954 Queensland Annual, this ANZ advertisement could, and in the scheme of things nothing much has changed.

Apart from the logo.

Chopsticks

Nick and Nora have always held that Australia is multicultural through its stomach.

It doesn't need government programs or politically correct mandarins to tell us to accept and absorb the best of other cultures. Our taste buds are quite capable of doing that for us.

For an aspiring world class holiday destination like the Gold Coast, it is only fitting that famous restaurants also be on the itinerary. In Surfers Paradise there was a choice of two, Margot Kelly's Hibiscus Room and the Cafe Cathay a few hundred metres to the north.

Both serviced different parts of the local and holiday market, both succumbed to the developer's bulldozer in the late 1970s-early 1980s and our local history is the poorer for it.

The above advertisement is from the 1954 Courier-Mail Annual. Apologies for the water damage at the top right, we presume it is meant to read 3. Point Plan For The Perfect Vacation.

The restaurant was located between what is now Surfers Paradise Boulevard and Orchid Avenue, just one block back from the beach at Surfers Paradise.

According to notes on this photograph (sourced from the Gold Coast local studies library) the building to the left of the Cafe Cathay housed the Surfers Paradise cinema as well as an amusement parlor.

And that would have been about here on Google maps (click on the blue marker).


View Larger Map

In searching for information on the Cafe Cathay we came across this fabulous home movie taken in Surfers Paradise around 1960. It is archived by the National Library of Australia under its Australian Screen project.

The clip is silent but features the Cafe Cathay, the Beachcomber resort (which still exists in a 1970s redeveloped form) as well as other long-forgotten land marks. Don't forget to pay attention to the fabulous street signage.

Magic.

Caravan Of Courage

One wonders if Grey Nomads eagerly pored over their dad's copy of Saturday Evening Post (or the Australian equivalent) looking at advertisements like these thinking: "Gosh when I'm in my twilight years I'm going to get a huge caravan like this and travel all around Australia holding up traffic for miles and miles along the nation's highways and descend like locusts on small country towns."

No. Didn't think so.

But the allure of the caravan cannot be under estimated. Australia Post just dedicated a stamp issue to caravaning over the past 50 years.

Somehow one gets the impression that after seeing this advertisement, the reality of 1950s caravanning would come somewhat as a disappointment.

Disclosure: Nick and Nora bought the first day stamp cover but draw the line at the caravan.

Rapt In Plastic

Hey Asta!

Tell Nick and Nora that their grocery delivery will be a little late today!

Seriously, can we ever imagine a time without cellophane? Made by those lovely people at Du Pont whose products we have in such familarity they've become generic nouns neoprene, nylon, Teflon, Mylar, Kevlar and Lycra.

Saturday Evening Post, February 21, 1948.

Coffee, Roasted

For a country that seems to have been brought up as a coffee swilling culture, Americans seem to have a particular problem dealing with the effects of caffeine.

This ad is from the the February 21, 1948 edition of the Saturday Evening Post but it's a trend which pre-dates the 1940s.

Boo.

Fresh Faced

Was personal grooming and hygiene an alien concept in 1948?

What other conclusion could come to judging by the ad for the Colgate Palmolive brand in this February 21 edition of Saturday Evening Post?

Maybe it was all for Lulu. She's the red head permanently cast to play the side-kick to the perky brunette.

A Velma to the Daphne if you will.

Forever destined to be paired with the goofy, slightly dorky best friend of the school quarterback the one who's dating the brunette. Natch.

The full page ad is an absolute gem - take a look at the hairstyles and clothing and the avatars supposedly representing the young misses who have benefited from the 'Palmolive 14 day plan'.

And the Colgate story is no less entertaining. Unloved Lulu is off the hot list but after consulting faithful family doctor and brushing her teeth, she's oozing sex appeal.

Priceless.

Hello Sailor!

Struggling with your nicotine addiction? Tried giving up and nothing works?

The here is the person to blame.

No not the two jolly guys in the ad, but the bloke on the packet. It's Sir Walter Raleigh, favourite of Queen Lizzy the First.

Yes, yes, he did noble things like put his cloak in a puddle to save her highness' Manolo Blahnik's from the mud, but he also brought back tobacco from the New World and introduced the old world to the joys of portable foliage for the burning and inhaling thereof.

From the August 1979 edition of Mechanix Illustrated.

Grand Hotel

While much of the Gold Coast shows little sign of its past before 1970, Coolangatta's town centre still has a lot of the charm of 1930s architecture.

The Spanish Mission style seemed to be all the range at that time (not surprising one supposes when one considers the similarity in climate) so when the timber Queenslander-style Hotel Grande (that's Grand with an 'e') had to be rebuilt after a fire in 1931, the archways and stucco walls figured in the architect design.

Apparently one of the finest establishments of its type between Brisbane and Newcastle (no mean feat since it represents a distance of about 700 kilometres), the Hotel Grande had its grand reopening in 1933.

Located across the road from the beach, The Hotel Grande was, according to the above 1954 Courier-Mail Queensland Annual advertisement, under vice-regal patronage - meaning that's where the Queensland Governor took his holidays.

And what's a holiday on the beach without a souvenir? Nick and Nora aren't claiming any vice regal provenance with this ash tray but it is a lovely picture to look at while you're stubbing out your cigarette.

Best of all, The Hotel Grande is still around. Click here for the Google satellite image.