Ads for teenagers - See another Modess True or False? ad (October
1949, from Seventeen magazine)
DIRECTORY of all topics (See also the
SEARCH ENGINE, bottom
of page.)
 
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Modess Snipes at Kotex (U.S.A.), October 1949
In the same month, October 1949, Modess and Kotex published cartoon
ads.
The Kotex ad, below, part of a long series of advice-to-teenager ads
(see here for more), speaks in a wise-guy
teenage slang, supposedly appealing to teens of the time and reflecting
their speech. It brings to mind Frank Sinatra songs,
fast and tough.
But the Modess ad scoffs at this speech and
advice and cattily advises kids that tactfulness is the key. Note that in
the ad and in the booklet it promotes - Growing Up
and Liking It - there's little slang and cutesiness. The booklet even
uses drawings like the Kotex ad's, which are much better than the drawing
in their ad.
The two companies were the main producers of pads at this time, which
probably explains the static.
I broke the ad into three parts to make it
download faster.
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Isn't "fizzician" great? Corny, but great.
By the way, apparently people weren't allowed to drink soft drinks with
"fizz" - carbonation - on Sunday in certain parts of America (it
was thought immoral) so someone invented the sundae, which had no carbonation.
Such is America.
Look how dressed up everyone is!
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I haven't deciphered "come y'aout" yet (third
line in the left paragraph) - is it "come out" or "come you
all out"?, which is strange in itself.
"(Boo coo welcome feature - n'est-ce
pas?)" is priceless (last line at right), boo
coo being the French "beaucoup," meaning "much,"
and n'est-ce pas being "right?" I
guess you had to be bilingual to fit in in high school in 1949, a far cry
from today!
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Ads for teenagers
© 1999 Harry Finley. It is illegal to reproduce or distribute any
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