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Religious Perfume
Oct22

Religious Perfume

I recently read about The Pope’s Cologne, a fragrance for men who wish to smell just like a man in a dress in times of plague. And who wouldn’t? As many people will know, I’m a collector of vintage magazines and I’m particularly fond of adverts in particular as they demonstrate a fascinating snapshot into the banality of life in decades past, so it is probably no surprise to learn that men’s and women’s fragrances based on religious themes is hardly new at all. Holy Spirit (1973) When Rochas tapped into the religious market looking to smell religiousy with Holy Spirit it took the bold step of edging away from traditional floral bases in the scent and instead picked upon some specific elements from the Bible in order to more strongly appeal to fundamentalist Christian women, a key demographic at the time. The piquancy of the warm bread undertone mixed with the musky palm notes was generally agreed upon to be both innovative and very pleasant but the decision to blend in two distinct fish aromas was the most likely cause of the perfume’s catastrophic market failure. Even after Holy Spirit was removed from shelves and ceased production Rochas refused to confirm the exact fish species used although it is widely accepted that the religious fragrance lacked sole. Seventy-2 (1969) Seventy-2 was directed at the young, white, suburban, fanatical, Islamic, would-be suicide bombers prevalent in middle America towards the end of the 1960s. The moral claims of the producers of Seventy-2 – that it "might help prevent unnecessary bloodshed and tragedy, and simultaneously help to make America smell wonderful again" – were overshadowed by some of the sales tactics used to sell the range of men’s toiletries (free dynamite, Death To America workshops, etc.) and the company was forced to close down and disappear quietly with the help of the FBI in, ironically, February of ’72. Rapture (1925) Ludwig Scherk was not only a manufacturer of cosmetic products during the 1920s but also a self-proclaimed prophet, and his release of a range of women’s fragrances entitled Rapture was – he claimed – because he could see the end coming very soon and wanted the good Christian housewives of America to be the first to travel the clouds while the Earth was destroyed. History shows us that Scherk was partly correct; his business did come to an abrupt and fiery (literally) end during the Great Depression that began a few years later. However, the return of Jesus was fortunately cancelled and those women who purchased and doused themselves in Rapture never got to impress anyone other than Ludwig’s bank manager...

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Classic Slug Magazines
Aug06

Classic Slug Magazines

Ever since I posted some classic Vintage Slug Advertising of yesteryear people have come up to me in the street and asked me just where I managed to obtain such quality published incitements to purchase slugs and slug-related paraphernalia. My answer: my extensive collection of slug magazines dating back numerous decades and from all four slug-trailed corners of the globe. Slug magazines such as these: Modern Slug Slughouse Weird Slug Stories...

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Further Fictional Future Fun
Apr16

Further Fictional Future Fun

Fun not guaranteed. Yes, as promised or, more accurately, generally hinted at previously here, it’s another entry in the Vintage Ads Of Fictional Futures competition. By Jove! There’s A Large One Here! But wait! There’s more! For a limited time only, for every one photoshopped entry posted in this post you’ll receive another photoshopped entry absolutely free!!!. That’s a saving of over nine in the scale that I’m currently using to measure savings. Wow! Look At The Size Of Little Jimmy’s Weapon! The second one’s pretty easy to identify; the first one probably less so if you’re not a fan of incredibly well-written science fiction unless someone’s gone out and invented some sort of engine that can search for information when you enter words you might spot in the advert. But I doubt that’s...

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A Vintage Fictional Future
Apr09

A Vintage Fictional Future

This is an entry for a competition run by Mark A. Rayner at his website. The competition is to create a vintage advertisement using a product from a fictional future – TV, book, or movie. The Vintage Fictional Future competition is here. Go and enter. You know you want to. Click here to view larger and actually be able to read the text I like the idea of this competition. Don’t be surprised to see more entries from me. Don’t be surprised to not see more entries either. What I’m trying to say here is: whatever I do, don’t be surprised. Or, if you are surprised, try to cover it up in a manner that doesn’t give away how surprised you are. I find surprise to be most unbecoming. Thankyou for...

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Vintage Slug Advertising
Mar29

Vintage Slug Advertising

Celebrating the golden age of advertising and the marketing world’s flirtation with all things slug-related, when slugs were the thing for every household to have, men wanted to be slugs, and women wanted their men to leave sticky trails across the kitchen floor. Wait! We still leave sticky trails across the kitchen floor! ‘Slugs’ White Bread Campaign (1957) Adolph’s Slug Substitute (1959) Sluggle Kitchen Cleaner (1952) Interwoven’s Slug Appeal (1978) Keepsake Forehead Slugs (1953) Slugs Holidaymaking Magazine...

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