Does anyone seal jelly jars with paraffin anymore? This old Parowax ad reminded me of how much I’ve changed the way I seal jam and jelly jars.  I can clearly remember putting wax on the top of jelly jars when I was a young adult – but shifted to using canning lids and water-bath processing years ago.

Hundred-year-old advertisements that pique my interest generally make me smile. This one didn’t.

I found the ad upsetting., and it raised so many questions:

• When did companies first start selling commercial products that were advertised for use as a baby formula?
• What information, other than advertisements, was available to help parents decide how to feed their infants?
• What was the reaction of new mothers and mothers-to-be to this ad?
• What percentage of the women breastfed their babies a hundred-years-ago?

I have no answers,  but I  just can’t get this advertisement out of my mind – so I decided to post it.

I love old ads. Advertisements in 1916 magazines provide so many insights into foods and food trends a hundred years ago.

Even a hundred years later, this 1916 advertisement works for me. I can’t remember the last time I bought any Coca-Cola but I’m ready to head to the store right now.

Some things haven’t changed over the past hundred years. Both then and now, advertisers seek to engage people with a brand. Ads inform, tell a story, and help create an image.

When I saw this adorable ad for Kellogg’s Corn Flakes I couldn’t quite decide whether I should smile, or feel a twinge of sadness that processed breakfast foods were around a hundred years ago.

 

I’m often fascinated by even the simplest hundred-year-old advertisements. For example, this advertisement for Heinz Spaghetti is so basic –yet it provides many insights into the use of commercially prepared foods,  ‘international cuisine’, and cooking methods back then.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!