Today there are so many types of incredible mixers: mixers with dough hooks, mixers with meat grinders and juicers, hand mixers, immersion blenders. . .
A hundred years ago mixers were a little simpler. According to a 1921 advertisement, a Roberts Lightning Mixer beats everything.
Sometimes hundred-year-old advertisements bring back memories of long forgotten foods. Do they still make junket? I think that it’s still sold, but it’s been so long since I’ve had any that I can barely remember it.
Here’s a fun old ad you might enjoy. They don’t make knife sharpeners like they used to.
Do you ever eat cereal as a bed time snack? Somehow I thought that eating cereal at times other than breakfast was a fairly new phenomena, but apparently I was wrong. A 1920 advertisement for Quaker puffed grain cereals said that Puffed Wheat, Puffed Rice, and Corn Pops were perfect bedtime snacks.
I’ve baked (and sliced) lots of bread this year – and still struggle to consistently get thin, even slices. This 1920 advertisement has me sold. I’m ready to buy a Lightening Thin-Slice Bread Knife. And, what a deal! It only costs 50 cents. Do they still make Lightening Knives?
By 1920, lemons were readily available across the U.S. Trains quickly transported them across the country. And, the California Fruit Growers Exchange had even branded lemons produced by its growers as Sunkist Lemons.
I enjoy eating old-fashioned foods. Many others prefer trendy foods. Apparently people have wanted to eat “modern” foods for a long time. According to this advertisement, the modern way to serve tea is with lemon instead of cream – which suggests that the ad copy writer believed that promoting modern food combinations was a winning strategy for an ad campaign.
It’s fun to read the small advertisements in the back of old magazines. They often are quirky – and sometimes I scratch my head when I read them. This 1920 advertisement by Mrs. Grace Osborn about the Osborn Cake Making System is one of those ads.
Does the square angel food cake in the picture look nice enough to make someone want to learn Mrs. Osborn’s cake making system? (Personally, round angel food cakes work just fine for me.)
And, exactly what is Mrs. Osborn selling? . . . a book for directions? . . . recipes? . . . cake pans and baking supplies? It apparently was a two-step process for her to sell anything. First, she would have to send people who responded to the ad free information about the particulars, and she would have to pay postage to send the materials (in addition to the cost of the ad ). Then some of them might actually buy the product she was selling. I’m no marketing expert, but somehow this doesn’t feel like a good model for financial success.
