What We Can Learn From a Few 1921 Advertisements

by joi on July 6, 2008

My husband and I love old books and magazines. He hunts for them on eBay, fights to outbid the other hunters, then pays for the conquest. Me? Well, of course I have a role in the process.

I enjoy them.

We recently played out our given roles with an amazing set of NAUTILUS MAGAZINE OF NEW THOUGHT issues. These particular issues are from 1921 and, considering their age, they’re in remarkable shape.

The articles have been interesting, but the ads are where the real entertainment is. For example, the ad I have in front of me reads:

FACES MADE YOUNG

The secret of a youthful face will be sent to any woman whose appearance shows that time or illness or any other cause is stealing from her the charm of girlhood beauty. It will show without cosmetics, creams, massage, masks, plasters, straps, vibrators, “beauty” treatments or other artificial means, she can remove the traces of age from her countenance. Every woman, young or middle aged, who has a single facial defect should know about these remarkable Beauty Exercises which remove lines and “crows feet” and wrinkles; fill up hollows; give roundness to scrawny necks; lift up sagging corners of the mouth and clear up muddy or sallow skins. It will show how five minutes daily with Kathryn Murray’s simple facial exercises will work wonders….

It goes on to give a Results Guaranteed (although it doesn’t say exactly what results can be expected) and an address to write to.

You’re probably thinking what I am - Some things just never change. Even in 1921 people were looking for easy answers and it really didn’t matter if the problem was a scrawny neck or something even more dire.

We always want the quick fix - and if anyone baits the hook with enough pretty promises, we bite.

The problem is, of course, that most things in life simply aren’t that simple.

I noticed something else about the ads that was interesting. The same concerns we have today? They were the same ones our ancestors had in the 20’s.

Other ads included:

Do You Desire to Prolong Your Life? Live and Grow Young….
My Hair WAS Quite Gray….
Luxuriant Hair - Don’t dye old hair, but grow new hair, of normal color, and eradicate dandruff, baldness, falling hair and other ills, by THE LIFE WAY METHOD.
You Can Weigh What You Should….
Mr. Landone Made Me Worth $9100 More…

I don’t know why, but it just fascinates me that these same topics can be found in magazine ads today. We’re always wanting to find what we’ve lost, lost what we’ve found, or find what we’ve never had. Goals, dreams, and self improvement are all admirable - quite admirable, in fact. As long as we don’t let them get in the way of living our lives right now.

Sometimes we get so sidetracked by what we want that we forget to appreciate what we have. We think, “If I could just lose 20 pounds…then I’d be happy.” Or, “If my hair weren’t running away from my face at an alarming speed, I’d be really happy…” Then, of course, there’s the belief that more money is our ticket to happiness.

Let’s be honest, happiness doesn’t lie in money, hair, or smaller sizes. It doesn’t lie in fancier cars or larger houses. Is it wrong to want these things? Of course not! Is it wrong to work toward the finer things in life? No way!

We just have to watch out for two pitfalls.

We have to be careful not to get our eyes SO set on what we want that we neglect what we have. I think it’s always healthy to look around at your life and find the things you love - things that you wouldn’t take anything in the world for. People who just think about and talk about what they want to change are miserable people, and almost as miserable to be around. Contentment is a very attractive trait.
We must realize that the answer to our problems isn’t always a simple one. It doesn’t come wrapped in a satin bow. Quite the contrary. If we want more money, we’ll have to work smarter, harder, and possibly longer. If we want to lose weight, we’ll have to change the way we eat and add more activity to our days.