July 31, 1905, Menasha Record
I am a fan of old newspapers, as readers of this blog can probably tell. But this string of ads caught my eye. Can you see why? Remember, this is 1905 and the prevailing advertising style for print ads was the one represented by the John Strange Company, The First National Bank of Menasha, and The Menasha Paper Company as shown above. Now look hard at The Menasha Woodenware Company ad. That ad looks like something out of the 1960's or '70's. If it was in color, it'd be olive green and day-glo orange! Check out the stylized curves on the h, m, and n. All it is lacking is a row of daisies acting as the border! Now granted, there are still some 19th century touches there, to include the commentary: "Always on Hand." But I am just amazed at this. The biggest change was definitely moving the company's name to the extreme left of the ad. And the excess white space as well. Forgive me if it seems I've lost my head on this, but I am dumbfounded. My wife has always said I get excited at the strangest things. Here's a good example.
No comments:
Post a Comment