Advertising

For most people, the advertisements they are exposed to correspond with where they reside. This is a result of the distinct demographics that advertisements are purposely constructed to reach in order for their messages to be effective. For this reason, many people do not encounter a variety of advertisements. However, my interviewee is a completely different story. Living in both New York and Missouri, my grandmother, Carol, has experienced her fair share of advertisements. 

Carol grew up in New York throughout the 1940s and most of the 1950s. Living in the city, her community did have advertisements painted on the sides of buildings. She remembered painted advertisements being in certain areas of the city. "If we went down toward the old New York City Polo Grounds, where the Giants used to play, and the outskirts of Harlem, there was lots of graffiti, even back then," said Carol. "Most of it was slutty. I can't think of a better word than that." Another poster advertisement that she remembers fondly is the RCA gramophone with a dog. She couldn't remember if the advertisement was along the highway, but she knew that it was definitely in magazines. In addition to those, she also remembers seeing Burma Shave signs all the time while on the road. Carol used to go on road trips all of the time with her late husband. "As a matter of fact," she said, "I miss them today when we traveled because they were everywhere."

New York City Polo Grounds in the 1950s
http://wikimapia.org/144172/Site-of-Polo-Grounds-II-III-and-IV#/photo/477337

RCA gramophone with Nipper
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Talking_Machine_Company

Carol unmistakably remembers that there were always advertisements for transportation. As a child in New York, she said she always saw the Pan American World Airways advertisement for travel. However, her family always did traveling by car because they couldn't afford anything else. When Carol moved to a smaller town in Missouri, there was still transportation advertising. The big advertisement was Trans World Airlines. Despite her change in location, Carol experienced major advertisements for traveling airlines. This is interesting considering that she eventually became a travel agent.

Pan American Airways Advertisement from the 1950s
https://www.pinterest.com/moonhorse/pan-american-world-airways/

Over the years, Carol has had a firsthand account of how advertisements and commercials have changed over time. One of the main things is how much money is spent on advertisements. According to Carol, money spent on advertisements and commercials were maybe a few hundred dollars. Presently, companies spend millions of dollars on advertising their products. Another change is the acceptable content in advertisements. When I asked Carol about how television commercials had changed, she immediately brought up Super Bowl commercials. "Do you remember seeing Mr. Clean commercials? Well all of a sudden on the Super Bowl commercials, Mr. Clean was a macho man!" A commercial like this would not have been aired during the 1940s or 1950s. Carol has noticed that advertisements and commercials have become more and more provocative. This has made them less enjoyable for her.

As for advertising frequency, Carol was outspoken. She feels as though one cannot get away from advertisements. Whether you are watching television or are online, they are everywhere. She mentioned that while watching an hour long program, she has counted five or six advertisements before. This cuts into her program, which she does not enjoy. However, she is able to record her shows and thus fast forwards through most advertisements. "Thank God for recording!" She said.

One of the last things I asked my grandmother was if she had a favorite advertisement. Her favorite advertisement is a 1953 commercial for Chevrolet. "I didn't know it at the time, but I'd marry a man who worked for Chevrolet. My favorite advertisement was 'See the U.S.A. in Your Chevrolet,'" said Carol. She then proceeded to sing the song from the commercial, which features Dinah Shore singing the catchy jingle. I watched the commercial myself and rather enjoyed it. Unlike commercials today, it is long, simple, modest, and forthright. When watching it, you can see just how much advertisements have evolved since the 1950s.