Used as postcards and for advertising, phono postcards were a single-sided phonograph record stuck on a card with a hole punched through. The Weco cards stand out with their use of photography (with the clothes sometimes painted on) and see-through vinyl.
posted by tellurian on Jul 29, 2009 - 12 comments

Playboy. Cowboy. Mandom. The late Charles Bronson and his perfect chest, in one of his finest early pre-Death-Wish roles. And look out for Percy Helton. Here's a shorter version with more horse. Via here. [more inside]
posted by brownpau on Sep 20, 2007 - 63 comments

12 months of George Petty pinups. And 16 more. Hell, have 5 pages worth. More about the Petty Girl, an advertising and pop culture icon with an often unfinished look who made her first appearance in Esquire in 1933 and whose elegant line quickly became famous. [via Bibi's Box, which has lots more Petty and pinup links] [warning: busty pinup girls]
posted by mediareport on Jan 18, 2007 - 23 comments

Fans of Vintage Cultural Ephemera Rejoice!

Illustration and print design of the 1920s-30s
Cold War Propaganda (on both sides)
Illustration and print design of the forties
Vintage cigarrette advertising
Sheet Music of the 1800s - 1950s
Out of print cookbooks
7-Up advertising (pre 1980s)

All of these (and much more) found via this excellent Flickr Page of Groups administered by cultural archivist Paula Wirth.
posted by jonson on Dec 15, 2006 - 15 comments

Her Secret Past is a Flickr group of retro (1950's - give or take a decade) advertisements targeted at women's fears, both the common ones (hairiness/lack of tiny monkey, wrinkles) and the lesser known ones (vagina so dirty it causes you to repeatedly leave parties early). Along the same lines, but for men is His Secret Past - although if you really want to see retro advertisements targeted at men, this set of ads from May 1963's Playboy would be the perfect source.
posted by jonson on Dec 11, 2006 - 47 comments

1970s toy commercials. From an era when things were more fun, cool, and fresh. Whether you were a hipster or a genius type, there was some creative and smart toy to be had. Many toys were educational and prepared you for the vicissitudes of adulthood. (YouTube alert!)
posted by madamjujujive on Sep 10, 2006 - 44 comments

So my mum-in-law was visiting Dover Castle last week, when she spotted this 1940s replica postcard which she sent to me. It talks about how the stalwarts of the Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) supposedly took "bile beans" for things like nervous debility and "female complaints." This term always sounds (at least to me) so quaint and condescending; a search on it led me to the quackery of patent medicine, one of the prime purveyors of which was Lydia E. Pinkham (“Only a woman can understand a woman's ills.”). I'd feel smug and advanced about how far we've come if only it weren't for the resurgence of the term on herbal remedies sites. We may have come a long way baby, but we've still got some work to do in women's medicine, at home and abroad apparently.
posted by Zinger on Aug 8, 2006 - 23 comments

Dan Goodsell (of the unbelieveably great - and previously linked - Tick Tock Toys) has been keeping a blog for the last six months or so covering a variety of subjects (including his webcartoon, Mr Toast), but largely focused on U.S. pop culture ephemera of the 50's though the 70's, with a ton of great stuff.
posted by jonson on May 29, 2006 - 5 comments

The Japanese Gallery of Psychiatric Art. Images from Japanese psychiatric medication advertisements: 1956-2003 (via Absent without leave)
posted by matteo on Mar 9, 2005 - 14 comments

Old Brands Never Die; They're Just Waiting For Someone To Wake Them Up: With the Nostalgia and Retro boom playing off the increasing number of niche markets made possible by the Web, it's time to start desperately plugging those favourite, time-honoured brands which "they" unforgivably stopped making, leaving their loyal fans in the lurch. What would you bring back, given half a chance? (I'll weigh in with Sobranie Black Russian cigarettes; the original Volkswagen Beetle; the Oldsmobile or, definitely, the Olympia manual Monica typewriter.)
posted by MiguelCardoso on Jan 27, 2004 - 19 comments

1930 Shanghai style advertising posters
posted by hama7 on Sep 5, 2003 - 6 comments

Retrolounge is a compendium of the next new thing in design, art, architecture and fashion. I kid! Truly, go-go boots make me swoon.
posted by pedantic on Aug 12, 2003 - 7 comments

Tick Tock Toys: "Archives and Galleries, a cavalcade of images" Splendiferous things of yore!!
posted by hama7 on Apr 3, 2003 - 17 comments

More design through the ages....
posted by Spoon on Mar 4, 2002 - 5 comments