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Stepping back in advertising time: a look at some vintage Herald ads

The New Zealand Herald has just hit its 150th birthday milestone. So what better time to look back on happier, simpler and more profitable times for the newspaper. 

In an age where laptops, smartphones and tablets are a dime a dozen, it’s easy to forget how cutting edge calculators once were. Farmer’s dedicated an ample amount of advertising space to nothing but calculators, even offering readers the chance to meet its very own qualified calculator expert, Rod McNeil. One can only imagine the excitement that ensued when Rod put that beauty through its paces. 

Housewives were—and, of course, still are—a popular advertising target. For the “wise housewife”, the Beaver brand of Worchester sauce proudly proclaims, “one taste and ‘Beaver’ wins.” Meanwhile Electrolux was so confident a vacuum cleaner was what every “muvver” wanted, it dedicated a full-page spread to the cause, complete with a narrative between a daughter and her “favver”. 

Also in the ‘products that appeal to women’ category, Koko pushed its hair growth product with an ad that looks like it would appeal more to Marge Simpson. But if longer hair wasn’t what you were after, perhaps getting rid of those pesky corns on your feet was. ‘Gets-it’ offered just the solution for corn ailments with the catchy slogan ’Gets-it peels my corns off!’ And while separation is never easy, it’s good to know the corn(s) parted with your feet “peacefully”.

Elsewhere, when it comes to cooking, it’s not about the muscle, it was about putting some Bovril into it; the Auckland Night Life section showcased some classic joints (and promised a fun night out for ladies with exceptionally big mouths and men who smoked cigars longer than their faces); the excitement inspired by the Hawk dry-cleaning demonstration is hard to match; Jockey went to great lengths to drum home the message that size really does matter when it comes to undies; a zombie horse became the mascot for Hungry Horse restaurant; and Bell Tea showed its age with pride reminding readers that it’s been “New Zealand’s tea of quality” ever since the horse and carriage became New Zealand’s “foremost means of transport”. 

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