30 Vintage Ads That Show How Much (And How Little) Society Has Changed
Old advertisements are time capsules. They tell you what people valued, what they feared, and what they thought was acceptable to say out loud. Some of them are shocking. Some are hilarious. Some make you grateful we’ve moved on. And some make you realize we haven’t moved as far as we’d like to think.
The interesting part isn’t just what changed. It’s what didn’t. Some values evolved. Others just got better at hiding. Looking at old ads isn’t just nostalgia. It’s a mirror.
1. “Superman Against Racism/Discrimination Ad Circa 1950”
2. “1934 Ad By The ‘Society For The Prevention Of Cruelty To Animals’”
3. “The Akron Beacon Journal, Ohio, July 27, 1937”
4. “They All Got Vaccine Except Dad – Workbench Magazine – 1958”
5. “Ray Ban 1998 Ad”
6. “1966 Ford Mustang Advertisement”
7. “An Unusually Progressive Seagrams Ad, Circa 1970s”
8. “Jester Wools (1947, UK)”
9. “1979 Ad For London Transit Showing How The City Would Look If Built By American Planners”
10. “Women’s Army Corps (Wac) 1941 Advertising”
11. “One Oregon Newspaper Clip Reads: ‘We Appeal To Your Civil Patriotism To Co-Operate With Us In Our Effort To Stamp Out The Spanish Influenza Or “Flu” Plague In Portland By Wearing A Mask'”
12. “Kickin Jeans Were Made By Century Martial Arts From 1977-1991. They Wear Like Regular Western Jeans But The Stretch Denim And Special Design Let You Move Like A Stuntman”
13. “Keep Baby Safe”
14. “Howard Johnson’s, 1951”
15. “‘The Tennessean’ Nashville, Tennessee November 16, 1909”
16. “Bell Telephone Company 1959”
17. “Addams Family ‘Haunted House’, 1964 Ad”
18. “Eat Ironized Yeast (1930s)”
19. “1953”
20. “Kellogg’s Pep Cereal (1940’s)”
21. “Hunt-Wesson Foods, 1967”
22. “Hmmm… That’s One For Two… LOL!”
23. “Lose Weight With Pure Sugar!”
24. “Congoleum (1970)”
25. “Help Fight MD With Cheese Balls”
26. “’60s Hoover Ad”
27. “The Universal Food Chopper -1899”
28. “Girl-Size Pen”
29. “Hm”
30. “Hmm”
