Learning about Advertising from Grandma

A common complaint that I hear today is that advertising is everywhere, and we cannot get away from it. From billboards on the highways, to the endless stream of TV and radio commercials, to pages of ads in newspapers and magazines, sometimes it really does seem like advertisers have a monopoly on our attention. But according to Grandma, this was not the case when she was growing up. Ads must not have had much of an effect on her, because even though she remembers seeing them, she does not remember what they said. Her family did not travel very much, so she does not remember seeing many billboards. She does, however, remember seeing Burma Shave signs on the

Burma Shave signs along Route 66 in Arizona 

Photo credit: Ken Koehler

https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/byways/Uploads/asset_files/000/014/002/burmashave.jpg

roads. She did not remember any that stood out, but remarked that "They were fun to see." Like the case with billboards, she remembers seeing some airborne signs, like those that trail from airplanes, but she does not remember any specific ones.
Out in the community, advertising was more prominent. Several stores around her hometown had window displays, including the Five and Dime and the local clothing store. In regards to these, Grandma said, "They were pretty tame. They weren't lit up or anything." They would simply be a selection of whatever the store had to offer.
Grandma's most fond experience with advertising came from the seasonal catalogs that her family received in the mail, most notably the Sears and Roebuck publication. She and her siblings would

A Sears catalog from 1928 

© Cornell Publications 

http://www.cornellpubs.com/Images4/Sears%201928%20cover.jpg

take turns flipping through its big, glossy pages, one by one, every time it came. The attraction came from the fact that "it made you think you could get everything." As expected, Grandma's favorite items to look at were the toys and clothes, but on the whole, the Christmas catalog was her favorite. Even after they tired of looking at the items, the catalog still served as a source of entertainment for the kids. After everyone was done looking through it, Grandma and her sisters would cut paper dolls out of the pages to play with.

Sears 1956 Spring and Summer Catalog 

© SearsCatalogsOnline

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When I asked how newspaper and magazine ads have changed over the years, Grandma's first comment was that now there are just more of them. She explained that there are more things to advertise now, so everything tries to catch your eye. She picked up a recent copy of our local newspaper and flipped through it. Pointing to several ads, includi
ng some for a diet center, plastic surgery, and assisted living center, she said, "They would never have anything like this," referring to newspapers from when she was young. Another interesting thing that she mentioned was that she does not remember businesses taking out full page ads in the past. Now, those are fairly common, but previously, ads were "more to the point."
Grandma expressed similar sentiments over today's television and radio ads compared to those of the past. Again, there is a greater variety of things that are advertised on those mediums now, such as medicine and alcohol. Such things just were not advertised on TV in the past. In addition to subject matter, the nature of advertising has changed. Grandma does not remember jingles being used as much in the past as they are now. She said businesses just used to say "what they had to." Now, they work to find creative, memorable ways of marketing their products. This has resulted in a lot of unconventional ads, which Grandma says can be "downright nutty."
Overall, Grandma's opinion of advertising today is that "There's too much of it." Even so, she does not necessarily feel like she cannot get away from it, because she can turn off her TV and read a book. When she is watching TV, she says she doesn't pay much attention to the commercials. Even though they can be irritating at times, she understands that they are a necessary part of business.
This conversation about advertising made me think about how much of it that I see on a daily basis. Sometimes it does seem like we are constantly being told what to buy, how to think, or how to act. Imagining a world with less advertising is hard, because it is something that permeates almost every aspect of our lives. It is something that I have always lived with, so it is strange to think that it has not always been this way. Advertising interests me because I think it is fascinating to be able to influence another person through a few simple words and pictures. Learning about advertising from Grandma has made me more aware of how it affects me, and how much it has changed in such a relatively short amount of time. I do not think we will ever get back to the "simpler" days of advertising, but I am interested to see if advertising changes as much in my lifetime as it has in my Grandma's.