Figure 1.--Here we have another shoe-shing advertisement--this one by Shinola-Bixby Shoe Polish. The ad is sociologically interesting for May 1930, p. 38, during the Great Depression. The appeal is obviously to boys who are shown in a contemporary photograph playing baseball. Notice the above-the-knee knickers, the black long stockings, the hightop shoes, and the woolen cap with a bill worn by the boy sliding into a base.

This is an ad for Uneeda Biscuits, aproduct offered by the National Biscuit Companu (Nabisco). The ad appeared in the Ladies Home Journal (January 1930). Uneeda Bakers/Nabisco often used children in raincoats for its advertising. This was to stress the freshness preserving packaging for which the company was known. The ad copy at the bottom of the page read, "Uneeda Biscuit has been the world's best soda crackers for more than 30 years--because of its extra goodness and flavor, its extra crispness and delicacy : : : Its the perfect soda cracker--day time anywhere." The boy in the illustration wears a boy in a yellow raincoat (hard to tell if its rubber coated cotton, or an oilskin). Note the date. I thought yellow raincoats were a fairly recent development. I only recall black in the 1940s. But clearly yellow rain coats appeared earlier.

Created: 9:37 PM 1/1/2011
Last updated: 9:37 PM 1/1/2011