Thread by @tmr232

Time for an old National Geographic ads megathread!

Starting with 1963!

#OldAds

First, we have some telephone ads from Bell Telephone System.
We have families on vacation, minimal maintenance, young engineers, and...

extension phones, so you'll never have to leave the kitchen.

And then those fantastic General Telephone & Electronics phone ads.
I really like those.

Moving on the the Space Race!
With the Saturn S-IVB, 3 years before it's first flight

Also note that they are not selling a product - just advertising.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S-IVB

Two ads for the Syncom - the first geosynchronous satellite, launched the same year.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syncom

And these wonderful full-color ads for Pratt & Whitney Aircraft. Talking about fuel cells for the Apollo program, and the SNAP-50/SPUR nuclear reactor in space (see official declassified program summary here osti.gov/biblio/4307107…)

Of course, should anything go wrong, Rock of Ages has you covered

KNOW YOUR TRUCKS!

#oldads #KnowYourTrucks #Trucks

Are you the overly-vigorous type of toothbrusher?
Is your daughter a "hit-or-miss" type of toothbrusher?

Then there's this ad by Coca-Cola

A wide variety of pen ads

Going over to car ads, let's start with Chevrolet, with a solid ad

MG with pun-based ads targeting men

Buick. I don't understand those ads.

Cadillac

Ford, with the beautiful Thunderbird

And Pontiac with a stunning 2-page spread

Pontiac again, this time with an illustration. I just couldn't bring myself to ruin the preview on the previous tweet.

Moving from cars to insurance companies.
We have Continental Insurance with their Minuteman, Metropolitan Life teaching you how to eat healthy, and MONY

It's time to wrap up '63 with. Just a few more ads to go.

First - ACCUTRON - is it a watch or a death-star?

Color TVs

Cameras!
Kodak

Keystone

Bell & Howell, bringing out the expert in you!

How about some colonialist travel?

Tread the untrod paths of small Greek towns!
Come to New Zealand and have the locals entertain you!

Or maybe just awkward travel ads?

And a few leftovers

Next up - 1966!

#oldads #NationalGeographic

So you probably didn't know this, but 1966 is apparently the year of the boat-motor, with Johnson, Evinrude, and merCruiser going very

very

very strong.

Seems I missed one!

Next up - Bell System!
You can telephone all over the world!

And for only $12, plus tax, for the first 3 minutes!

I really like the pictures in those ads by Metropolitan Life insurance

Get a Hamilton watch stuck in your eye!

Seems like lawn mowers were also big in '66.

I really like these lawn mowers in action pictures from International Harvester Company. For some reason, they give me really strong Star-Trek vibes.

The next 3 are also wonderful

Going towards photography & TV, GT&E had some wonderfully stylized ads this year.
I could totally have the first one hanging on my wall.

Polaroid going strong with their Model 100 folding cameras, and cats!

And Kodak and Bell & Howell with video cameras, and a Kodak that seems to be showcasing GT&E's flash-cube we saw earlier

Going to TVs and Stereo - I had no idea Magvanox Astro-Sonic was a thing!

It's a stereo, AM/FM radio, record player, and a huge piece of furniture all in one!

If you wondered where all the space ads went - they went to RCA's TV ads

And as a final entry in this category, we have Zenith to remind us that TVs used to be made by hand

Before we finish 1966 with car and travel ads, we have some miscellaneous ads

We have General Electric with automatic knives, the Shakespeare Recording Company with Hamlet, School Bulletin - which mostly seems like a "get your kids to read" ad

And some oil company ads. Including Sinclair Oil Corporation with a "nature is cool!" ad.

And now, cars!

First, we have Cadillac with "some of our best friends are chauffeurs"

Jeep Wagoneer, keeping your wife safe!

Oldsmobile Toronado, which is just so darn pretty (and I'm pretty sure I had multiple of those as toy cars when I was a kid)

Can anything
this beautiful
really be a tiger?
It's a Pontiac,
Isn't it?

#CarPoetry

And in addition to this piece of poetry, two more traditional Pontiac ads

Then we have Ford. They advertised A LOT this year.

Five different Thunderbird ads

...here's the fifth

Followed by Mercury & Lincoln ads

And some non-car Ford ads (don't forget the lawn-mower ads from earlier in the thread)

Chevrolet had 2 cars to advertise this year. First, Chevy Caprice - "the convertible that doesn't convert" - if you want to do your makeup while laying on the roof

And with what's probably the best car ads ever - Chevy Impala

"Got something to hide?
(We've got the place.)"

"Somehow
Impala doesn't seem destined
to be big with secret agents"

And for the last category this year - Travel.
Let's have United set the mood, shall we?

You can travel locally (in the US)

You can fly with Japan Air Lines

"Don't miss the famous Japan Air Lines 'Welcome Aboard" from Noriko [...], Fumiko [...], or Shoko"

"Say something funny
you experience a charming response
reflecting 1,200 years of tradition

Enjoy the special charm of Japan Air Lines"

You can travel to South America, to see this one particular girl, or the hideous beauty of the natives!

Go to Mexico

Or Canada

Still Canada

Yep, still Canada

And that's it for 1966.

And, somehow, I forgot to post these Bahama Islands ads

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