Happy Mother's Day

Celebrating Mother's Day on the second Sunday of May became an official U. S. holiday 99 years ago in 1914.  It seems there is a much bigger marketing campaign these days than there was in mid-century magazines but Anna Jarvis, the founder of Mother's Day, was already denouncing its commercialization in the 1920s according to The History Channel.

FTD
Flowers by Wire "Traditional Mother's Day Gift in a Keepsake Milk Glass Vase complete only $7.50"

May 5, 1961 Life Magazine

Kodak
"Picture Idea of the Week. Peter Lawford says: 'Make it a Mother's Day she'll remember - with Kodacolor shapshots. Easy to take with any camera!'"

May 2, 1960 Life Magazine

"Picture it now - enjoy it again and again! Give Mother her day for keeps - take pictures with Kodacolor Film!"

May 5, 1961 Life Magazine

Kool-Aid
"Happy Mother's Day I made the cake! Peggy. I made the Kool-Aid! Jim.  I drank some of the Kool Aid - Dad."

May 12, 1961 Life Magazine

Pyrex
"Special $3.50 Pyrex Ware Color Bowl Set only $2.49. World's most famous mixing-bowl set at almost a third off . . . Just in Time For Mother's Day!"


May 2, 1955 Life Magazine
"Mother's Day Gifts . . . for June Brides, too!"

May 7, 1956 Life Magazine

Whitman's Chocolate
"Mm-m, no wonder Mother's hoping for a Whitman's Sampler"

May 2, 1955 Life Magazine

"Where candy rates a thank-you, Whitman's rates a kiss"

May 3, 1963 Life Magazine

General Electric  
"Mothers make magic with General Electric (starting Mother's Day, May 12th)"

May 3, 1963 Life Magazine

Western Union
"Now the greeting that carries its own bouquet - new Scented Telegrams for Mother's Day"

May 2, 1955 Life Magazine
"What a lovely idea . . . A Carnation Scented Telegram - A Happy Thought for Mother's Day"

May 7, 1967 Life Magazine
"Read the telegram Eddie and Debbie are sending for Mother's Day"

May 6, 1957 Life Magazine
"Cried Danny D. Deever, Esquire, As he sent off his Mother's Day Wire, 'What a Dandy Way this is to send Love and Kisses - In June I shall wire my Sire!"

May 5, 1958 Life Magazine
"A new way to say 'I love you' this Mother's Day . . . send her a CandyGram"

May 11, 1959 Life Magazine

Zippo
"Newest gift for modern mothers . . . Zippo Slim-Lighter"

May 6, 1957 Life Magazine

Happy Mother's Day to all celebrating! Especially to my Mom!

Easter Color!

We've made it through dark winter months.
Please bring on the colors of Easter!


McCormick Schilling Food Colors April 8, 1957 Life Magazine


Brach's April 8, 1957 Life Magazine


Brach's April 6, 1962 Life Magazine


Ocean Spray Cranberry Sauce April 15, 1957 Life Magazine


Swift's Premium March 10, 1961 Life Magazine


Norcross Greeting Cards April 15, 1957 Life Magazine



Penney's April 8, 1957 Life Magazine


Kodak April 13, 1962 Life Magazine


I have more mid-century Easter ads here:
Brach's Easter Candy
Easter fun
Easter Shoes 
Western Union Easter Greetings
Easter Ham

Kodak

September 4, 1888
On this day in 1888, George Eastman received his patent for the roll-film camera and registered his trademark "Kodak" - a name he coined with no particular meaning.  Glass plates and other methods with lots of equipment were required prior to this and it certainly wasn't something the average American could manage. The camera he launched in 1888 sold for $25 and was pre-loaded with enough film for 100 exposures - the slogan was "You press the button, we do the rest".   I believe Kodak is most definitely a main influence on photography being so accessible to almost anyone.

However, times change and roll film is being overtaken by digital photography.  A recent article in the Wall Street Journal describes Kodak's plan to be financially viable which includes selling their camera-film business which made it a blue chip company. Check out the timeline included in their article History of Kodak.

Just for fun, of course I'm including mid-century summertime Kodak ads in my short tribute to a company that has spanned three centuries. . .

Brownie Movie Camera $37.50 (lower right corner notes "- a trade mark since 1888")

June 27, 1955 Life Magazine

August 15, 1955 Life Magazine
Price of the Brownie movie camera cut to $29.95!

June 18, 1956 Life Magazine

July 22, 1957 Life Magazine

Three Way Magic of Color Slide Photography (Hand viewer, projector, prints) for 135.

June 13, 1955 Life Magazine


It appears 35mm cameras did not have Kodacolor negative film available in 1955 - the six popular sizes were 116, 120, 127, 616, 620, and 828. Available in "Daylight Type" or indoors with flash "Type A"

June 20, 1955 Life Magazine

July 11, 1955 Life Magazine

September 5, 1955 Life Magazine

Biggest 35mm news since color slides!  35mm color print film!

June 30, 1958 Life Magazine

And Indoor-Outdoor Kodacolor film in 1956

July 2, 1956 Life Magazine

August 5, 1957 Life Magazine

May 26, 1958 Life Magazine

June 16, 1958 Life Magazine

I hope you remembered your camera to preserve your 2012 summer memories.

Washington DC Cherry Blossoms

My daughter is in Washington DC with a group of other Junior High students.  It is the midst of the National Cherry Blossom Festival and Washington DC is celebrating one hundred years of the gift of trees.

In 1912, an incredible gift of 3,000 cherry blossom trees was bestowed on Washington, DC by Tokyo, Japan. Rooted strongly and surviving outside elements, the trees have withstood the test of time

I still don't know if my daughter will get to (or has already) participated in any of the cherry blossom festivities.  But here are some vintage Washington DC cherry blossom ads that will have to hold me over until I can hear about her trip.
Pepsi Cola

April 13, 1959 Life Magazine


Kodak film

April 5, 1963 Life Magazine

Photography and Christmas

Lots of opportunities for photography during the winter holidays.  But what about lighting? I remember the big bowl shaped flash reflector especially from my Dad's dad's camera: bleary-eyed, early-morning gift opening and those flashes were bright like lightning.  A new flash bulb was required for every shot - and they were pretty hot to the touch so it wasn't like you could swap them speedily.  But maybe Grandpa thought they were pretty spiffy because it sure beat using explosive powder to produce artificial lighting - check out this brief history of photographic flash photography.

But then came the flash cube - you could shoot four consecutive photos! Photography was getting easier and easier.
"When a man decides to shoot visiting relatives he can't afford to miss." (December 1966 ad)

From Vintage Goodness

Kodak had a significant role in amateur photography - according to Kodak's timeline, the Instamatic line was introduced in 1963 and quickly became a huge success.  A December 1966 ad makes helpful gift suggestions for those who already have one

From Vintage Goodness

My dad was pretty excited to give my mom her own Kodak Instamatic camera in the early 70's

From Visiting Vintage

He had been in to photography since he was a teenager - he worked after school at a camera store in Bremerton.  He was thrilled to get photography equipment for his darkroom at Christmas (I think this is a dryer)

From Visiting Vintage

Dad gave me darkroom equipment for Christmas when I also showed interest in the hobby in high school. I won a small TV in a photography contest about the same time but it wasn't with my "real" camera (I had an Argus C3 and a Minolta 101) it was with my mom's Instamatic above - I put my sunglasses over the lens and shot a sailboat photo into the sun.

And then for several years, my parents were the Santa photographers at Factoria Square Mall.







You can't see very clearly but he used a Mamiya for the portrait photos - families had to return to the mall to pick up their prints or have their packages mailed to them.  He also used a high quality Polaroid so families could take one with them.

My parents occasionally still do photography professionally.  We both have Nikons now - his is far fancier than mine!  While I enjoy photography year round - it holds particularly fond memories for me at Christmas.