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Monday, March 30, 2015

More ads from 1970

I've shown lots of ads from comics here before and now here's another bunch you may remember. (Hopefully they'll also prove interesting for those of you born after 1970.) 

I've never minded adverts appearing in comics. As a kid they kept us informed of stuff we might like, and looking back on them now they serve a useful purpose in putting the comics in the cultural context of the times. Such as the ad for instamatic cameras...
Due to stricter rules about advertising in children's comics today, a lot of these items wouldn't stand a chance of appearing now. Sugary breakfast cereal and chocolate would be out for a start.


Jam and fireworks? Nope. Not a chance.  

I'd bet there'd even be some objection from some people today if comics advertised voodoo shoes too. What? Voodoo shoes? Yep....

One type of advert I was glad to see the back of were the ones encouraging kids to have a military career. I'm sure that may ruffle some feathers of some readers but I never thought they were appropriate for kids comics, and the 'Hunter-Killer' one shown here was particularly distasteful in my opinion.
Anyway, let's take a look at the rest of the ads. All of them appeared in Lion weekly in 1970...  









12 comments:

paddykool said...

Great nostalgia, Lew. I wonder has anyone any memories of a small set of toys given away in a cereal in the very early 1960's or late 1950's. it was basically a little set of little chunky toys..helicopters and the like ....that had to be assembled from a set of parts...?

Lew Stringer said...

I remember those although I must have been very young. I still have one somewhere. A green lorry. I thought I'd posted the ad on my blog but I must have missed it. I definitely have that ad in an old Eagle or something. Will sort it out when I have more time.

mikelake1 said...

Hiya...nice to see the Monkees book...is it worth pointing out that the artist Gene Fawcette had been a TOP comic artist certainly through the 50's, doing especially a few great science-fiction covers for the pre-code Avon line. A few of the old Golden Great artists went into newspaper strips in the early decades like Lou Fine.

Lew Stringer said...

Thanks Mike. It's always good to add more info. Hope you're well mate.

Unknown said...

Nice to see these ads Lew - I recall the Corgi Rockets cars and seemed the only one of my pals at the time that liked them (although the tune up Keys were useless)

This is a nice link to some free toys in cereal boxes;

http://www.planetdiecast.com/index.php?option=com_kunena&func=view&catid=141&id=83460&limit=15&limitstart=30&Itemid=0

John Pitt said...

I was forever sending off for those stamps in the 60's comics' ads, with me little postal orders!
But the ads I loved the most then were those in the DC comics. I so wished all those things were available over here, like Cheerios, Lucky Charms and Tootsie Rolls, not to mention the toys in the States!

paddykool said...

That's great Lew . That wee toy has a place in the corner of my memory as an eight ,nine or ten year old . I do vaguely remember thinking that the little helicopter was well put together.I look forward to seeing the advert.

Lew Stringer said...

I had Corgi Rockets too Paul. Just three or four cars but I had the Triple-Loop track. Still have it, all boxed up again now though. Of course, Hot Wheels won that rivalry and they're still around today while Corgi Rockets are just a memory.

Dale Brown said...

I'm sure I had a Corgi Hovercraft when I was a kid. Although I seem to remember mine having missile launchers on it

Happy days.

John Pitt said...

Cheers, Paul.
I'm off there too, to see if I can find my old cream-coloured plastic toy soldiers!

Sean Michael Wilson said...

It's nice to see these. Keep up the good work Lew! The sweet ones remind me of a sweetie from my childhood in Edinburgh in the late 70s, that sometimes comes back to my mind, but i can never remember the name or find any reference to it anywhere. It was about 3 inches long, 1 cm thick, and yellow. medium soft texture and possibly had a cow on the wrapping. It may have only been on sale in Scotland. Im starting tho think i imagined it!

Lew Stringer said...

Thanks Sean. That sweet doesn't ring any cowbells with me but I was never into sweets. (Chocolate yes, but not sweets so much.) The only thing I remember with a cow on were Malted Milk biscuits.

Does anyone else remember the sweets that Sean mentions?

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