bonus features: honest ed's smells out bargains for you

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If you've read my post this week on Torontoist, consider this the DVD bonus feature.
Background: I spent Saturday bouncing back and forth between home and downtown (details soon). During a window between two engagements in the core, I had enough time to slip over to the Toronto Reference Library to do some prep work for this week's Vintage Ads column, which marked the recent death of Ed Mirvish. I went with a nice, round number and zeroed in on newspapers from 40 years ago this week...this way, I could work in the long-defunct Toronto Telegram. I narrowed down the suitable candidates to three ads. Two had great headline banners, but only one wouldn't require hours of Photoshop to remove the years of wear, tear and mediocre microfilm printing.

Since the ad I chose lacked a funny-ha-ha headline, I cropped the banners from the runners-up and used them in the article. But, if you're curious to see what the full versions look like...

Vintage Ad #275: Honest Ed's Smells Out Bargains For You!
Runner-up #1 was printed exactly eight years before I was born, in the July 15, 1967 edition of the Telegram. "Geritol" is one of those brand names that automatically makes me laugh, alongside Screaming Yellow Zonkers, Cheese Willikers and Bubba Cola.

Vintage Ad #274: For Lazy Living Visit Honest Ed's
Runner-up #2 appeared in the July 20, 1967 edition of the Toronto Star. Note the blank spaces on the bottom - products were there, but so smudged that all attempts to remove the fuzz failed. Nothing says lazy living like tinned herring.

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