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  Look, January 8, 1957 . Since 1942, the Ad Council has presented Americans with public service announcements ranging from Smokey the Bear's suggestion that only you can prevent forest fires to McGruff the Crime Dog's vow to take a bite out of crime .  This two-page spread highlights some of the Ad Council's late 1950s campaigns, which reflect a mixture of optimism, community building, and Cold War initiatives. It is refreshing to note that the Ad Council's website does apologize for some of its too-jingoistic campaigns during the Second World War directed against certain "foreigners."  Perhaps a new campaign resurrecting the hand gesture depicted in question #3 could be modernized and used extensively for the upcoming U.S. midterms. 

Feeling nostalgic this holiday season, I'm diving into Christmas records that my family owned when I was a kid.  And now, the other Christmas record I put on repeat as a kid, I'll Be Home For Christmas , which was produced by one of the largest purveyors of "junk" records. Pickwick was a budget label which hit its peak during the 1960s and 1970s. They released anything from covers of current hits by anonymous studio ensembles to re-releases of albums from major labels that dropped a track or two. Quality was not always Pickwick's highest priority. My guess is that this record was purchased at a discount department store in a sale bin.  In this case, just as Christmas Pleasures used Columbia's catalogue, this 1976 album digs into Capitol's vaults. Since, being a Pickwick product, this album only has ten tracks, let's plow through all of them... SIDE ONE Dean Martin - Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer This track amused me as a kid, having already sens...

  Feeling nostalgic this holiday season, I'm diving into Christmas records that my family owned when I was a kid, starting with a late 1970s dive into Columbia Records' vaults, Christmas Pleasures. Click here for side one .  Mitch Miller and the Gang - Winter Wonderland       Ah, Mitch Miller. On the one hand, the man had an ear for hits, turning Columbia Records into a pop powerhouse during the 1950s. He helped shape the role of a record producer, transforming it from a passive to active role in the studio. On the other hand, he had a fondness for schlock, and resisted signing rock acts, leaving Columbia behind in that genre until the mid-1960s. And then there was Sing Along With Mitch . Growing out of a series of albums that started in the late 1950s, Miller welded large vocal ensembles with old-fashioned tunes that listeners could sing along with. They sold well with older audiences, leading to an NBC television series which ran from 1961 to 1964.  How...

  Parade, December 24, 1950. Which of the eight types listed here are you? How often have you emerged from your stroll across the street with lumps or found yourself strapped to a hospital bed? How many times do you think the uncredited writer of this piece cursing at any of these pedestrians while behind the wheel of their post-Second World War American city? Launched in 1941, Parade is one of the last surviving nationally syndicated Sunday newspaper supplements in the United States. Why it still exists is a good question: the last time I saw a physical copy a few years ago, it was a sad little publication - unexciting celebrity and lifestyle content buried amid weak advertisers, combined into a 16-page package. Its website doesn't scream "read me!" thanks to a layout that is unfortunately evocative of those "around the web" clickbait sections.

The Telegram , November 15, 1954. Click on image for larger version.  November 15, 1954: the day Torontonians began enjoying two long-running comic strips, courtesy of the Telegram. Peanuts  ( whose local debut I wrote about for Torontoist ) had been gaining popularity across North America since its debut four years earlier, while Marmaduke began causing mischief that year. Both strips migrated to the Toronto Star when the Tely folded in 1971. Peanuts is regarded as a comic strip classic; Marmaduke is admired for its longevity (creator Brad Anderson is still alive at age 90). The Great Dane's monotony has led papers to try and drop the strip--an act they don't always succeed in carrying out. When the Star attempted to dump it in 1999 , readers revolted. When people like, as the Star put it, the same two jokes told over and over again ("Marmaduke is a dog with some human qualities, and Marmaduke is gargantuan"), it's comfort food they will fight tenac...

The Telegram , December 3, 1952. Click on image for larger version. If you do the math, "Millionaire Sam" was only four years younger than the Tely itself. I wonder if he found the night watchman job he desired for his final years (unless it's a joke). Unless they opened convenience stores or expanded their hawking into a storefront newsstand, it's unlikely any of the younger men entering the newsboy field in 1952 enjoyed careers as long as Mr. Samuels.

  Advertisement, Safari , March 1957. There are standard tropes generations of newspapers have relied upon to fill up that tiny piece of front page real estate which no other story can stretch into. One is the "aw, isn't that 100-year-old-person cute!" trope. These tales often came over the wires, and had zilch to do with the city it was published in. For example, take this tale pasted in the middle of the March 27, 1952 edition of the Telegram : 'Eye For Girls' He's Not Old At 102 Galesburg, Mich - March 27 (AP) - "I still get a kick out of seeing a pretty girl," mused William Ridler as he observed his 102nd birthday today. "When I don't any more, I'll know I'm getting old." Imagine the Upworthy-esque headline were this published today: "If You Fear That Lust Fades With Age, This 102-Year-Old Man Will Change Your Mind."

Source: Toronto Star , August 9, 1950. Click on image for larger version. During a recent research project, I found a handful of military recruitment ads from the early years of the Korean War, which feel appropriate to post for Remembrance Day. The Toronto personnel depot listed in these ads is long gone, having been converted to parkland in the early 1960s.