For the fourth installment of this long-running occasional feature (you can read entries from
2017 here,
2019 here and
2020 here), here's another selection of print ads for the toys, sweets, books and games of my youth.
I still think, as always, there's a lot of charm on display here - the ads are often hand-drawn and with muted hyperbole - as well as a lovely sense of wistful innocence, though that might be more the reminder of
stamped, addressed envelopes,
postal orders and things costing pennies.
Here, then, are a few more ads of our childhood, I hope they spark some memories for you...
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| 1974 |
I don't remember the ad but I do remember the lolly. And I still love that a vampire - a quite frightening image of one, to boot - is used for a kids advert. Clearly, we were a hardier breed then!
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| 1976 |
Action Man! Palitoy! Staples of my childhood!
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| 1977 |
I was eight when this appeared and we didn't have a dog, but I do remember thinking "why didn't he tell his Mum or Dad?"
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| 1978 |
Draw a space-ship or a film star's dream house? I'll draw a space-ship crashing into a film star's dream house, reply loads of nine-year olds...
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| 1978 |
I still like Wagon Wheels and yes, they really are smaller now. Also - 1978 was the year the UK became skateboard crazy (the first time around).
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| 1978 |
Not just Dracula, we get the whole bunch here as Smiths sail close to the rocks of copyright with Boris Karloff's Mummy and Lon Chaney Jr's Wolfman!
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| 1978 |
Science-fiction was huge in 1978 (
the year Star Wars hit the UK) and King Kong had just been at the cinema. I wonder if this Warlord is anything to do with the comic?
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| 1978 |
I remember having a fingerprint kit, but not this one. I also kept 'secret files' on people, though since I only knew my friends and family members (and had to ask their permission to get their fingerprints), I wasn't exactly Interpol (but does explain why, still in my archives, there's a card for my Uncle Philip).
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| 1979 |
"Dad?"
"Yes son?"
"When we're going to shopping, do you need any petrol...?"
"New Smurf out?"
"Oh yes..."
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| 1979 |
Forty-two years later and I still don't get the appeal of licorice...
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| 1979 |
More Dracula! We used to use Signal but I don't remember this (and free fangs and a horror book aren't things ten-year-old me would have easily passed by).
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| 1979 |
Star Wars, Palitoy and Brian Bolland. A winning combination!
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| 1980 |
I was (and remain) a huge fan of
The Professionals (
I wrote about them here) and had the large and small versions of this. The latter still sits on my bookshelf in the study (the larger version is safely in my toy box) - I still have the figures too, though the ad here has mis-labelled them.
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| 1980 |
Join the fight against Nick O'Teen. This was part of a huge campaign and because I liked Superman so much, I wrote off for the poster (which didn't show lungs, like this one does).
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| 1983 |
Video games were really starting to make in-roads by this time and I remember people raving over Pole Position. I wonder what the kids of today would make of it?
If you're interested, more of my Nostalgic For My Childhood posts can be found here
Regarding the 'Creepy Clutchers', I got (and still have) a Frankenstein one free with Buster, though it's based on Glenn Strange's monster, not Karloff's. Having said that, Strange's monster could sometimes be hard to tell from Boris if he was lit a certain way.
ReplyDeleteExcellent, how on earth have you managed to keep hold of that?
DeleteJust kept it in a drawer for years, MW, never used it. It even says on it that it was given away with Buster, but it's definitely of the exact same kind as the ones you show.
DeleteAre you tempted to use it? :)
DeleteActually, on reflection, I may have used it once, when reading Treasure Island yonks ago, but I wouldn't use it now as there's a risk of leaving an impression on any pages it's slipped onto.
DeleteGood point!
Delete