Advertisements 1909

These come from the NZ Observer and the Evening Post.

Brown Barrett & Co have associations with Avondale and surrounding districts through the McKail Geddes family, but -- I chose this because it is a beautiful advertisement for its time. From the Observer, well-known for the quality of its artwork.

For a penny, you can stand at a fence in Hazard's gallery and take pot shots at horses, dogs, people ... the "running objects". Or, if you go by the illustration, who needs the shooting gallery when you can be the Lone Gunman behind the nearest fence? This is a troubling advertisement looking at it with today's eyes. Also from the Observer.

Any ideas what this advertisement is all about? Is E. Arnold selling (a) the pram or (b) clothing? Granted, he must have been well-known for his trade in Wellington back in 1909, but today -- I haven't a clue.

Anyone reading who would care to have a go at taking a pill called "Brown Peas"?

The Model-T Ford comes to New Zealand, and at £300 is immediately a luxury item. Especially when you were very lucky to be paid £1 per week wages.

This ad caught me by surprise. These days a "go-cart" is either a kid's box-cart used down a hill, or the motorised versions which roar around the track at the end of Rosebank Road. But, it seems, the etymology took a turn toward the field of baby-care. A bit of a check of articles from 1909 seem to indicate that what we know cas a pram and a "go-cart" were nearly synonyms, if not interchanged regularly. This snippet from the Evening Post in November 1908 illustrates this:

" ... a candidate for Wellington South slipped on the pavement while he was reaching over a low go-cart to kiss a baby. He hit his nose against one of the flag-stones, and left some blood there. He is applying for permission from the City Council, to remove the blood-stained stone, and put another in its place. He intends carrying the crimson-spangled monument around the district under his arm as a token of his devotedness to the district, and will subsequently put it in a glass case by the General Post Office for all to see."

This was chosen because, like the butterfly coffee ad at the top, this one is so well-drawn it caught my eye. The apricots tumbling from the large tin look just like apricots. A lovely effort in the days before photographic advertising.