The 100 Greatest Advertisements 1852-1958

Who Wrote Them and What They Did

Julian Watkins

• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Year: 2012
• Print ISBN: 9780486205403
• eBook ISBN: 9780486144085
• Topic: Design
• Subtopic: Graphic Design

Styles in advertising will change, but there is no copywriter, artist, or campaign planner who will not profit by studying proved successes, whether of 50 years ago or today. In this single volume are 100 of what are probably among the most successful advertisements ever to appear in print, plus an additiional 13 added especially for this edition.
These 113 ads are proven salesmen―almost every one had phenomenal results. They have not been included because of personal whim, or for their beauty. The ultimate criterion here is the only one that really counts: whether an ad did what it was supposed to do. These ads helped change the habits of a nation, built reputations, gave new expressions to the language and―first and foremost―sold millions of dollars of merchandise, from Rolls Royce automobiles to Lux Soap, from Riviera Pears to Steinway Pianos.
You learn the salient facts behind these ads as well, often expressed in the words of the originator himself. Men who understood intuitively the workings of mass persuasion techniques long before they became widespread describe their own thoughts, reasonings, and hunches. Earnest Elmo Calkins tells about his experiences in creating Phoebe Snow for the Lackawanna Railroad. Bruce Barton tells about his work on the "Five Foot Shelf" ad, which increased eight-fold the number of coupons received. David Ogilvy describes his campaigns for Hathaway Shirts and Rolls Royce. Raymond Rubicam tells of Squibb's "Priceless Ingredient."

More than 100 ads tell better than any textbook or professional analysis exactly what is the secret ingredient that makes an ad "click" when a thousand others fail.

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Preface to Dover Edition-1959
• Author’s Preface-1949
• Foreword
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• WANTED: Volunteers For The South Pole
• EASTMAN KODAK — “You Press The Button — We do The Rest”
• CAMPBELL’S SOUP — “The Campbell Kids”
• IVORY SOAP — 9944/100% Pure — (1882)
• PHOEBE SNOW — “The Road of Anthracite”
• SMITH BROTHERS COUGH DROPS
• SAPOLIO — “Spotless Town”
• VICTOR TALKING MACHINE COMPANY — “His Master’s Voice”
• FISK RUBBER COMPANY — “Time To Retire”
• UNEEDA BISCUIT
• CREAM OF WHEAT — “Ah Reckon As How He’s De Bes’ Known Man In De Worl’”
• CADILLAC — “The Penalty Of Leadership”
• KELLY-SPRINGFIELD — The Fellowes Series
• CAMEL CIGARETTES — First Big Time Cigarette Campaign
• DR. ELIOT’S FIVE-FOOT SHELF — “This Is Marie Antoinette Riding To Her Death”
• ODORONO — “Within The Curve Of A Woman’s Arm”
• B B D & O — “Brown’s job”
• KIDDIE KAR — “The Dick Walsh Series”
• I. C. S. - “The University Of The Night”
• AMERICAN RED CROSS, WORLD WAR I - “The Greatest Mother In The World”
• THE AYER HOUSE ADS — “The Stranger At The Gate”
• SQUIBB — “The Priceless Ingredient”
• STEINWAY — “The Instrument Of The Immortals”
• CANADA DRY — “Down From Canada Came Tales Of A Wonderful Beverage”
• WOODBURY SOAP — “The Skin You Love To Touch”
• EDWARD S. (NED) JORDAN* — “Somewhere West Of Laramie”
• POSTUM — “Why Men Crack”
• ERWIN, WASEY & COMPANY — “Written After Hours”
• TECLA PEARLS — “A $10,000 Mistake”
• ALEXANDER HAMILTON INSTITUTE – “The Glory of The Upward Path”
• MENNEN’S SHAVING CREAM – “Listen – You Biggest City In The World!”
• THE WOMAN’S INSTITUTE - “The Diary Of A Lonesome Girl”
• FORD AIR TRANSPORT — “Lift Up Your Eyes”
• THE BOOK OF ETIQUETTE — “Again She Ordered Chicken Salad”
• SHERWIN CODY — “Do You Make These Mistakes In English?”
• U. S. SCHOOL OF MUSIC — “They Laughed When I Sat Down At The Piano”
• LISTERINE — “Often A Bridesmaid, But Never A Bride”
• R. H. MACY — “We Could Be Just As Crowded At Macy’s And Not Get Wet!”
• CHESTERFIELD CIGARETTES — “Blow Some My Way”
• LUCKY STRIKE — “Reach For A Lucky Instead Of A Sweet”
• RINSO — “Who Else Wants A Whiter Wash — With No Hard Work?”
• LUX TOILET SOAP — - “9 Out Of 10 Screen Stars Use Lux Toilet Soap For Their Priceless Smooth Skins”
• NEW YORK DAILY NEWS — “Tell It To Sweeney”
• LENNEN & MITCHELL — “Find The Man”
• THE NEW YORKER’S SEVEN HOURS OF SUSPENDED ANIMATION
• BIG BEN — “First He Whisper, Then He Shouts. . .”
• DALE CARNEGIE — “How To Win Friends And Influence People”
• PEPSODENT — Claude Hopkins’ Film Campaign.
• YOUNG & RUBICAM, INC. — “Impact”
• FORD — How The Tin Lizzie Became A Lady
• AMERICAN TEL. & TEL. - “Telephone Service — A Public Trust” AND “Weavers of Speech”
• ROLLS-ROYCE — “To A Man Who is Afraid To Let His Dream Come True”
• WEBER & HEILBRONER — “We Traveled 2000 Miles To Save 65¢”
• PLYMOUTH — “Look At All Three”
• INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENCE SCHOOL — Coupon Advertisements
• B. ALTMAN & COMPANY — - “We Believe There Are At Least 500 Men In New York Who Love Their Wives”
• PACKARD — “When Heaven Was At The Corner Of Sycamore And Main”
• BUICK — “Ever Hear The One About The Farmer’s Daughter?”
• B. F. GOODRICH COMPANY — “Rubber Keeps A Motor Bus Singing In The Rain”
• GENERAL MOTORS — “We Hope We Set A Boy To Dreaming”
• BOSTON & MAINE — “That’s A Hell Of A Way To Run A Railroad”
• PHOENIX MUTUAL — “To Men Who Want To Quit Work Someday”
• TRAVELERS INSURANCE COMPANY — “The Greatest Reason In The World”
• HARTFORD FIRE INSURANCE COMPANY — “While Fire Looks On And Smiles”
• ARROW COLLAR — “My Friend, Joe Holmes, Is Now A Horse”
• BARRE GRANITE — “Aunt Meg Who Never Married”
• BEAR CREEK ORCHARDS — “Imagine Harry And Me Advertising Our Pears In ‘Fortune’ ”
• COCA-COLA — Two Ads That Made History
• ROYAL TYPEWRITER - “The 2258th Part”
• SHELL OIL COMPANY — “Off The Bridge, You Landlubber”
• THE BORDEN COMPANY — Elsie
• THE ROGERS PEET STORY
• THE STORY BEHIND “THE KID IN UPPER 4”By NELSON C. METCALF, JR.
• FOUR ROSES — Jack Rosebrook’s and Henry Lent’s Famous Campaign
• WEBB YOUNG — “Hand W oven By The Mountain People Of New Mexico”
• FARM & FIRESIDE — ‘How To Carry Fire In A Paper Bag”
• HAMILTON WATCH — “To Peggy — For Marrying Me, In The First Place”
• C & O — “A Hog Can Cross The Country Without Changing Trains — But You Can’t”
• ZAREH
• COMMONWEALTH & SOUTHERN — “Tonight At Midnight”
• MERRILL LYNCH, ETC. - “Too Long?”
• LADIES’ HOME JOURNAL — “Never Underestimate The Power Of A Woman”
• TIFFANY
• INSTITUTE OF LIFE INSURANCE - “Faith Is A Family Affair”
• ELECTRIC LIGHT & POWER ASSOCIATION — “The Case of The Crumpled Letter”
• PLYMOUTH . . . AND MODESS
• DEBEERS DIAMONDS
• SALADA TEA
• HOLEPROOF HOSIERY — The First Use Of Cheesecake In Advertising
• STRYKER SOAP COMPANY — “No Phoolium”
• BRUGGNER’S — “White Elephant Sale”
• FELS NAPTHA – “All Right, Ann Ward”
• AMERICAN MUTUAL – “You’ll Have To Stop Glowing” said Mr. Friendly
• MACY’S 1948 CHRISTMAS AD – “Oh, Darling – You Shouldn’t Have!”
• U. S. STEEL — “He Came To A Land Of Wooden Towns And Left A Nation Of Steel”
• WARNER & SWASEY – “Wonder What A Frenchman Thinks About”
• SOUTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD – “A Short Course In Railroading For Airline Executives”
• THE SEARS, ROEBUCK CATALOGUE!
• THE ADVERTISING COUNCIL – “How To Tune A Piano”
• JOINT COFFEE TRADE PUBLICITY COMMITTEE — - And The Coffee Break Was Born
• GENERAL MILLS — The Woman Everybody Knows
• WALLACHS — - “Writing Them Is A Pleasure,” Says Les Pearl “Reading Them Is, Too,” Say Millions Of Readers
• HATHAWAY — But Don’t Forget The Copy
• PILLSBURY — Those BIG Pillsbury Cakes!
• CAMPBELL’S SOUP — New Excitement Into Soup
• HAMM’S — “Refreshingly Yours . . . From The Land Of Sky-Blue Waters!”
• MARLBORO — You Get A Lot To Like . . .
• FORD — All The Earmarks Of A Great Ad
• CHEVROLET — Shades Of Arthur Kudner
• EL AL ISRAEL — A “Look At All Three” — Airlines-Style
• POLAROID — Simply Terrific!
• ROLLS-ROYCE 1958 — - All Facts And No Adjectives Another Ogilvy Ad That Will Long Be Remembered
• Index of Names and Products
• A CATALOG OF SELECTED DOVER BOOKS IN ALL FIELDS OF INTEREST