Which vintage magazines to look in?

**IronHammer** · 09-22-2012, 04:17 PM

Hi everybody,

I have a few vintage Gillette razor ads I have found and I am interested in finding more. Does anybody know for sure which magazines their ads appeared in back in the 40's, 50's and 60's? There are so many magazines to sift through I just can't search them all so I have been looking only in December (Christmas) issues of Life, Time and any other nationally known magazines.

Thanks!
Todd

**HoosierTrooper** · 09-22-2012, 04:32 PM

Todd, if you search Gillette at THIS SITE you get 15 pages or so of ads.

**M80** · 09-22-2012, 04:45 PM

https://www.google.com/search?q=gill...w=1366&bih=641

**IronHammer** · 09-22-2012, 05:20 PM

Thanks guys. Although that is extremely cool and helpful (so I know what to look out for). I am wanting to collect original ads from the magazines themselves so I am trying to figure out which ones to look in.

EDIT: Well, then. I replied before I clicked on M80's link. Very useful indeed! Thanks M80.

**HoosierTrooper** · 09-22-2012, 05:45 PM

I should've added that in some of the ads you can see what magazine they where in, thought that might help.

**IronHammer** · 09-22-2012, 06:04 PM

Originally Posted by HoosierTrooper

I should've added that in some of the ads you can see what magazine they where in, thought that might help.

Tom, M80's link is a gold mine of information on exactly which magazines and what page to find them in. VERY exciting! I have been busy indexing these into a list to bring with me on my antique hunting. I am hoping to stumble across an ad for the Gillette President or Diplomat or the 60's Aristocrat.

**IronHammer** · 09-22-2012, 06:09 PM

One thing is certain from browsing these ads. 1947 and 1948 experienced a big marketing push from Gillette in Life and Boys' Life magazine.

**Cynomys** · 09-22-2012, 06:30 PM

I would think some sports related magazines, like Sports Illustrated, would be good sources. I know Gillette was all over advertising on the baseball Game of the Week. I still remember their advertising jingle.

**IronHammer** · 09-22-2012, 06:59 PM

I just browsed through all the links and couldn't find any ads for anything after 1952. I saw only one ad for the Executive set, which in 1950 cost $10.00! Quite a bit of money back then for a razor. The vast majority of ads found were between 1946 and 1949 when Gillette ran a huge ad campaign promoting the Super-Speed and new Dispenser. This was also the time when they ran the Calvacade of Sports cartoon ads using popular baseball and football names. Very interesting reading.

**lowjax** · 09-22-2012, 07:02 PM

Very interesting in going through these older magazines. I didn't realize how much of them were advertising back then. I guess not much has changed.

**IronHammer** · 09-22-2012, 07:19 PM

This is interesting. The January 1960 issue of Life has a full page writeup of the new "Super" Blue Blade. I was disappointed (and shocked, actually) after reading the entire page to find they never mention exactly WHAT makes the blade better than the old Blue Blade. In fact, they even stuck their foot in their mouth by saying "Because production is slower, the distribution of the new Super Blue Blade will be somewhat limited in the immediate future" LOL! Still it's a fun read.

**IronHammer** · 09-22-2012, 07:28 PM

I am on a kick reading these ads through the years. 1974 and 1975 saw Gillette run an ad campaign promoting Gillette blades over the competitors. Their tag line was "If you don't have the blades, you don't have the shave". You can see the upper portion of the Slim Adjustable in the picture. One of the ads from Popular Mechanics is here.

**IronHammer** · 09-22-2012, 07:33 PM

Here's an interesting editorial about Gillette's "Good News" disposable razor and how the author, even in 1976, is bemoaning the eventual environmental impact of all that plastic in the landfills.

EDIT: This article was from the New Yorker. The editorial is immediately followed by an ad from Vantage (cigarette company) telling people why their cigarettes aren't as harmful as the doctors say they are! LOL!!!

**CGW409** · 09-22-2012, 08:15 PM

Originally Posted by IronHammer

Hi everybody,

I have a few vintage Gillette razor ads I have found and I am interested in finding more. Does anybody know for sure which magazines their ads appeared in back in the 40's, 50's and 60's? There are so many magazines to sift through I just can't search them all so I have been looking only in December (Christmas) issues of Life, Time and any other nationally known magazines.

Thanks!
Todd

Todd
Another thing to consider is expanding beyond the December issues to November and even October.

**IronHammer** · 09-22-2012, 08:25 PM

Originally Posted by CGW409

Todd
Another thing to consider is expanding beyond the December issues to November and even October.

Oh, that's the first thing I noticed in the Google Books search. When Gillette started their marketing blitz in 1946, they ran ads like crazy in every month for two solid years promoting their Super-Speed and innovative blade dispenser. I have notes now on exactly which issues had ads so I'll be doing some digging through magazines now when I go to flea markets/antique shops.