✯ Day 8 of Vintage 365 ✯
In this world where it seems that technology becomes out-dated before it even reach store shelves, and consumers are bombarded with ever flashier commercials for a million things we actually don’t need to get by, it can be nothing short of heartwarmingly special to look at vintage ads and let feelings of nostalgia for simpler, better time flow over you.
I saw this classic 1940s A&P supermarket ad featuring Marvel Bread a couple of days ago (on Lushie Peach’s Flickr stream) and couldn’t shake it from my mind. While it’s certainly charming (and there's no denying that gal's hat is fabulous!), it wasn’t the image, font or design that drew me to so much as the message in the text that encourages shoppers not to be “bread squeezers” (in other words, don not squeeze loaves of bread to determine if they’re still fresh).
It’s so incredibly easy to take for granted the fact that seemingly commonplace things like having best before dates on much of the food we buy, were once novel concepts - even as recently as a few decades ago. In vintage ads like this I find much to be grateful for and also much to wish was different about today's world. They make be long for a time I never actually in lived firsthand, but feel as though I truly belonged to. Where women always looked elegant, even when grabbing a few groceries, and the idea of having a best-by date on bread was a cool new concept :)
