We'll Be Back After This Commercial Message
Doodles and I were on one of our many walks, when I noticed that someone was throwing out a stack of National Geographic magazines. As Doodles loves to read magazines (in other words, flip pages and tear out random sections), I grabbed one for him to look at. It didn't seem like a very old issue--it's from June 1973. I remember June 1973. Okay, not specifically and not well, but June 1973 doesn't feel that long ago. Until the other afternoon when Doodles became obsessed with the rattle on his stacker and yet didn't want me more than three feet away. With nothing else in range, I grabbed his magazine and leafed through it. After reading the ads, I concur, 1973 was an age ago.
For starters there was the Ma Bell ad (not that any company name was given--just the little bell logo) advertising how cheap a three-minute station-to-station call between the U.S. and any number of countries is. 1) It wasn't cheap. $6.75 to France. $9 to Japan. 2) Station to station? Does anyone even remember those calls? Those were just the plain old pick-up-the-phone call as opposed to person-to-person calls where the operator asked for the specific person you wanted to speak to and if he wasn't there, you didn't pay for the call. More things--along with rotary dials, turntables, and typewriters--that Doodles will have no knowledge of when he grows up.
What if you wanted a new car in 1973? Well, a Chevrolet Caprice Estate Wagon might fit the bill. Pure luxury. Doesn't get any finer. "Roomy all-vinyl interiors, molded full-foam seats, new soft rim steering wheel are all standard." Plus, they "improved its flow-through power ventilation and provided an electrically powered clock." An electrically powered clock! Where can I get one of these babies?
Of course, there was one ad that even I didn't understand. It was about "how Western Union is improving the nation's communications." Sure, I know what a telegram is, even though I've never seen one in action outside black-and-white movies. But what the heck is a Mailgram? They explain it, and I still don't quite get it: "It works this way: you phone your message to Western Union, toll-free, and our computer instantly transmits it to a U.S. Post Office nearest its destination. Your Mailgram is put into a distinctive blue and white envelope an delivered by regular letter carrier." If you're at the phone to call in the message, why can't you simply call the person you want to give the message to? Is there something here I'm missing? (Side note: you can still send a telegram. Who knew? There's something very sad to me about Western Union holding on to the whole telegram thing. How many telegrams are really sent a year these days?)
It's interesting to me; I have the TV on mindlessly in the background while I write this. What commercials are we going to look back on and laugh at the datedness of or at the supposed advancements that will seem so minor by the time Doodles is an adult?
For starters there was the Ma Bell ad (not that any company name was given--just the little bell logo) advertising how cheap a three-minute station-to-station call between the U.S. and any number of countries is. 1) It wasn't cheap. $6.75 to France. $9 to Japan. 2) Station to station? Does anyone even remember those calls? Those were just the plain old pick-up-the-phone call as opposed to person-to-person calls where the operator asked for the specific person you wanted to speak to and if he wasn't there, you didn't pay for the call. More things--along with rotary dials, turntables, and typewriters--that Doodles will have no knowledge of when he grows up.
What if you wanted a new car in 1973? Well, a Chevrolet Caprice Estate Wagon might fit the bill. Pure luxury. Doesn't get any finer. "Roomy all-vinyl interiors, molded full-foam seats, new soft rim steering wheel are all standard." Plus, they "improved its flow-through power ventilation and provided an electrically powered clock." An electrically powered clock! Where can I get one of these babies?
Of course, there was one ad that even I didn't understand. It was about "how Western Union is improving the nation's communications." Sure, I know what a telegram is, even though I've never seen one in action outside black-and-white movies. But what the heck is a Mailgram? They explain it, and I still don't quite get it: "It works this way: you phone your message to Western Union, toll-free, and our computer instantly transmits it to a U.S. Post Office nearest its destination. Your Mailgram is put into a distinctive blue and white envelope an delivered by regular letter carrier." If you're at the phone to call in the message, why can't you simply call the person you want to give the message to? Is there something here I'm missing? (Side note: you can still send a telegram. Who knew? There's something very sad to me about Western Union holding on to the whole telegram thing. How many telegrams are really sent a year these days?)
It's interesting to me; I have the TV on mindlessly in the background while I write this. What commercials are we going to look back on and laugh at the datedness of or at the supposed advancements that will seem so minor by the time Doodles is an adult?
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