WOMEN - AN IMPORTANT MARKET FOR THERMIONIC DEVICES IN THE 1950S
Posted by STEVE M on
Ah nostalgia, it's a great thing isn't it when we all look back with rose tinted spectacles to a golden age (how many metaphors can we get in this sentence?) when things were better. A time when the mention of "boy jobs" and "girl jobs" didn't meet with the hysterical chuffing from a legion of permanently aggrieved and offended snowflakes, taking to their phones in an outpouring of their displeasure in hashtags, emojis and other associated drivel on Twitter; happy days, happy days indeed.
Anyhow, I thought we would have a quick look back to the fabulous fifties and study how ladies were seen by the manufacturers of thermionic devices through the lens of advertising. How about this interesting advert harking from 1956 in which a housewife roundly turns on a hapless TV repair man:-
How I feel for that poor fellow, as he is nagged and nagged. As most chaps know, nagging is biblical and started in the Garden of Eden and we all know that Adam would never have bothered to cover up if Eve hadn’t kept pecking him - I'll bet he left the toilet seat up and didn't put the towels on the radiator either!!!
I learnt more about nagging as I grew up, firstly, in my Sunday school class, the Book of Proverbs advised me that ‘A continual dripping on a rainy day and a quarrelsome wife are alike.’ The aetiology of the term nagging comes from the Scandinavian word ‘gnaga’ meaning to gnaw, Later in life, I read an interesting article in New Scientist where I was informed that a girl does not naturally nag but this is a skill that is developed by observing their mother in action........ Hmmmm, now I realise that Mrs Mullard Magic had a superb teacher!!!!!!!!
Anyhow, let's move on to the next advert, as you can see, in 1954, Tung Sol exhorted ladies to get their sickly radios sorted out using their valves which are special because they are "vibration tested."
Fancy that, how ridiculous, what does the average lady know about vibrations or their source, a vibrator? I'll bet they can't tell a four pin synchronous from a seven pin non synchronous nor a Mallory from a Wright & Weare!!!!!!
Anyhow, enough of this meandering, how about my last advert where, in 1955, CBS - Hytron directed women to buy their valves and talk about them - with other women as well and we all know that if its in Good Housekeeping magazine then it must be good: -
Alas, we come to the end of yet another blog entry and I do hope you have enjoyed this little tongue in cheek treatise on valve advertising of the 50's aimed at the fairer sex.