I’ve been
a subscriber to National Geographic Magazine for many decades now and at one
point I possessed issues from the late 1960s up through about 2012. In early 2013, after discovering that no one
wanted my back issues, I threw away all issues after 1970. That still left me with quite a stack of
magazines as I’d acquired a number of issues beyond my earlier copies that date
back many years prior to my arrival on this planet.
Recently
another blogger, a woman whose pen name is Vagabonde, (www.avagabonde.blogspot.com),
posted a narrative on her site that mentioned finding old magazines, ads,
etc. Her article inspired me to look at
some of my old issues of National Geographic to see if I could discover any
interesting ads to explore further…
I chose
the March 1923 issue of The National Geographic Magazine for my perusal. It was a ‘modern’ issue at the time,
containing “sixteen pages of Illustrations in Full Color”. The magazine is the official magazine of the
National Geographic Society and it’s been published continuously since its
first issue in 1888!
National
Geographic Magazine is circulated worldwide in almost 40 local-language
editions with a global circulation of about 6.7 million. The USA accounts for about 3.5 million of
that total. Through the National
Geographic Partners (a joint venture with The Walt Disney Company), the Society
operates the magazine, TV Channels, a website, worldwide events and other media
operations.
So…what
did I find in this 96 year old magazine that captured my interest? The first thing that ‘grabbed me’ were the
ads…and how they contrast with our lives in 2019.
The first
ad on the first page of the March 1923 National Geographic was for Hamilton
Watches. As per the ad, Hamilton watches
had become the ‘Railroad Timekeeper of America”! Note the locomotive in the ad. Watches pictured on the page range from
$46.00 to $172.00. ($690.00 to $4,321.00 in 2019 dollars) That was really a lot
of money in those days!
The
Hamilton Watch Company was established in Lancaster Pennsylvania in 1892. It was named after James Hamilton, a Scottish
born attorney who founded Lancaster and originally owned the site of the
Hamilton Watch factory. During the
breakneck days when railroads were expanding so quickly, Hamilton maintained
56% of the pocket watch market, with the railroads buying up all of the
company’s production. Today, the
Hamilton brand is owned by the Swatch Group (which owns 20 watch brands) and is
based in Switzerland.
Hamilton
Watches weren’t the only watches advertised in my 1923 issue of National
Geographic! Elgin Watches also featured
a speeding train, this time coming out of a tunnel… By 1923, Father Time had
been Elgin Watches trademark for over 50 years.
One of the features that was emphasized in this ad was the “Elgin
Winding Indicator”. It let the railroad
man know just how much power remained before he had to wind the watch again.
The Elgin
National Watch Company was a major American watch maker from 1864 until
1968. For almost 100 years, the
company’s plant complex in Elgin Illinois was the largest watchmaking site in
the world. A US manufacturing by Elgin
was discontinued in 1968. The brand name
“Elgin” was sold and resold several times after that and current “Elgin”
watches are made in Asia.
Among other
ads in this particular issue of National Geographic was a full page ad for
Waltham pocket watches and another by Gruen Guild Watches. Waltham didn’t tie their watches to the
railroad but instead just stressed the scientific quality of their
product. Waltham ceased operations in
1957. Gruen Watches stressed their “Verithin” pocket watches as a man’s fine
pocket watch. Gruen ceased operations in
1958.
There is
a reasonable chance that anyone born after 2000 won’t really know what this
product is… They’d spot the keyboard but then they might struggle a bit to
explain how this Underwood Standard Portable Typewriter works! I love the ad’s verbiage…”to show that from
its keys words leap in swift flight”, and much more.
Beginning
in 1874, the Underwood family made typewriter ribbon and carbon paper for
Remington Typewriters. When Remington
decided to start producing their own ribbons, Underwood opted to start building
their own typewriters. Underwood’s
manufacturing plant was in Hartford Connecticut. The company produced what is considered the
first widely successful ‘modern’ typewriter and by 1939, the company had built
five million of them! The Underwood name
hasn’t appeared on a typewriter since the 1980s…in Spain.
At the
back of this issue of National Geographic is an ad for Remington Portable
Typewriters. Also noted was that
typewriter ribbons were 50 cents each or $5.00 for a dozen. It would be fun to give a typewriter ribbon
and a couple of sheets of carbon paper to a group of kids under 20 years old
and then have them explain what the items were used for…
Then
there is this ad entitled “American Ideals” using the image of Charles Carroll,
the longest living signer of the Declaration of Independence, as their ‘embodiment
of the great American Ideal’. It’s an ad
by the American Radiator Company. The
company was established in 1892 and they sold boilers and radiators for ‘every
heating need’. I don’t quite get the
connection between a signer of the Declaration of Independence and a radiator…
I guess it’s all about longevity.
Today
American Radiator continues in spirit as a remnant element comprising the
American Standard Company, in that American Standard still produces heating and
cooling equipment. Not too many people
in the USA have experienced radiator heat unless they live in an old house
that’s still equipped with a boiler.
The
Compagnie Generale Transatlantique was commonly known as the French Line, a
French shipping company that carried mail, passengers and freight primarily
across the Atlantic to the USA. The
company was established in 1855 and it completely ceased to exist in 1975.
Back in
1923, the only way to cross the Atlantic Ocean to North America was by
ship. At the time this ad was published
the large passenger liners in service from New York to Havre France were the prestigious
and luxurious SS Paris, SS LaFayette and the SS France. The SS Normandie came later in the company’s
history. In any case the French Line was
really back in the business by 1962 when the SS France was put in service. By 1974, given the competition from airlines
flying to and fro across the Atlantic, even the SS France was retired.
In
addition to the French Line, other cruise lines were another major advertising
element in my old issue of National Geographic.
While I didn’t see any ads for German and British steamship lines, there
were 3 separate ads in this issue for the U.S. Shipping Board. In the ad shown above the ad states that the
US Government was your contact to book a trip to Kobe Japan, Shanghai China,
Hong Kong or Manila in the Philippines via Honolulu Hawaii. These routes were operated by the Pacific
Main Steamship Company and the ships were the SS President Pierce, SS President
Wilson, SS President Lincoln, SS President Taft and the SS President Cleveland.
Other
routes operated through the US Shipping Board’s contractors included another
series of 5 “Presidential” ships based in Seattle that also plied the Pacific
market. Similar ships operated out of
New York City with Rio de Janeiro as the prime destination…a 12 day journey.
These American vessels were not like the luxury vessels operated by the French, British and
Germans across the Atlantic Ocean. For
example like most of them, the SS President Pierce (pictured above) was
originally designed to be a troopship.
She was originally to be named the “Berrien” but when launched she was
named the “Hawkeye State”. In 1922,
under new ownership she was renamed as the “President Pierce”. She was turned over to the military in 1941
and renamed as the “USS Hugh L. Scott”.
Subsequently, during the Allied invasion of North Africa, (Operation
Torch), she was torpedoed and sunk off the coast of Morocco by a German U-Boat.
FYI, the
United States Shipping Board was established as an emergency agency by the
Shipping Act in September 1916.
Initially its purpose was to assist in building up the United States’
maritime strength. At that point, just
10% of the world’s trade was being carried in U.S. owned ships. The mission of the USSB changed after our
entry into WWI just 2 months after the board was founded. From a commercial viewpoint, this is yet
another example of the inability of government to solve a business issue or to
operate like a business. To learn more
about the USSB, just go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Shipping_Board.
Of course
when I saw this ad for Thomas Cook and Son, I had to include it in this look
back in history. Respondents to this ad
could experience a 13,000 mile plus voyage over 63 days! The SS Tuscania sailed for Anchor Lines, a
Cunard subsidiary. She was launched in
1919 and she was 573 feet long. She
changed names a couple of time in her career and was scrapped in Japan in 1961.
Of
course, the Thomas Cook Travel Agency just made headlines on 9/23/19 when the
company suddenly stopped all operations after 178 years of business. The world-wide shut-down stranded over
600,000 travelers and put 21,000 employee out of work… The British government even had to find ways to bring 150,000 of its citizens home!
I was
surprised to only find one full page ad in the March 1923 issue promoting rail travel. After all, in 1920 American railroads carried
1,200,000,000 (1.2 billion) passengers!
However, that was about the peak for travel by rail. The twenties also saw almost a 300% increase
in the number of autos in the USA. By
1929, intercity rail passenger ridership had fallen 18%.
This Baltimore
and Ohio Railway ad was promoting a ‘liberal stop-over privilege’ for through
passengers so they could enjoy the sights in our nation’s capital. Note the extensive passenger routes
stretching from New York to Chicago and St. Louis with many points served along
the way.
FYI, the
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the first common carrier railroad and the
oldest railroad in the USA. Its first
rail service opened in 1830. It ceased
operations in 1987, becoming part of the CSX system.
Of
course, it was no surprise that there were a number of automotive ads in 1923…during
this big decade of growth for the auto industry.
Essex autos
were produced by the Essex Motor Company between 1918 and 1922 and then by the
Hudson Motor Company between 1922 and 1933.
The Essex is credited with initiating a trend away from open touring
cars to enclosed passenger compartments.
This ad
is focused on the strength and quality of construction in the Essex Coach… It
could be yours for only $1,145 plus shipping and taxes!
Then there
was this no-nonsense ad for Packard autos, specifically their Five-Passenger
Touring Car. You could have picked up
your new car in Detroit for ‘only’ $2,485, quite a bit for the time and
especially as compared to the Essex.
Packard
was a luxury automobile name throughout its history. Based in Detroit, the first Packard autos
were built in 1899. The last Packard was
built in Detroit in 1956. I couldn’t
find a 1923 Packard for sale on-line but I did locate a nice 1924 Packard
Series 136 for only $119,000. If you’d
like to add a Packard in your garage, all you have to do is go to https://classiccars.com/listings/find/all-years/packard.
I just
have to reiterate the question in this ad!
“Is Your Wife Marooned During the Day?”
Heck, for only $680 you could pick up a Chevrolet Utility Coupe at the
factory in Flint Michigan and she'd be able to go shopping. (Less expensive models were available too) The ad
also talks about the need for builders to build homes in the city with twin
garages…
Chevrolet automobiles were first built in 1911.
They have been built in many countries and have sold worldwide. By way of example in 2011, the US produced
1,175,819 Chevrolets, Brazil turned out 632,201 and China built 595,068 of
these popular autos.
How many
people under the age of 50 could identify this product? This product by the Victor Talking Machine
Company was the hot new product designed to compete with that relatively
newfangled thing called ‘radio’ where one could listen to ‘free’ music. This ‘electric’ record player could be
purchased for $390! I should point out
that a Ford Model-T Runabout only cost $364 in 1923 and the auto’s price
dropped to $265 in 1924. Obviously the
Victrola was not something that the average family could afford.
The
Victor Talking Machine Company was purchased by RCA in 1929. In turn, RCA was absorbed into the operations
of Sony Music where the brand survives today.
I was
tempted to talk about ‘cord’ (tire) ads, as well as promotions for paper, Swiss
Federal Railroads, pencils, barometers, Campbell’s soups (12 cents a can), the
Bell System, Graflex cameras, Whitman’s Sampler, Pepsodent, Willys-Knight
Autos, Spencerian Ink Pens, Colgate’s Refill Shaving Stick, the New
International Encyclopaedia and much, much more. But enough is enough…
Just
click on any of the photos to enlarge them…
Thanks
for stopping by for a visit!
Take
Care, Big Daddy Dave
