Katz Drugs, Penney’s and Adler’s: Ads from 1959 Star are time capsule of bygone era
Editor’s Note: Retro Retail Review is a new video feature that publishes weekly on kansascity.com. Join us for a lighthearted look back with The Star’s Randy Mason as he shares his takes on the advertisements that filled the paper’s pages all the way back to its earliest days.
America’s post-war economy was rolling right along in 1959. The ads from the February 1, 1959, edition of the Star attest to that.
Does anything scream 1950s quite like cars with really big fins? Nonetheless, Chevrolet was proudly touting their Hi-Thrift Six for its “fuel economy,” a claim that looks pretty suspicious today.
Katz Drugs was, of course, a KC institution with a really great logo and a page crammed with bargains. A tube of Brylcreem for 36 cents (plus a free comb) makes you wonder how long hair ever caught on.
Meanwhile, the dangers of “fickle deodorant” were dramatically depicted in an ad for Veto.
Not surprisingly, women’s fashion got plenty of attention. In practical form at Penney’s, which advertised a simple, but stylish dress for $2.79; and in the considerably edgier “platinum grey” selections featured at Adler’s.
But how’s this for swagger? Draughon’s College of Commerce on 14th Street guaranteed ten job offers for every graduate. Different times, different times....