OK boomer. Remember The Drumstick ‘Where kids are king’? See retro ads from 1968 Star
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.
It’s often said that if you can remember the 60s, you probably weren’t there. Well, with the help of the February 11, 1968, edition of The Star, we’ll try to jog your memory just a bit.
How about the Drumstick? Where “kids were king”? The youth-oriented chicken chain was spun off from the Wishbone Restaurant on Main Street. Both are long gone, but the Wishbone name lives on thanks to the salad dressing it birthed.
There were color TVs on page after page--sold in all kinds of ways. Pete Daks at 47th & Troost plastered his mug and low prices prominently while the Jones Store took an artsier approach; with all the others (and there were lots of them) falling somewhere in between.
Of course, boomers were a big part of the advertising universe at this point. They helped sell clothes and bikes and stereos and in one of these ads, carpet squares. Still not sure about that one...
But JC Penney’s gets the this week’s Retro Retail award for Most Dubious Sales Pitch--by linking a $50 winter coat with driving a Rolls Royce. I’ll take two!
Looking for more on retail from the past?
See how this KCK shopping hub appeared nearly a century ago.
Why is a downtown Kansas City street named after undergarments?
See how these vintage neon signs are finding a where they will be appreciated.