Soap, cigarettes and a fan dancer—these ads ran one day after the attack on Pearl Harbor
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.
On December 8, 1941, the Star’s pages were crammed with urgent dispatches from Pearl Harbor and Washington, D.C.
And alongside the shocking news from a day that “will live in infamy,” ads for refrigerators, lingerie and loan companies seemed to signal business as usual.
Amid a page full of movie listings, the Tower Theater boasted four shows daily featuring Sally Rand, the world-renowned “fan dancer” who’d attended KC’s Central High School.
Cigarette brands like Beech-Nut wanted smokers to “linger longer.” Tobacco users were also introduced to the amazing Pres-a-Lite at Kline’s Department Store. Attached to a car’s dash, this gizmo could somehow roll out a lighted(!) cigarette.
The New York Creation sportswear label spun an illustrated tale around the woes of “One Dress Beulah,” while Swan Soap went even further. Their “suds for mothers” ad planted the lovable Gracie Allen’s face on a cartoon bird’s body. Baby’s bath time or a Grimm’s fairy tale?
Watch the video to see the ads.