I’m always attracted to mid-century messaging; advertising seems to explode around that time and much of it reflects contemporary society, for better or worse. I came across some “historical” ads by John Hancock Insurance a couple of years ago, and since then have been assembling a small “collection.” These full-page ads ran in national magazines from the 1940s to the early 1960s, and while they start with the traditional founding fathers they also include a range of historical figures representing technology and innovation (first and foremost), sports and entertainment, industry and agriculture, literature, medicine, explorers, presidents. Most of the ads feature real people, but there are also some fictional representatives of certain essential services: roadbuilders, nurses, small shopowners, judges and juries, ministers, teachers, “John Smith,” the minuteman who answered Paul Revere’s call, the oil men who “freed black sunshine from an ancient dungeon,” fallen soldiers and reporters. We can easily ascertain what’s important in terms of values and accomplishments by those featured and their captioned roles, past and present. It’s unfortunate that there are very few women (Clara Barton, Amelia Earhart, an anonymous teacher and nurse), and NO minorities that I could find. Some of the men featured are new-to-me and seem a bit obscure from my perspective. Elizur Wright, Massachusetts insurance commissioner, really? (close to home for the John Hancock, I guess). The captions and stories seem to indicate that all of these people saved democracy in their very different ways: we need them now!

P.S. There are a couple of Salem-related ads: Hawthorne in an early black-and-white variation, Alexander Graham Bell (above) and Nathaniel Bowditch, who is not featured as himself but rather as a salty sea captain who is in debt to him. 

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