Women's Magazine, Pt. 1

Originally published in the February, 2009, Old Radio Times.(http://www.otrr.org/pg07_times.htm)

1945 Woman's Magazine Featured Ads Dominated by Emphasis on WWII
Bob Cox

I recently examined the contents of an April 1945 “Woman’s Day” magazine that carried a price tag of two cents. I was three years old when this publication hit the local magazine stands. What impressed me the most was the emphasis of World War II on advertisements and sacrifices made during the bitter conflict. For example:
Red Goose Shoes: “Help Uncle Sam save leather. Buy boys’ and girls’ shoes that wear longer. Invest in war bonds regularly.”
Texcel Tape: “Today most Texcel Tape that’s made is being used for war. Buy bonds and stamps until victory returns to your store."
Oakite Cleanser: “Buy war bonds and stamps.
Johnson’s Glo-Coat Floor Polisher: “Fibber McGee and Molly say, ‘Nurses are needed. All women can help. See the Red Cross or write the Surgeon General, U.S. Army, Washington, D.C.’”
SweetHeart Toilet Soap: “Don’t waste soap. It contains materials vital to the war effort.”
McCormick & Co.: “Serving the Armed Forces throughout the world.”
Swift’s Allsweet Vegetable Oleomargine: “Your first duty to your country - Buy war bonds.”
Waldorf Tissue: “The more war bonds you buy, the shorter the war.”
Beech-Nut Gum: “Until final victory, you may not always find this delicious gum at your (store). Our fighting men are now getting most of it.”
Fletcher’s Castoria (The Laxative made especially for children): The ad title was “I became an Army Nurse and solved a Navy Problem.” The problem was that her brother, a sailor, and his wife had a baby boy suffering from irregularity. The quandary was quickly eradicated with a bottle of Fletcher’s Castoria.
Speed Queen’s washing machine ad revealed the scarcity of appliances during the war. It showed a housewife running toward her husband and joyfully proclaiming, “I’ve got a priority. I stopped at Jones Appliance today and made arrangements to get one of the first Speed Queen washers they get in (after the war). All I had to do was register in a little book. We will be notified when the first shipment arrives.”

(This article was first published in the Johnson City (Tenn) Press on June 26, 2008, and is reprinted with their kind permission and that of the author).