Sometimes ephemera just makes you sit down right where you are and say "WT...?!?" This is one of those times.
This advertisement for Double Mint Gum is from the May 1934 issue of Delineator. According to the Wrigley official website:
1939The Doublemint Twins concept makes its advertising debut. Since then, the Doublemint twins have been part of one of the most successful and long lasting advertising campaigns ever created. In the early days of the campaign, one Wrigley-sponsored radio program featured double piano players, double violinists and double talking comedians.
So, if the twin idea hadn't come along yet exactly what were they going for in this ad? I mean, when I first saw it I figured lingerie or creams or soaps. No. Gum. Chewing gum as a beauty aid. I'm not kidding you. Read the copy. According to this "Double Mint gum immediately quickens" your circulation. Yeah, sure. The babe in the slip has nothing to do with it. How long after this ad did someone say "Wow, that was a pair. You know, we should do an ad with twins."
As to who this woman is and why she's posing like this for gum...starlet. Marguerite Churchill was born on Christmas day 1910 in Kansas City, Missouri. She had a film career that spanned from 1929 to 1952 and appeared in more than 25 films with such stars as John Wayne, Will Rogers, Spencer Tracy, and even Boris Karloff. She died January 9, 2000 at the age of 89 from natural causes in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. You can read more about her here. I think she probably had a pretty interesting life. Click here to see her in a fun clip from Dracula's Daughter from 1936. Unfortunately they will not allow embedding of the clip. She was quite lovely. But the gum ad??? It's just plain strange.
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LOL. Geeesh. You do find some strange-strange stuff.
ReplyDeleteMy brain is a magnet for strange. Thanks for noticing.
ReplyDeleteSex sells...isn't that the advertisers' mantra? That was some pretty risque hawking. You make me LOL!
ReplyDeleteYup, sex sells everything including sex. Guess advertisers believe it's a win win situation. Wonder how good this was for Marguerite's career. It was during the period of Jean Harlow who was also born in Kansas City, Missouri about 6 months after Marguerite. Of course Jean died in 1937.
ReplyDeleteNo wonder they had to bring in regulations about what advertisers could claim lol! She is very beautiful but I bet that wasn't down to gum.
ReplyDeleteYou know, I think we're still having to wade through the muck to figure out where the fine line is. You probably don't have the insane commercial in the UK of Brooke Shields selling some prescription med that's supposed to thicken eyelashes. Then when you hear the safety warnings you think "Who the heck is going to risk their eyesight for this stuff?" Advertisers still think there's a sucker born every single minute.
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