Art – Page 3 – History, at Random

The Age of Advertising: Pfanstiehl Phonograph Needles / Davega Department Stores

Here are two advertisements in one: Pfanstiehl phonograph needles, and, Davega Department Stores.

The Davega stores were a New York metropolitan area chain that sold consumer durables, appliances, sporting goods, and apparel. The company was founded in 1879, expanded to 27 stores by 1954, and survived until April of 1963, when it declared bankruptcy.

The advertisement lists nine stores at the following locations: New York: The Hotel Commodore (111 East 42nd Street); Times Square; the Empire State Building; “Downtown”; Brooklyn, and the Bronx. New Jersey: Newark, Paterson, and Jersey City.

The phrase “phonograph needles” conjures an era that may have little resonance today (ahem…unintended pun there….) given the advent and pervasiveness of digital technology, but which is an example of the rapidity of technological and cultural change.

I don’t know if the company still exists as an independent entity, but its products are still available through retailers of specialized electronic and audio gear, such as Turntable Needles.com, and, Jackstuff.com, the latter having an especially detailed descriptive web page covering Pfanstiehl’s phonograph needles.

So, what comes next in the world of audio technology?

Reference

Davega Stores (wikipedia), at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davega_Stores.

This is Where I Belong: Army Air Force Recruiting Advertisement – The Philadelphia Inquirer, September 9, 1943

The “flavor” of an era is found in all manner of words and images.

Case in point, the following advertisement – seeking candidates for pilot, navigator, and bombardier positions in the Army Air Force – which appeared in The Philadelphia Inquirer on September 9, 1943.

The text of the ad – presented below, verbatim – evokes purpose and achievement, within a context of teamwork. Patriotism is certainly implied, but that’s secondary to both challenge and adventure.

Following the verbal “hook” (a well-written and meaningful hook, at that!) forming the core of the advertisement, information is presented about the practical steps of entering the Army Air Corps for qualification as a Pilot, Bombardier, or Navigator.

The artwork, depicting a B-17 pilot, is by Robert L. Benney, who, during his very lengthy career as a professional artist, served as a civilian correspondent with the armed forces during the Second World War, focusing on military activity at Saipan and the Marianas Islands. Several powerful examples of Benney’s work – which has a very distinctive, clearly recognizable style, in terms of visual texture, and the use of light and shadow – can be found at the website of the Naval History and Heritage Command.

____________________

THIS IS WHERE I BELONG…

We’re almost there…

Only four minutes to go – and the plane up ahead will drop the first flare.

Only four minutes to go – and Joe will give us our speed, the doors will open and we’ll start our run…and the ship will quiver like a thoroughbred who’s been given her head…

And Bob will center the target and we’ll come in – and the ten seconds or fifteen will seem like a year before we hear him call “Bombs Away”…

And then – they’ll go out of the bay, nose over and fall, and begin their march over the land with the stamp of a giant’s tread.

This is where I belong.

Not down there but up here…with my ship and my crew…in a world of our own.

Up here, where the clean, sharp air bites to the bone, I can see things clear. I can see the kids we were, and the team we’ve become and the men we’ll be.

Up here in the night, I remember nights with the books – when numbers and formulas jumbled and blurred and I couldn’t get them into my head. But I swore that if other men had done it before – I could, and I would. And all at once they came clear and I understood.

And I remember the time when I took over the stick and the ship lost speed and she stalled out and spun…and my mouth went dry and my hand shook. And then, my instructor’s voice was quiet in my ear and the fear left me – for good.

And, now up here, alone, and all of us closer together than we’ve ever been, I hear once again the words of a pilot I knew: “I can’t tell what it means to fly with a bomber crew,” he said, “that’s like telling a blind man what you mean by the color red.”

As the target comes nearer, and the fighters slide up, and the guns start their chatter, I know this is where I belong…this is what matters…

This is my air.

This is my future.

This is what I was born for…to fly with the Army Air Corps!

If you can qualify – you, too, belong in the Army Air Forces as a Bombardier, Navigator or Pilot. And here’s what you can do about it right now. Go to your nearest Aviation Cadet Examining Board – or see the commanding officer of the Army Air Force College Training Detachment neatest you.

If you are under 18…see your local Civil Air Patrol officers about taking C.A.P. Cadet Training – also see your High School adviser about taking H.S. Victory Corps prescribed courses. Both will afford you valuable pre-aviation training.

If you are 17 but not yet 18…go to your nearest Aviation Cadet Examining Board to take your preliminary examinations to see if you can qualify as a Junior Cadet in the Air Corps Enlisted Reserve. If you qualify, you will receive your Enlisted Reserve insignia but will not be called for training until you are over 18.

If you are 18 but under 27…go to your nearest Aviation Cadet Exam, using Board…see if you can qualify as an Aviation Cadet. If you are in the Army, you may apply through your commanding officer. When called, you’ll be given 5 months’ training (after a brief conditioning period) in one of America’s finest colleges…a you’ll get dual-control flying instruction…then go on to eight months of full night training during which you will receive as $10,000 life insurance policy paid for by the Government. When you graduate as a Bombardier, Navigator or Pilot – you will receive an extra $250 uniform allowance and your pay will be $246 to $327 per month.

And after the war you will be qualified for leadership in the world’s greatest industry – aviation!

(Essential workers in War Industry or Agriculture – do not apply)

U.S. ARMY AIR FORCES

THIS ADVERTISEMENT HAS THE APPROVAL OF THE JOINT ARMY NAVY PERSONNEL BOARD

“NOTHING CAN STOP THE ARMY AIR CORPS”

Reference

Obituary for Robert L. Benney, at New York Times wesbite. (June 3, 2001)

The Age of Advertising: Dumont Precision Electronics and Television (1946)

Here is another sign of – well, actually from, “The Times”. (The New York Times, that is, from 1946.) An advertisement for DuMont Televisions.

Now, this was new. I’d heard of, seen, and viewed programs on, sets by RCA, Zenith, and Motorola. But, DuMont? What was DuMont? Who was Hildegarde? A little searching (see the excerpts below, from Wikipedia) reveals the answers….

From Wikipedia: “The DuMont Television Network … was one of the world’s pioneer commercial television networks, rivalling NBC and CBS for the distinction of being first overall in the United States. It began operation in 1946.It was owned by DuMont Laboratories, a television equipment and set manufacturer. The network was hindered by the prohibitive cost of broadcasting, by regulations imposed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) which restricted the company’s growth, and even by the company’s partner, Paramount Pictures. Despite several innovations in broadcasting and the creation of one of television’s biggest stars of the 1950s (Jackie Gleason), the network never found itself on solid financial ground. Forced to expand on UHF channels during an era when UHF tuning was not yet a standard feature on television sets, DuMont fought an uphill battle for program clearances outside of their three owned-and-operated stations in New York, Washington, D.C., and Pittsburgh, finally ending network operations in 1956.”

“DuMont Laboratories was an American television equipment manufacturer. The company was founded in 1931, in Upper Montclair, New Jersey, by inventor Allen B. DuMont. Among the company’s developments were durable cathode ray tubes that would be used for TV. Another product was a DuMont invention, the magic eye tube.”

Hildegarde?: “Hildegard Frieda Albertine Knef (28 December 1925 – 1 February 2002) was a German actress, singer, and writer. She was billed in some English language films as Hildegard Neff or Hildegarde Neff.”

The Age of Advertising: New York Telephone Company (1944 – 1945)

Electronic communication, circa 1945: An advertisement for the New York Telephone Company, from The New York Times in 1944 or 1945.

Of note: The early style rotary phone.

Of note: Manufacturing. That is, physical manufacturing! “And when the factories that make switchboards – now busy producing war communications equipment – resume peacetime production, it will take time to manufacture the quality needed, and still more time to fit the new switchboards to existing central offices.”

Of note: The reference to the Red Cross, consistent with the tenor of the (war) times.

Of note: Could Mr. New York Telephone be a distant cousin of Reddy Kilowatt? (!)

(More ads to follow.)

The Age of Advertising: Announcing the New 1946 Ford

Not aeronautical, not military, but certainly technological…

Announcing the NEW 1946 Ford! (For 2017? Oh, well!)

____________________

This advertisement appeared in The New York Times some time in early to mid-1946. It was found, at random, while reviewing that newspaper – “to see what I could see” – for news articles and casualty lists* for the Second World War.

As then – in the pre-digital-age – as now; as always; advertisements give a symbolic and indirect glimpse into the technology, communication, and way of thinking of an era.

Besides, they look interesting.

More newspaper advertisements from the 1940s (and even earlier?) will appear in future blog posts.

*The “last” official Army casualty list appeared on May 21, and the “final” Navy casualty list was published on June 9.

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