Can you guess what decade these vintage Christmas ads are from?

These ads from Christmases past sell everything from soda to cigarettes.

 

Along with decorations, eggnog, and carols comes another inevitable Christmas tradition— holiday advertising. That doesn’t have to be a bad thing— some Christmas promotions have become iconic. Others are just downright strange.

Here is a selection of vintage ads from the 1950s to the 1980s. Can you place each one in the right decade?

  1. What decade is this Christmas ad from?
     
    Image: Coca-Cola
  2. What decade is this Christmas ad from?
     
    Image: Singer
  3. What decade is this Christmas ad from?
     
    Image: Sears
  4. What decade is this Christmas ad from?
     
    Image: Bell
  5. What decade is this Christmas ad from?
     
    Image: Kodak
  6. What decade is this Christmas ad from?
     
    Image: Motorola
  7. What decade is this Christmas ad from?
     
    Image: Smith-Corona
  8. What decade is this Christmas ad from?
     
    Image: Tiffany & Co.
  9. What decade is this Christmas ad from?
     
    Image: Tareyton
  10. What decade is this Christmas ad from?
     
    Image: Nash Motors
  11. What decade is this Christmas ad from?
     
    Image: Atari
  12. What decade is this Christmas ad from?
     
    Image: Roadmaster
  13. What decade is this Christmas ad from?
     
    Image: Alcoa
  14. What decade is this Christmas ad from?
     
    Image: Sears

Can you guess what decade these vintage Christmas ads are from?

Your Result...

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97 Comments

justjeff 25 months ago
10/14... as I always like to point out... depending on when the ad was prepared, it could have been the previous decade (by just a hair)...
Bricat2001 25 months ago
9/14 im currrntly trying to find a snoopy phone for a decent price. theres also one with a lamp to
Blondie7 46 months ago
10/14 Guessed 70's for Star Wars toys.
MrBill 48 months ago
9/14; tough quiz - not too bad of a score
Hogansucks1 48 months ago
# 9- Santa with a black eye and a cig hanging !! What a riot !!!😂
Hogansucks1 Hogansucks1 48 months ago
And # 3- I would pay anyone out there for that Complete ‘Return of the Jedi’ toy set nowadays. MAN OH MAN !! 😊 Love it
ThomasPotter Hogansucks1 11 months ago
I remember their billboards, their tagline was, "I'd rather fight than switch!"
Terrence 48 months ago
I cannot believe my score 😮
13/14
JERRY6 48 months ago
6 of 14 some are hard because the items were available and adverted in kore than 1 decade
frenchman71 48 months ago
10/14. I started out terrible but I slowed down a bit and thought them thru and did much better toward the end. On question #8 I tried to remember what type of jewelry women would be wearing that type of Tiffany.
bnichols23 48 months ago
12. Smith-Corona & Bell System tripped me up, which was embarrassing. OTOH, I *had* a Roadmaster, *&* hadn't thought of Tareytons in years!
frenchman71 bnichols23 48 months ago
I remember that Tareyton commercial. "Us Tareyton smokers would rather fight than switch". Sadly, cigarette ads on TV were dead in 1970. Some of the best ads were for cigarettes.
moax429 frenchman71 48 months ago
I was born in April 1962. When I was just a little kid in the 60's, those Tareyton ads shocked the living hell out of me, possibly because it made me think of a nasty neighbor who lived down the street from us in Warren, Michigan. He and his wife were definitely two people you'd want to *avoid* like the plague.
Hogansucks1 frenchman71 48 months ago
🤣 🥴 🚬
bnichols23 frenchman71 48 months ago
And people would get on *Winston* for "bad grammar"! -laugh-
Thomas 48 months ago
11/14 plus one tablet malfunction on #14.
Pacificsun 48 months ago
It's one thing to be a model smoking in a cigarette ad, but why does he have to look drunk AND smoking too?
BrentwoodJon Pacificsun 48 months ago
He's not drunk he's stoned!
Pacificsun BrentwoodJon 48 months ago
Great one!!!!! Thanks! 😉
bnichols23 Pacificsun 48 months ago
Nah, he was grinning because he busted the other guy up & won the fight.
JERRY6 Pacificsun 48 months ago
it was the 60's drunk and stoned was the norm
AllisonWunderland JERRY6 48 months ago
LOL...The stoned part still is 😎😂🤣
NevaMo 48 months ago
I'd love to have that bike.
BrentwoodJon NevaMo 48 months ago
I'd pay $1000. for that bike right now!
bnichols23 NevaMo 48 months ago
To sell, but definitely not to ride. Those old fat-tire cruisers were hell on Earth, but we didn't have anything better back then. No 27-speed derailleurs even thought of -- best you could do was a 3-speed hub.
justjeff 48 months ago
9/14. That's what I get for celebrating Chanukah... and we don't get any magazine ads either!

"Hey kids! Sick of spinning that same old dreidel while overstuffed on chocolate coins? Tell mom and day you want the new Atari game console with "Attack of the Maccabees"... it's a GREAT Chanukah gift, and it only costs 89 shekels! Oy vey! Get one today!"
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Pacificsun justjeff 48 months ago
Not that youth is learning cursive writing anymore, my hunch is double spaces were encouraged to more clearly define the separation of sentences. As a practical matter. However with electronic input now the norm an extra space could be a wasteful use of space. And some sources of input will remove excess space anyway.

But I agree, when grammar becomes a game of one up man ship it's lost it's purpose. When content is sacraficed by the distraction. On the other hand, learning never hurt anyone.
justjeff Pacificsun 48 months ago
To be fair, you're technically correct - but I've seen (and also have used) single quotes to isolate a lesser point, while double quotes were used for titles - such as : "The Werewolf" was a so-called 'horror film', but I found it quite amusing...

Truth be told, in today's "Modern America" (double quotes intended) you'll be hard-pressed to find many who know and understand punctuational etiquette. Look at how many people mix-up plural 's' with possessive 's' (single quotes intentional)...

Even Walgreen's dropped their apostrophe some years back (supposedly because of "texting English") to become Walgreens. Thing is, Charles Walgreen (*not* Walgreens) was the company's founder.

I've even seen things like "Johns store" and doo-wop groups with their name on the record label spelled as "The Four Hunter's" [band name here was phony - just an example]

To quote Rhett Butler (as I've done before)... "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn!"
Pacificsun justjeff 48 months ago
Your kind reply is appreciated! Glad we found the same side of fence to be on, with a nod to decent education!! Thank you teachers!
bnichols23 justjeff 48 months ago
I hate to say, that makes me feel really gelty.....
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