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Mad Men Return

Four modern riffs on one historic design

Mid-Century American Ads

Toastmaster automatic pop-up toaster advertisement for the December 15, 1947 edition of Life magazine

Is this ‘santa’ ad supposed to be ironic? Not in the least. It was conceived and published back when advertising was a straightforward enterprise, with characters, slogans, and ham-handed testimonials. It’s pretty campy. Yes, definitely. Toward the end of the 1950s, admen such as George Lois, Paul Rand, and the New York agencies William H. Weintraub and Doyle Dane Bernbach started to embrace a new manifesto they called “The Big Idea”—ads that would sell products by tapping into cultural truisms and amplifying them back onto society. Since this Santa ad for Toastmaster predated the big shift in advertising, it looks campy today. Why are mid-century ads so influential? For Baby Boomers of a certain age, mid-century nostalgia brings back a world they saw—or thought they saw, anyway. A time of Bakelite phones, cookie-baking wives, and Lemon Drizzle lollipops. Mid-century ads clarify that impulse like nothing else. The younger set loves that aura of campiness, and the killer graphic look. By 1955, there were roughly 300 New York lettering artists who used ornate scripts and brushwork to hand-letter magazine advertisements. They invented several elegant typefaces during this time, including classics such as Bodoni, Futura, Univers, and Baskerville.

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Get the look

1. Jessie Steele “Candy Cane” apron, $39.95	2. “Charlie Brown Pathetic Christmas Tree,” $20
Photo provided by Jessie Steele	Photo provided by Fred Worldwide
3. “Gourmandise” throw pillows by Pierre Frey	4. ‘Laurie” cake pedestal and bowl, $29.95 and $8.95
Photo provided by Pierre Frey	Photo provided by Create & Barrel