Vintage Christmas From Reader's Digest #2

Hello! Are you ready for some more vintage Christmas ads? Hope so, because here they come!

A pretty cover from the December 1961 issue. 

Above, the man of the house relaxes in his new Pendleton outfit: slacks, hose (aka socks), slacks, and lounging robe. And if that wasn't enough, he also was gifted with a Topster jacket, a sports shirt, a muffler and a Highland Robe-in-Bag. Not sure why he needed two robes, but the lounging robe cost $11.00 more, so there must have been some difference between the two. But at any rate, quite the Pendleton haul!

Everybody always likes the latest in electronics from Christmas presents, right? So how about a clock radio, a "shirt pocket radio"(portable transistor radio), a larger transistor radio, or a portable stereo! What more would an audiophile need?

Do you always think of V-8 juice around Christmas time? Well, you should, since it offers "Bright holiday sparkle by the glassful! V-8 outflavors any single juice...its flavor sparkles so that people sparkle when they drink it!" Wow, didn't realize V-8 juice has that effect on people! Guess that's because I don't care for the stuff.

I like the paste-toned family above, all agog because the daughter  has received a Remington Quiet-Riter Eleven Portable manual typewriter. But, after all, the ad copy assures us that this gift is the "...greatest typewriter value of all times...this greatest, most useful gift of all Christmas times!" Well,then, no wonder they all look so happy about it!

Silly me - I'd thought that telegrams had been sent primarily in the case of emergencies, but the above ad shows that I was very wrong. Instead, Western Union had "3 happy Christmas Ideas": a "sprightly decorated telegram makes a very special holiday greeting", a "gift money order" (..."a perfect answer to gift problems") and the Santagram ("...the special Christmas telegram, datelined 'North Pole' and signed by Santa himself.")

So, I need to rid myself of those images of people receiving telegrams to notify them of a war-related death or other tragedy. Just send a Santagram instead!

Of course, some of the "order here, send there" aspects of gift giving haven't changed much:

To be honest, it's been awhile since I had flowers delivered to someone who lives out of town, but I'm guessing that people can still contact their local florists to have a bouquet sent somewhere else. And a holiday gift of flowers still says "Joy to the family".

I'll close with a couple more of the lovely cover art on these vintage Reader's Digest magazine:

December 1956

and December 1955. 

Nice stuff, so I won't crack any jokes about these covers!