One of my favorite things to find at estate sales is old advertising materials.  There was a time when I had every intention of totally redecorating my game room with a vintage advertising theme.  It may still happen, but not until I've cleared a lot more estate merchandise out of my house.  It's kind of funny that I like old advertising so much.  I absolutely abhor commercials today.  About the only time I'll sit still to watch or listen to them is during the Super Bowl.  The reason I'll watch then, is because the producers of the commercials are actually forced to get truly creative and produce a quality product for thirty very expensive seconds.



photo credit: Christian Sisson

Companies used to be very creative in how they got the word out about their products.  Before advertising became a competition to see who could be the flashiest and loudest on TV, getting your products name in front of the crowds of people with money to spend was much more of a challenge.  You had to think of where your product would be seen over and over without looking at the ratings of popular television shows.  Can you imagine how challenged some businesses would be today if you took away their TV commercials?

One of the companies that has truly mastered the art of advertising and made its way deep into the American culture is Coca Cola.  I once found a great old Coca Cola cooler at an estate sale that I just had to buy.  The old style metal boxes put out by Coke did their jobs perfectly.  First, because electric cooling wasn't widely available, they did a great job of keeping drinks cold.  But second, and even better in my opinion, these old Coca Cola coolers look fabulous.  The styling and the simple design have stood the test of time.

Honestly, I bought my cooler with every intention of listing it on eBay that very weekend.  Once I got it home and cleaned it up though, I started having second thoughts.  I actually broke it out and filled it with drinks on a recent holiday when we had about 20 guests over and I think every one of them commented on the "cool cooler".  I'm starting to get attached to it.  There are replicas available today, but I like knowing that mine was an original that is actually older than I am.

I was looking around, trying to find something related that would be entertaining and I found this old commercial for Coke from 1965.  I'd never seen it before so I thought I'd include it here.  Advertising is a funny thing...

Note: Per FTC guidelines and my belief in full disclosure, it should be noted that if I create a link to a product or service, sometimes I may get paid a commission if you purchase the product or service.