Christmas Shopping in Life, December 14, 1962

Life Magazine, December 14, 1962

For those of you who think online shopping is a break from the important traditions of Christmas, I want to take a little time to remind readers how they might have shopped for their loved ones' Christmas presents fifty-two years ago.

No, your grandparents weren't hoping for the latest smartphone.  They were hoping for the latest Kodak!  And why not?  With "steadiness built in" and a new shape that "gives you a firmer grip for sharp, clear pictures", the Brownie Super 27 Outfit could be bought in toto for less than $22.00.  (That's $172.96 for you and me.)

But wait, there's more, as you might have guessed.  The Brownie Starmite has a built-in flash!  Or what about the Brownie Starmeter with its built-in eexposuremeter?  Or there's that electric eye (an electric eye!  We aren't kidding here, an electric eye!) in the Kodak Automatic 8 movie kit.  This baby sets the lens opening automatically for beautiful movies.  Heck, buy the movie kit and the movie projector for just $118.00.  (Just under $1000.00 in 2014.)  And don't forget, this price includes the lamp bar and lamps.

Now here you'll see that some things never change.  Watches are still a common gift found under the tree.  (I still remember one I opened when I was about twelve.  There is nothing like seeing the sparkle of a new watch on Christmas morning.)  And here we see Bulova, a watchmaker that is still ticking.  I'm partial to the Bulova Beau Brummel, since I'm a man who demands dramatic styling.  Heck, at just $115.00, this timepiece is almost affordable.  Uh, except...that's the 1962 price.  Today that would be $904.13.  A bit steep for me.  I'd have to stick on the lower end of that $24.75 to $2500.00 range.  (Yeah, the high end of that would now be $19,665.00.)  The highest Rolex I can find now is under $10,000.  And Bulova has nothing even close to that.  So it is safe to say watches are a bit more reasonably priced today.  Maybe that's why Bulova thinks wishes were watches.  And they wish they were getting prices equivalent to 1962.

Okay, you knew I'd slip a car in here somewhere.  And let me just be up front.  If any of my family wants to buy me a 1963 Buick LeSabre I would not turn it down.  After all, "for all its sleek beauty, there's a lot of hustle built into the full-size LeSabre."  Hey, I mean, it has Advanced Thrust engineering.  And you know what that means, right?  Uh, it means straight tracking, flat cornering, and precision handling.  Oh, don't forget the trigger-quick response of its famous Turbine Drive--optional but sensationally smooth!.  And who knew that the Safety-X frame construction ends rattles?  (Now that I think about it, I bet my father-in-law knew it did.)  Clearly a gift I'd cherish.

Now, how about something to liven up your Christmas party?  Well, at least something to liven up Jack Carter and his wife Paula Stewart.  According to this add, he's a noted screen and TV comedian, and she's an actress, though I don't guess she's noted.    (Now, I know a lot about old TV--Jack Parr, Steve Allen, Jack Benny, Milton Burle, etc--but I've never heard of Jack Carter.  He looks really vaguely familiar, but I'm stretching it here.  Basically, I think Heublin Cocktails paid for cheap talent here.  But then again, I don't remember Heublin, either.  Anyone out there remember Jack or his cheapskate sponser?)

I do know that Jack and his wife and their little party look pretty sad without those cocktails.  And we can guess that they can at least act happy with the cocktails.  At least for the cameras.

I'm tossing in this vintage ad from Bacardi not because I enjoy a little eggnog and rum from time to time.  I'm tossing it in so you can see the creepy elves that were hawking Bacardi rum in 1962.  Let's be honest, elves are weird nearly all the time.  But these little creeps are scary.  I think I saw something like them in a Tales from the Crypt episode.  Don't believe me?  Take a closer look.

I don't know about you, but I'm afraid to find out what this old rummy is mixing into the eggnog.  I think it would be prudent to pass on this holiday beverage.  We'll just smile, nod, hold out a hand in the universal gesture that says "I'm trying to cut back, my belly's getting a bit too big, and you're too creepy to mix my drink.  And Merry Christmas!"

Check back next week for a special appearance by the GE Christmas Guys.  They're not as creepy as the Bacardi elves.  I mean, for starters, they aren't trying to slip strange, possibly lethal concoctions into your Uncle Harry's glass at your family get-together.  Lord knows that's the last thing Uncle Harry needs.  

Four Reasons Our Roads Will Never Be Beautiful Again

  It is very frustrating for me to look back through old advertisements and realize how far removed we have become from a time when cars were works of art.  At the present time, most of our cars look like Toyota Camrys.  They are mostly little shoe boxes with their edges rounded off.  The grills are unforgettable.  The colors standard.  The look is pedestrian.  No wonder Pontiac went out of business.  How can a car company stay in business when all of the cars look the same?  I might set out to buy a Honda, but I could just as easily buy a Toyota or a Chevy and feel like I've bought the car I was looking for.  Who can tell them apart?  And who wants to?  They all look like the cheap knock-off die-cast cars that were not designed from any real automotive lines.  You know the ones I mean, the ones you could buy from the little toy section in the grocery store or the ones at the Five and Dime.  (That's a Dollar store for you kids today.  My favorite Five and Dime was the Ben Franklin, which was a wonder to wander through as a seven-year-old.)

  This is the 1958 Pontiac Bonneville.  Billed as Motoring's Action-packed Aristocrat!  That distinctive rear panel slot makes me think it is designed to be grabbed by a futuristic robotic arm for advanced parking.  This baby was the Pace car for the 1958 Indianapolis 500.  Sweet.

   Virgil Exner hit a home run with the 1956 DeSoto.  His new look, billed as the Forward Look, which included this super-awesome triple tail-light catapulted DeSoto's sales to record highs.  The DeSoto Fireflite convertible was the Pace car for Indy in 1956.  Incredibly, Chrysler discontinued the DeSoto brand just four years later.  Well, Chrysler was never known for their great decision making.  (Google the K car if you don't believe me.)

    Not to be outdone by Chrysler's Forward Look, Buick decided that if the public wanted chrome, they would get chrome.  In spades!  Actually, in squares: 160 chrome squares, to be exact.  The 1958 Buick Fashion-Aire Dynastar grille was meant to reflect light like nothing before.  This beautiful girl rolled down the road shining like a trophy wife's diamond necklace.  Too much?  Nah, I don't think so.

   Of course, if you know me, I'm going to get the '57 Chevy Bel Air into this discussion.  Is there any better classic look?  I was surprised to learn that the '57 Ford actually outsold Chevy that year, though it is suggested that Chevy's switch to the tubeless tire scared away sales.  Ford's Fairlane certainly had attractive features, and I'll let the motor-heads argue over who had the better engine, but I just don't think the Ford matches up against the Chevy look.  But either way, the Chevy or the Ford are clearly far better designs from the artistic standpoint that a new Ford Focus or a Chevy Volt.

  Seriously, folks, what happened?  I wasn't there, during that transition time from 1960 to the 1980's, but I've heard there was a great deal of drugs being spread throughout the collective culture.  Perhaps that's the reason these gorgeous vehicles aren't made any more.  You can blame it all on the oil crisis in the '70s, but that is no excuse for the loss of aesthetics.
  I have trouble understanding how any car maker cannot see the potential for reviving these kinds of designs.  Even the underpowered Chrysler PT Cruiser and Chevy's HHR grabbed a bit of the spotlight due to their slightly retro looks.  I've been saying this for years to my family members, who must now be tired of hearing it, that if Chevy put out a retro Bel Air that brought back the look with modern conveniences, it would sell like hotcakes.  Anyone out there listening?


  As an end note to this post, I have now run Room With No View for a full year.  Thanks to everyone who peeks in from time to time to find out what's been on my mind or in the cross hairs of my camera.  I hope you always enjoy my posts, and keep checking back for another year.  If you haven't already, click the follow button, as this makes me feel like someone out there likes me, and would follow me like everyone followed Gene Hackman in The Poseidon Adventure.  I know, half of those people died, but I think I could do better than that.  And always share the posts you like with your friends.  The more readers, the more the world will eventually be converted to my way of thinking.  And that's not bad!