1950s Television Advertising

“Winston tastes good like a cigarette should” and “You’ll wonder where the yellow went when you brush your teeth with Pepsodent” are only two of the many slogans associated with advertising on television in the 1950s. There were celebrities like Marilyn Monroe, Barbara Eden, and Peter Lorre who performed in commercials; there were shows built around a single product (e.g., The Texaco Star Theater and The Colgate Comedy Hour); there were numerous premiums offered to children (e.g., The Sky King Detecto Microscope, The Mickey Mouse Club Magazine), and gimmicks used by sponsors to attract viewers to their shows (e.g., “Win a Wagon Train Pony” and “The Howdy Doody Smile Contest”).
This is the first and only book of its kind; it is a nostalgic, trivia-filled history presented through the actual programs and commercials of the 1950s. In addition to two extensively detailed sections, which have never been released online or in any other book (”Sponsor and Program” and “Program and Sponsor”), rare television theme songs with their original sponsor tags (products mentioned in the theme songs) are also presented. It all began on July 1, 1941 when WNBT (the NBC affiliate in New York City) televised the first commercial, a ten second spot for Bulova Watches.

Vincent Terrace has been a researcher for ABC television and is the television historian for BPOLIN Productions. He has written more than 50 books about television and radio.

Vincent Terrace
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 253
Bibliographic Info: 77 photos, appendices, indexes
Copyright Date: 2025
pISBN: 978-1-4766-9393-4
eISBN: 978-1-4766-5251-1
Imprint: McFarland

Preface 1

The Sponsors 5

Alcoa Aluminum 5 • Blatz Beer 6 • Borden’s Dairy Products 7 • Brylcreem Hair Tonic 10 • Bulova Watches 12 • Buster Brown Shoes 13 • Camel Cigarettes 14 • Campbell Soup 18 • Carnation Evaporated Milk 21 • Chesterfield Cigarettes 23 • Chevrolet 24 • Chrysler 25 • Coca-Cola 29 • Colgate-Palmolive 31 • DuMont Telesets 36 • Ford Automobiles 37 • General Electric 40 • General Foods 42 • General Mills 47 • General Motors 52 • Glim Dishwashing Liquid 57 • Gulf Oil 58 • ­­Jell-O 59 • Kaiser Aluminum Foil 60 • Kellogg’s Cereals 62 • Kent Cigarettes 72 • Kraft Foods 74 • L&M Cigarettes 75 • Lionel Trains 77 • Lucky Strike Cigarettes 78 • Lux Soap 80 • Mars Candies 82 • Max Factor Cosmetics 83 • Mogen David Wine 85 • Nabisco 87 • Nescafé Instant Coffee 90 • Old Gold Cigarettes 92 • Ovaltine Chocolate Drink Mix 93 • Pall Mall Cigarettes 94 • ­­Pepsi-Cola 96 • Philip Morris Cigarettes 97 • Pillsbury Flour 100 • Popsicle Ice Pops 101 • Post Cereals 102 • Powerhouse Candy Bar 109 • Procter & Gamble 111 • Quaker Oats 119 • ­­Ralston-Purina 121 • RCA Victor 124 • Revlon Cosmetics 126 • Reynolds Aluminum 129 • Rheingold Beer 130 • Salem Cigarettes 132 • Sealtest Dairy Products 133 • Swan Soap 134 • Toni Hair Care Products 136 • Viceroy Cigarettes 138 • Weber’s Bread 139 • Wheaties Cereal 140 • Winky Dink Merchandise 142 • Winston Cigarettes 143

As Originally Broadcast 145

Celebrity Commercials 178

Appendix A: Mascots 195

Appendix B: Jingles 199

Appendix C: Slogans 208

Appendix D: Sponsor and Program List 219

Appendix E: Program and Sponsor List 229

Product Index 241

Performer Index 244