As week one comes to a close, I am pleased with my groups’ progress. Today, I went to the archive to search for ads in any of the major Ursinus written works. I ended up focusing mainly on the Ursinus Weekly’s of 1944-1945, and 1946-1947. The amount of ads between these two respective editions did not vary much; they both included half-page ads throughout each edition. However, the subject of the ads had an interesting pattern. Throughout the 1946-1947 volume, advertisements for Chesterfield Cigarettes, promoted by various athletes, celebrities, and actors, appeared at least once in nearly each weekly edition. The way Chesterfield advertised their cigarettes reminded me of how Wheatie’s advertise their cereal products, with athletic/celebrity endorsements.
When I looked through the 1944-45 volume, the number of ads didn’t change, however the subject did. I looked through 15 weekly editions, a little less than half of the volume, and nearly each ad related to the U.S.’s involvement in World War II. The largest and most frequent ad of this nature came from Bell Telephone Company, whose ads almost always urged readers, particularly during the holiday season, to stay off the phone lines unless absolutely necessary, in an effort to make room for many soldier-to-home long distance calls. This vast difference in ads from wartime to peacetime was an interesting surprise, as it signifies the importance of our predicament at the time.
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