Vintage Ads: Popular Presents from the 1960s

Ready for some groovy presents from the 1960s? We looked through the ads of our magazine from 1960-1964 and found some perfect throwback gifts.

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With Sno-Flok, you just hook up your vacuum and spray a mixture of adhesive and cellulose fiber to coat your tree in a fluffy, snow-like substance. Flocking your Christmas tree peaked in the mid-’60s. General Mills doesn’t make Sno-Flok anymore, but you can still find recipes online if you want to make your own.

 

Electric home organs were a popular fixture in many living rooms from the 1940s through the 1970s. Lowrey was one of the most popular brands. The home organs could mimic other instruments, create a beat, simulate a slide, and even record your performance. The organ declined in popularity as the more portable electronic keyboard took its place.

 

Smith-Corona touted these models as the most portable typewriters of the day; The Skyriter weighed only nine pounds (and had its own carrying case).

 

Portability was a big selling point in 1960, and Sylvania was there to offer holiday shoppers portable stereos, clock radios, and television sets for “a world of endless personal entertainment.”

 

The Princess phone by Bell was sold on the merits of its small size and good looks. The Princess name and the available colors — white, beige, pink, blue, and turquoise — showed that Bell clearly had a target audience in mind.

 

“Even a trip to the corner store is a festive occasion” if you’re doing it in GM’s Safari wagon or Tempest sedan.

 

The average price per pack of cigarettes in 1960 was 26 cents ($1.49 adjusted for inflation), or around $2.50 for a carton. In other words, you could afford to buy a lot of cigarettes then. (Today that many cartons would cost you $1,400 or more.)

 

Polaroid debuted instant color film in 1963, and it was a huge hit. This was the first camera to use pack film: film came in a pack that contained both negative and positive sheets and was developed outside the camera. After waiting a minute or two, the photographer had to peel off the negative to reveal the picture underneath.

 

This GE advertisement appeared in The Saturday Evening Post near the first original air date (December 6, 1964) of the Rankin/Bass special, “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” and featured the characters of Rudolph, Hermey the Elf, Yukon Cornelius, Sam the Snowman and Santa, of course. The special still airs today, making it the longest continuously running Christmas TV special in history. (We can’t vouch for similar longevity of the bonnet hair dryer.)