Lee Wallender – Page 51 – Invisible Themepark

The Center Cannot Hold

At some point in the mid-1960s, we start to see non-centeredness. This ad for Chevrolet “OK” Used Cars from 1968 is a prime example. The green box has been added by me. What’s at the center? Usually, the most important information is at the center of the image. But here we’ve got a bored kid… Continue reading The Center Cannot Hold

Destroying My Last Memory Cell

My search for this elusive song began in 1981, when I was 17 years old. The song itself was rather unremarkable. If I had to describe it, I would say that it was a peppy cha-cha-esque instrumental song from the 1960s. I can never know when that song entered my mind. Using my writerly imagination… Continue reading Destroying My Last Memory Cell

Harkening to a Valentino Past

What about antiquity in ads from the 1960s? There is a point in advertising when we shift from forward-thinking (or even present-thinking) to thinking backwards. This Oldsmobile ad from April 11, 1969 is hardly the most prominent example of this, but it’s a start.

Muscularity and Humility: From 1935 to 1968

Popular Mechanics April 1935. It doesn’t get much better than this. I could write a dissertation about the Popular Mechanics style circa 1930s, but I will spare you. Suffice to say this is complete balls-out, muscular journalism. Contrast with this mis-directed, faux-humble ad from 1968 which practically says, “We’re nobody.”

Faux Sixties Humility: Charlie Brown vs. Gen. Montgomery

How to find that exact apex of U.S. culture? Let’s go a little farther out, bracketing it with two extreme points, one at the end of World War II and the other squarely in the funky late 1960s. Somewhere between these extremes lies the exact tipping point. 1967: Victims Rejoice The headline stating “Charlie Brown… Continue reading Faux Sixties Humility: Charlie Brown vs. Gen. Montgomery