Victorian Advertisements for Altered Art Projects

Antique journals are wonderful finds to use for altered art projects!  Awhile back I purchased several at an estate sale and wasn’t quite sure just exactly what I was going to use them for. 



The advertisements in the back of the journals are the best part.  Lovely black and white illustrations with the most humorous quips describing the item being advertised for sale.  Check out the Anheuser – Bush ad below:  “To give your baby full supply of healthy milk, let your wife drink the finest bottle beer brewed by…”  Now I can take this two ways:

1.  If your wife drinks beer and not milk, then there will be more milk for the baby to drink.

or…

2.  Lactating mothers should drink beer so that their milk will be better for the baby.

What do you think?


I must get me some of that Parker’s Hair Balsam! (see the ad above).  It “cleanses and beautifies the hair.  Promotes a luxuriant growth.  Never fails to restore gray hair to its youthful color.  Cures scalp disease and hair failing.”  Not that I have any disease of the hair, but it sure could help wash the gray out of my hair!

 

The journal doesn’t have any photos in it that were taken with a camera.   The pictures back then were either drawings or engravings.  I cannot even begin to imagine the time went into producing just one issue.

I found this illustration to be pretty silly.  I love the woman’s expression in her eyes and I wonder what she was mumbling behind her fan.

 I love the picture of the ladies playing cards.  Pretty fancy attire to wear to a card game!

And then there is this picture.  Makes me wonder where such a place would have been to be able to ride bikes inside.  It would seem rather risky and a bit odd.





I will share with you on the next post what I made.  A little clue is that I used these antique ink bottles.  I bought them at the same estate as the Victorian Journals. 

Till next time….

Becky