Would your husband marry you again in 1921


As I was browsing the Duke University site "Ad Access", which has a lot of interesting old ads, this one caught my eye, at first because of the illustration. It's an ad, by the way, for Palmolive soap, and it seems to be a pretty big thing to ask of a bar of soap, but maybe things were different in 1921. Let's take a closer look.


As an illustrator myself, the last thing I would ever do would be to criticize an illustration, but the best I can say here is it seems as if whatever they were communicating to people in 1921 isn't something that my 21st-Century eyes can see.

Presumably, he is just thinking, maybe about how much he loves his wife, but I can't help but see a faraway look in his eyes that seems to say "How did I get myself into this?" And the woman's attitude was probably meant to be lovely and shy, but to me she just seems aloof. It would be nice if either of them were smiling, even if it was just because they were being tickled by the ostrich feathers. Hopefully a bar of soap can help!


I'm no expert on beauty products for women, but this just seems to make sense - wash yourself, and use soap. Whether this would save a marriage I have no idea, but I'm kinda thinking that it couldn't hurt!


Images from the Duke University Library Digital Collections.
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