Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Magic Chef Ad Gallery

As someone who has a special interest in advertising, I couldn't wrap up my series of posts about the stove works without a look at some of Magic Chef's ad campaigns over the decades.

What's interesting is how long the Lorain, the "original oven heat regulator," continued to be part of Magic Chef's advertising. Right into the 1950s, the red wheel oven heat regulator was still being promoted as Magic Chef's assurance of reliable and accurate temperature control.

I also found it surprising that the Magic Chef advertising mascot – a chef dressed up in a magician’s dark suit – apparently was supposed to symbolize the red wheel regulator. He was red in early appearances and his perfectly round face resembled the red knob.

Anyway, here's a gallery of Magic Chef magazine advertisements from the 1930s right up to the 1960s (all courtesy of Ebay). They’re an amusing mirror of American life and the role of the adult woman as a perfectionist in the kitchen.

1933
1936
1941
1947
1948
1948
1949
1953
1956
1960
1963
That 1963 ad may have influenced my mother's choice of oven back in 1965 when we moved to our new house on E. Skyline Drive. Her brand new oven was – what else? – an aqua-colored Magic Chef.

No comments: