Old DeBeers Ads

[Mannequin]

I''ve been cleaning out my classroom in preparation for the next school year, and one of the areas that was due for major housecleaning is my large wall of built-in shelves. I inherited this room and most of the supplies from a woman who had taught Language Arts and Speech classes for nearly 40 years, so some of her SCOPE magazines on the shelves are extremely old. I think the oldest copies I found were from an issue that was brand new as of September 1969.

They don''t disintegrate on touch, but they are in poor shape and it''s time to pitch them. My current students were born in 1992 or later - articles and plays from 1974 are just not likely relevant to them.

I''ve been going through the really old stuff and tossing much of it, but I am finding and saving some interesting things as I flip through the magazines. Here are some old DeBeers ads from a few of the SCOPE magazines dated in the early 80s. Curious that these diamond ads showed up in a magazine that is traditionally geared towards high school students. The rest of the ads are all cosmetics, pimple creams, and military recruiters.

First one-

The ring pictured is a simple 4 prong RB solitaire. The small print at the bottom reads:
The 1/2 carat ring shown (enlarged for detail) is available for about $2,100. Prices may change substantially due to differences in diamond quality and market conditions.

Another one, from an issue dated September 19, 1980-

The ring pictured is a 6 prong RB solitaire, and it looks to be in a cathedral-type setting. The small print at the bottom reads:
The 1/2 carat ring shown (enlarged for detail) is available for about $1,900. Prices may change substantially due to differences in diamond quality and market conditions.

And just for fun-

The text on this ad reads:
Lots of shampoos can get your hair clean. But, "Gee, Your Hair Smells Terrific"
does more. It leaves your hair smelling really terrific. Soft. Young. Breezy-fresh.
Like meadows of wildflowers in spring. Gentle "Gee, Your Hair Smells Terrific"
shampoo. And same-fragrance, rich-rich conditioner. You''ll see: They''ll do
nice things for your hair. And for you!

 

[Sundial]

Cool ad pics! You'll notice the rings are all shown in yellow gold. When I got married in 1977 you saw very few white gold or platinum rings. I think this is why I have changed all my jewelry to white metals, I just got tired of all that yellow gold stuff I had accumulated over the years.

 

[pearcrazy]

How interesting in new supersized world how big the diamonds that DeBeers uses in their advertising have gotten. All of those three stone commercials feature rings with about 4-5 carats total weight.

Hey, it's Gee Your Hair Smells Terrific!! I used to love that shampoo!! That along with Breck, Faberge (hey it was good enough for Farrah!) and Prell. That really tells my age. I also used to use the one that advertised having beer in it. Does anyone remember the name?

This old fogey is still lovin' her yellow gold though!!

 

[justjulia]

Oh oh oh, what was the name of that?? I used it! Wow, that''s a memory....

 

[justjulia]

Body On Tap!

 

[Cehrabehra]

Date: 8/26/2006 11:51:27 AM
Author: pearcrazy
How interesting in new supersized world how big the diamonds that DeBeers uses in their advertising have gotten. All of those three stone commercials feature rings with about 4-5 carats total weight.

Hey, it''s Gee Your Hair Smells Terrific!! I used to love that shampoo!! That along with Breck, Faberge (hey it was good enough for Farrah!) and Prell. That really tells my age. I also used to use the one that advertised having beer in it. Does anyone remember the name?

This old fogey is still lovin'' her yellow gold though!!

I loved that one called "dimension" I just loved the smell of that!!!

 

[sanfranciscoellen]

I was reared on Prell. Didn''t it come in a toothpaste like tube, or am I making that up? I remember an emerald green tube...

 

[Kaleigh]

I well remember Body on Tap, how funny. Great ads!!!

 

[pearcrazy]

Body on Tap!!! That''s it!! I used it to keep my Dorothy Hamill wedge haircut looking good.

I remember Prell in a tube. I also remember the Prell commercials where they would drop the pearl in the shampoo. I''m not sure what the point of that was exactly, but the commercial sticks in my mind.

 

[Lorelei]

Great Pics Eqs, I love old adverts! Just a quick threadjack - sorry Equi - but I wanted to ask if you can still get Flex shampoo and Outrageous by Revlon? I used to like those and speaking of shampoo, I thought I would ask here, ''cos my pal Equi won''t mind.

 

[pearcrazy]

They still make Flex although it''s probably hard to find these days. Drugstore.com has it and it''s pretty cheap. I googled Outrageous shampoo and I don''t think Revlon makes it any more but it looks like you could get it on Ebay. Who knows how old it would be though.

 

[kcoursolle]

Thanks for sharing those pics, very fun! For a demographics standpoint the people in those ads certainly look much younger than the ads today, perhaps because the mean age of first marriage has increased over time? Or...because older folks are buying bigger diamonds, and they want to tap into that market? Also, ditto on what others said about the yellow gold and the smaller diamond. 1/2 carat used to be pretty big, and a 1 carat diamond used to be huge!!! Not anymore...

 

[Christa]

Yep, the size of the diamond struck me immediately, too. When I got married in 1990, 1/2 carat was considered huge (at least among the people I hung out with). So who has a theory on the cause of the Incredible Growing Engagament Ring? PS can''t be completely responsible.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 8/26/2006 3:00:31 PM
Author: pearcrazy
They still make Flex although it''s probably hard to find these days. Drugstore.com has it and it''s pretty cheap. I googled Outrageous shampoo and I don''t think Revlon makes it any more but it looks like you could get it on Ebay. Who knows how old it would be though.

Thanks PC, I remember when Flex was THE shampoo in the ,..hmmmm...seventies and eighties, LOVED the smell of it and Outrageous was good stuff too. Last time I used that was around 1993.....

 

[MissCongeniality]

Sorry to thread hijack...but I wanted to comment on the Flex shampoo.

I am a hair/makeup/skin product junkie. Okay, whore. And I too, love Flex.

I have found it at out of the way gas stations little mini marts...and I find it at super duper cheapo drugstores. Not the main drugstores...but uber discount ones that nobody goes to. I never find it at the grocery store.

Hope that helps!!! You can have the thread back. I love looking at the old ads!!!!
Desiree

 

[Mannequin]

Hahaha, I don''t mind if you guys threadjack this.

Maybe I should look for MORE old ads for you guys. I still have a TON of these old magazines in my room.

 

[Lorelei]

I LOVE old ads Equi - post away!

I have had this Chanel #5 TV ad haunting me since the seventies...

There is a lady in a white pant suit in an art gallery , she is looking at a picture and backing away from it to see it better, behind her is a gorgeous guy doing the same thing. They bump into each other and exchange a smitten look.

Next scene, they are on a beach at sunset with this lovely music playing and the Chanel #5 logo comes up...oh it is so glamorous!

Sorry for the threadjacking again Equi - anyone remember that ad????

Thanks Miss C for the Flex info! As I am in the UK I don't know if these things are still available...

 

[tanuki]

I have two theories on the increasing size of the engagement diamond in the past 25 years.

The first is the expectation that the household will be supported by two incomes makes couples more comfortable buying a larger diamond

The second is the fascination with celebrity rings and "red carpet" jewelry.
You never see a celebrity with a ring less than one carat nowadays.