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style. Most importantly there have been many advertising characters
that never existed as a 3-D representation (or not as intricately depicted
as they can be in print.) Of course, as a collector, there is nothing
more rewarding than finally finding an advertising icon in the figural
form when you thought none existed. (Sometimes such examples
might be corporate in-house awards or executive desk ornaments, rare
store displays, or TV commercial cartoonist model. Over time my
“flat” advertising icon collection became so large that I presented the
Snap!,
Crackle!, best of them in two of my books, Meet Mr. Product and Mr. Product
Pop! 1975, (Insight Editions, 2015).
Rice Krispies Over time, like all collectors in any field
cereal; Quisp 1973, of collecting, my tastes have become more
Quisp cereal; Cap’n refined. I’m attracted to well-designed and
Crunch 1975 Cap’n well-made figures and store displays,
Crunch cereal; Jean LaFoote especially larger items. I have presented my
1975; Cap’n Crunch cereal; collection in galleries and museums, and at
Tony the Tiger 1970s, Frosted the SFO Museum. Larger pieces add to the
Flakes cereal. photo: SFO Museum.
drama of the exhibitions.
Even with all these influences I only began to Advertising Mascots Over Time
collect ad character figures in my thirties. First a By the late 1950s vacuum tubes were
vinyl Pillsbury Doughboy at the Berkeley Flea transitioning to transistors. Along with
Market, then a Reddy Kilowatt bought at a that came portable transistor radios and
store on Los Angeles’ Melrose Avenue, and color TVs. And along with television came
then a Ghostbusters movie figure, the Stay Puft commercials with their iconic cartoonish
Marshmallow Man. He was Hollywood’s spokesmen and “critters.” For the first time
fictitious mash-up of the Michelin Man, Cracker ever, those commercials were aimed at
Jack’s Sailor Jack, and Poppin Fresh. They say kids. Concurrently, the fast-food franchise
that once you have three, it’s a collection. Now I market exploded. With their shared
own three thousand! (And I also own that formula for success, similar menus, and
roof-topping Chicken Delight chicken.) building design, fast food chains needed to
differentiate, and so were born the “fast
The Progression of the Collection food” advertising mascots depicted on
At first—before there were online auctions— signage, packaging, television commercials,
I’d collect most any advertising figures I could The Household case at the SFO Museum exhibit and as gifts in children’s meals.
find at flea markets and collectibles and toy features Mr. Clean (Mr. Clean cleanser), Elmer Advertising icons can be timeless. But it
shows. It might explain why I have so many (Elmer's glue), the Nauga (Naugahyde fabric) is important not to confuse “timeless” with
and the Raid Bug (Raid insecticides).
different versions of Mr. Peanut or Colonel
photo: SFO Museum. “never-changing.” Indeed, many successful
Saunders (figures, bobbin-heads, banks, salt and icons have developed or been updated over
pepper shakers). time. Some characters—like the Jolly Green Giant and Betty
I started to compliment them with flat artwork from brochures, Crocker—have been around for more than 80 years, with each
decals, stickers, signs, pin-back buttons, and magazine advertisements. evolving to fit the times. Bob’s Big Boy and the Campbell’s Kids have
Some of the flatwork provided a historical perspective for the figures become slimmer in the age of fitness, and Tony the Tiger has become
while other items captured the icon in some earlier or later period downright buff. In my books, Meet Mr. Product and Mr. Product you

A glimpse of the 2014 exhibition at the SFO Museum at the San Francisco International Airport. photo: SFO Museum.

32 Journal of Antiques and Collectibles