Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Hometown Newspaper Ads from 1973

Here's a quick post of a few newspaper ads from 1973.  They're ads from the Redford Township edition of The Suburban News for the week of May 30, 1973 to be exact... 

Kresge's was the discount store that spawned Kmart.  The Kresge's stores lasted well into the late 70's, and I'm pretty sure even into the 80's.  The sale prices in the above ad are very good.  I'm particularly impressed by the price for Puffs which inflation adjusted for 2012 is $1.19.  I challenge you to find a box of Puffs for $1.19 anywhere.

Above is a very long ad for Sentry Drug.  You can see there's two sizes of Selsun Blue on sale, but it doesn't seem like much of a sale to me.  Adjusted for inflation that $2.69 on the 8oz size is $13.90 in 2012 dollars.  Selsun Blue goes for about $7 today, and that's an 11oz size.


Get ready for Memorial Day with stylish fashions for men and boys at SIMS.  I'm in awe of those "Bold Cuffed Bells."  I kinda wish I was bold enough to wear them today.  In case you're wondering about the price on those pants - $10 in 1973, is $51.66 in 2012

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Northland Playhouse Sketchbook

Here's a program from July 24, 1956 for the Northland Playhouse.  It features headliner Cesar Romero on the cover...


... and here's the little write-up on Mr. Romero...

Click to enlarge


Cesar was the biggest star in this production of  Strictly Dishonorable by Preston Sturges, but there was also a future big star in the cast by the name of James Coburn...



Over on IMDb the TV and Movie credits of James Coburn start in 1957, but here in this 1956 program it says James has worked in television on Paul Coats' Confidential, and in a movie called Beverly Hills Woman - which is a movie that isn't listed anywhere on the net.

Here's the full cast and crew for this production...


I don't know much about the Northland Playhouse, but from what I can gather it was once located on the Northland Center property in Southfiel Michigan.  There's a few historical newspaper shots of the Playhouse I found that were up for auction on Ebay...



As you can see the Northland Playhouse was fabric-like dome that looks fairly temporary.  I think the Northland Playhouse lasted less than 10 years.



Less than 10 years is a safe bet since the above photo is what the Playhouse supposedly looked like in 1960.

Lastly just for fun I found this movie ad in the Northland Playhouse Sketchbook for the classic French thriller Diabolique (1955)