tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148647148793397155.post3274578254326345915..comments2024-03-26T16:11:44.515-04:00Comments on All Things Ruffnerian, a Design Blog and More: Amusing Advertising for Greenback TobaccoMark D. Ruffnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09241533547309049140noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148647148793397155.post-22070297025962658862013-10-07T14:38:13.639-04:002013-10-07T14:38:13.639-04:00Hi, Kirk,
My antique advertising collection has b...Hi, Kirk,<br /><br />My antique advertising collection has brought me much pleasure, and Victorian designs doubtlessly swirl around in my subconcious. I have no doubt that some of my own designs evolve from what I've collected.Mark D. Ruffnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09241533547309049140noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148647148793397155.post-60266985005408731952013-10-07T14:10:44.032-04:002013-10-07T14:10:44.032-04:00Dear Mark,
I think that the message is that the po...Dear Mark,<br />I think that the message is that the poor chap, after finding that instead of one baby in the house, he now has three, is in need of a quiet room and a pipe of tobacco so that he can 'calm down'...<br />I do like seeing items from your advertising collection. They have a style and elegance all of their own, no matter what their subject matter!<br />KirkAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08642768891794895642noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148647148793397155.post-62276958851632110652013-10-05T10:27:51.496-04:002013-10-05T10:27:51.496-04:00Dear Columnist,
As a non-smoker, I've never e...Dear Columnist,<br /><br />As a non-smoker, I've never experienced that frog in the throat, and perhaps I should be glad of that!<br /><br />"Greenback" is a common place name for both North Carolina and Tennessee, though I haven't found how or why the term originated in those areas. The most common definition of greenback references Union money during the Civil War, notes the backs of which that were printed in green. Perhaps someone from North Carolina can fill in the blanks . . .Mark D. Ruffnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09241533547309049140noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148647148793397155.post-57261342674623841512013-10-05T02:55:50.180-04:002013-10-05T02:55:50.180-04:00It's difficult to imagine the relevance of a m...It's difficult to imagine the relevance of a man with children, but I do "get" the frog, which is clearly the inference that smoking gives you that frog in the throat sensation! columnisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03764365428633038329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148647148793397155.post-42674011445209444562013-10-04T15:24:54.990-04:002013-10-04T15:24:54.990-04:00Hello, Steve - I have been collecting 19th century...Hello, Steve - I have been collecting 19th century advertising for approximately 40 years, sometimes even traveling cross-country to antique advertising conventions! I had a tremendous advantage as a starting collector because I lived one block from an antique dealer who had a whole floor-to-ceiling wall of Victorian scrapbooks. Over the course of two years I went through all of them — dozens of Victorian scrapbooks — choosing only the best. It was a collector's dream.Mark D. Ruffnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09241533547309049140noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148647148793397155.post-25976127844617675482013-10-04T15:18:22.146-04:002013-10-04T15:18:22.146-04:00Hello, Jim - The products on this large card (whic...Hello, Jim - The products on this large card (which was probably a tobacco store display item) still measure only about 2 inches, so you're right, the detail is wonderful. When one considers that it was drawn in reverse on stone, that's all the more remarkable!Mark D. Ruffnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09241533547309049140noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148647148793397155.post-10928519778575608902013-10-04T15:14:28.168-04:002013-10-04T15:14:28.168-04:00Dear Rosemary - One of the things that I have disc...Dear Rosemary - One of the things that I have discovered in collecting Victorian advertising is that babies and children — and dogs — were used with great frequency, regardless of the product or the message. Perhaps this stems from the fact that advertisers knew that people most wanted decorative images for their scrapbooks, which was a very new and popular fad.Mark D. Ruffnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09241533547309049140noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148647148793397155.post-2330551514252777522013-10-04T15:00:33.463-04:002013-10-04T15:00:33.463-04:00These are beautiful! It seems you have a museum q...These are beautiful! It seems you have a museum quality collection.An Urban Cottagehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08666212353075804092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148647148793397155.post-18785714685236499572013-10-04T14:13:00.184-04:002013-10-04T14:13:00.184-04:00Hello Mark, I like this card's compound desi...Hello Mark, I like this card's compound design, the design of the original packages nested into that of the card. Considering how small the images of the packages must be, the level of detail in the lithography is amazing.<br /><br />I face the same irony in collecting--I don't drink or smoke, yet it's amazing how many great antiques are connected to these "vices".<br />--Jim<br /><br />Parnassushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08958901307538141468noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148647148793397155.post-58442627450075066172013-10-04T11:08:50.129-04:002013-10-04T11:08:50.129-04:00Dear Mark - whenever I see some of your 19th centu...Dear Mark - whenever I see some of your 19th century advertising ephemera, I am often struck by the way our attitudes have changed so much. <br />The father with his one, then two, then three babies is really rather amusing - but what does it have to do with smoking tobacco?<br />I don't think that using babies on tobacco advertising would meet with todays laws governing advertising standards.Rosemaryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03814070177137076757noreply@blogger.com