Wrigley's Mother Goose!

As I've written many times before, one of my favorite blogs is BibliOdyssey. Yet again, here is a really good example of why I am so fond of Pecay's site.

The illo above is the back cover to an amazing little pop culture artifact titled "Wrigley's Mother Goose introducing the Sprightly Spearmen."

All 24 pages plus the covers are on the Iowa Digital Library site and it is quite a happy, fun-filled read. According to the indicia date on the cover it was published in 1915.

William Wrigley hardly invented chewing gum, but he really perfected the marketing of it. After stubbing his toe with his first two flavors "Lotta" and"Vassar" he hit the mother lode with "Juicy Fruit" in 1893 and "Spearmint" in 1894. "Doublemint" was launched in 1914. Wrigley had the vision to understand that the future of consumer good was in "branded products. "

He strongly believed in the power of advertising. He promoted his gum through the use of advertisements that emphasized the benefits of chewing Wrigley's gums. He touted its freshness, that it was packaged in a sanitary package, that it stimulated the appetite, aided digestion, and just generally gave you pep. His advertisng credo was "Tell 'em quick and tell 'em often."

Wrigley's Mother Goose booklets were so popular, that the theme was continued for over a decade, migrating into magazine ads during the '20s.

If anyone thinks that manufacturers advertising their products directly into the paths of children's consciousness is some sort of contemporary phenomenon--think again. This is a tried and true formula and it has never really gone away. It just ebbs and flows.

The Sprightly Spearmen are my kind of advertising critters!

Also don't forget to make sure that your favorite Dark Horse Comics retailer orders plenty of:

Larry Marder's Beanworld: Wahoolazuma!

Beanworld Holiday Special

"Tell 'em quick and tell 'em often!"