7/19/12

Lees Carpet - The thin man.

Critical carpet advertising update now, from 1949. Newsflash: Lees Carpet ad looks pretty neat, hopefully doesn't contribute to eating disorders.
Jeez, what a nice illustration. It's kind of Disneyish, circa 101 Dalmations or Sword in the Stone or something, which I believe were both produced in the 60s. But this ad is from 1949. Ah well, there's no accounting for temporal art anomolies.

Anyhoo, tall, thin characters can convey elegance and stuff. Rich people like those tall thin cypress trees in their yards. Fashion models are all famously pencilly. Somehow, it conveys poise and grace.

Push the thin stuff really far and you get comedy. In this illustration, you can tell they're playing the thing thing for laughs. The super tall butler bending down to the floor is pretty jokey. He reminds me of the waiter in this scene from The Triplets of Belleville.



And when I saw this scene for the first time, it reminded me of Eric Idle's waiter character from this Monty Python sketch, The Refreshment Room.



And Eric Idle was alive in 1949. He was six years old. Is it coincidence that this ad, produced in Eric Idle's lifetime, features a waiter that so closely resembles a cartoon waiter that sort of acts like a character that Eric Idle would create twenty years later? Of course it's coincidence. Don't be stupid.

Click for big.



3 comments:

Anonymous said...

It is interesting that the couple seems to be dressed for a fancy dinner, with a candelabra and everything, though they are apparently being served cinnabons.

Steve Miller said...

Tall, thin people suggest low gravity situations. And look! that $%*# carpet won't stay on the floor!

How that sells carpets, I don't know.

PhilAreGo@gmail.com said...

Hey. Don't knock cinnabons. In '49, they cost nine furlongs per pound, or whatever they used for money back then. Point is, they were strictly rich people stuff.

Also, look at the size of the tag on that rug! I hate it when they scratch the back of your neck all day and you can't wait to get home and cut the thing out of your... carpet. Ah well.

Thanks for reading, guys!

[-Mgmt.]

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