Benjamin Chambers writes:
I love The Complete New Yorker, not least because tracking down one item will inevitably set me off on the trails of six other things. And then there are the unexpected surprises. For example, this ad for a Smith Corona word processor, from the October 9, 1989, issue of The New Yorker (click for a larger version):

Having just spent 10 hours at my computer, I simply had to laugh. Still, hindsight is always 20/20, though come to think of it, by 1989, I had put a heck of a lot of mileage on my Macintosh. Much harder to comprehend is this bizarre ad from the April 18, 1959, issue of TNY (click for larger version):



I should have reproduced it in color, but you can still get a sense of how strange a piece of copywriting it is. I’m always skeptical when people complain about things being “written by committee,” but this ad surely was. First, the thinking must have gone, we’ll bewitch bored readers with a headline evoking the double vision of the bleary-eyed sleepless; then we’ll joke about how many barbiturates they’re taking, appeal to their vanity, and then accuse them of wearing shabby PJs. If that won’t hook ’em, nothing will!

And, though it’s not advertising, I was equally entertained by the Leonard Dove cartoon below, from the May 25, 1935, issue. Only one of his many cartoons for TNY is available at The Cartoon Bank, and unfortunately this is not it. To enjoy a larger version, click here: