Ads from 1982

I spent Easter at my parents. After dinner I was sitting in the living room with my mom and I notice this little magazine on the floor.  The back side was up and it caught my attention for two reasons. First, it was yellow with age.  Second, the ad on the back paged seemed really out of date.  I had to investigate.  Turns out it was a  magazine from 1982!  The R & R Mixer ’82: Your Guide To the Latest Party Drinks and Snacks.

Magazine Cover.

I asked my mom about it and she said it was some magazine they got in Germany (when they were first stationed there, that note, they’ve kept for over thirty years!).  It got filed away somewhere long ago.  Recently my mom has been on a cleaning kick going through old files and boxes of stuff.  I promptly confiscated the magazine.  The R&R Mixer ’82 was published and circulated to the America Forces stationed in Europe.  Their editorial and administrative offices were located at 17 Bismarchkstrasse in Heidelberg, West Germany. (I love that little detail!  In 1982 Germany was still divided!).  It was a private firm that wasn’t connected with NATO.

The magazine contains articles and recipes on making drinks.  The first page opens with “…the R&R Mixer, a magic elixir your guide to notions and party potions…”  to be followed up a couple pages later with “…Wine, Wine–how divine; Champagne, Champagne–creme de la creme…”  They might be cheesy but they make me laugh!  The whole magazine is full of titles like these.

But that’s not the best part!  Nope, the best part are the advertizements in the magazine!  Oh my word.  I was cracking up at some of them and they all brought back memories!  So without further ado here are my top three favorite ads.

Third Place goes to…Dual-Standard Trinitron Sony TV. This amazing TV allowed us to watch TV not only in America, but in Europe!  A compatible TV!  Technology was progressing!

"With just one set, you can enjoy both America and Europe!"

Second Place goes to… Toshiba’s 50/60Hz microprocessor-controlled microwave oven!  Which also “plugs in on both sides of the Atlantic.”  You might have to have lived in Europe (as an American with your American appliances) to really get a chuckle out of this.  But, I remember having to buy “new” appliances because we couldn’t use the ones we’d bought in America in Europe.  And just a side note, that microwave looks like it should be in a museum!  And yet I remember using one just like it. (That makes me feel really old!)

"Computer-style programmable operation lets the Toshiba ER-789BT handle everything from defrosting to keeping food warm automatically."

and First Place: The Quintet – JVC’s new portable component system.  Now come on, raise your hand if you remember carrying your boombox around with you.  Heck I remember when I got a walkman and thought it was the greatest invention ever!  How the times have changed!

"Five great performers that play perfectly together. Now you can enjoy true high fidelity both at home and on the road."

I hope you’ve enjoyed these ads as much as I have.  They gave me a good laugh and brought me down memory lane.