watch da birdie

watch da birdie

Toronto. As WW2 was winding down, companies became more innovative in their advertising. Pepsi-Cola – the major competitor to Coke – tried a humorous approach using a cartoon based on the old idea of a studio photographer capturing a portrait of a reluctant child.

When the traditional ‘birdie’ didn’t work, the photographer held up a bottle of Pepsi. It worked – too well! The poor photographer ended up taking  the wrong portrait!

The  expression, “watch the birdie” was intended for children. Photographers used a toy bird (sometimes it even whistled) in an effort to catch the child’s eye. And an interesting pose for mom and dad. Occasionally our fairs and auctions have an old ‘birdie’ used by photographers in the late 1800s – early 1900s. In fact there was one offered in an estate auction we held earlier this spring.

My thanks to good friend and fellow PHSC member, George Dunbar, for this c1944 comic advertisement from Popular Mechanics magazine.

 

 

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