Life (International Edition) 1952 - 1953

[CONAIRE MCNEARY]

Hi All

Please be gentle with me as this is my first post!

I am a collector of vintage watch adverts with a particular interest in Rolex adverts from the 1950s. I am currently trying to locate adverts from a series of ten illustrated adverts by Eric Fraser entitled 'Fantastic Stories'. This campaign consisted of ten adverts based on letters written in to Rolex Geneva by customers with tales about how durable their timepieces had proven to be.

I only have two adverts remaining which are entitled: The arduous voyage of the cutter 'Ituna' and Lost! 100 TCS reward. I know the 'Ituna' advert appeared in Life International in 1953 and the 'reward' one possible in 1943 although I do not know which edition unfortunately. I have written to Rolex who were quite helpful and the advertising firm who handled their campaigns in the 1950s. Unfortunately the latter were completely unresponsive to my emails!

I have found an online archive for the North American Life edition but sadly Swiss watch adverts didn't feature in these. Does anyone know if an Internal edition archive exists?

I will try and upload images of the two adverts later today if anyone is interested. Many thanks for reading.

 

[CONAIRE MCNEARY]

 

[CONAIRE MCNEARY]

sorry about the typos it should be international edition and 1953, my fat fingers don't lend themselves to typing at speed!

 

[Jacek]

Hi All

Please be gentle with me as this is my first post!

I am a collector of vintage watch adverts with a particular interest in Rolex adverts from the 1950s. I am currently trying to locate adverts from a series of ten illustrated adverts by Eric Fraser entitled 'Fantastic Stories'. This campaign consisted of ten adverts based on letters written in to Rolex Geneva by customers with tales about how durable their timepieces had proven to be.

I only have two adverts remaining which are entitled: The arduous voyage of the cutter 'Ituna' and Lost! 100 TCS reward. I know the 'Ituna' advert appeared in Life International in 1953 and the 'reward' one possible in 1943 although I do not know which edition unfortunately. I have written to Rolex who were quite helpful and the advertising firm who handled their campaigns in the 1950s. Unfortunately the latter were completely unresponsive to my emails!

I have found an online archive for the North American Life edition but sadly Swiss watch adverts didn't feature in these. Does anyone know if an Internal edition archive exists?

I will try and upload images of the two adverts later today if anyone is interested. Many thanks for reading.

Hi All

Please be gentle with me as this is my first post!

I am a collector of vintage watch adverts with a particular interest in Rolex adverts from the 1950s. I am currently trying to locate adverts from a series of ten illustrated adverts by Eric Fraser entitled 'Fantastic Stories'. This campaign consisted of ten adverts based on letters written in to Rolex Geneva by customers with tales about how durable their timepieces had proven to be.

I only have two adverts remaining which are entitled: The arduous voyage of the cutter 'Ituna' and Lost! 100 TCS reward. I know the 'Ituna' advert appeared in Life International in 1953 and the 'reward' one possible in 1943 although I do not know which edition unfortunately. I have written to Rolex who were quite helpful and the advertising firm who handled their campaigns in the 1950s. Unfortunately the latter were completely unresponsive to my emails!

I have found an online archive for the North American Life edition but sadly Swiss watch adverts didn't feature in these. Does anyone know if an Internal edition archive exists?

I will try and upload images of the two adverts later today if anyone is interested. Many thanks for reading.

We're always gentle here! Welcome.

I looked through the Vogue archive and found a few from 1943, but they are all quarter page ads as follows:
1943
Most Likely to Succeed
For Precious Ever-lingering Memories
Guardian
O Little Star of Bethlehem

1944
Over and above the call of Duty
Perpetually Yous (full page)

1948
To the Ladies (half page)

1957
Some Women Always Stand Out (Full page)

1962
My Name is Trigère. I Hate Time

Then they start getting more prolific (374 in total) and as you say, you probably have them.
The above are too big to post here so if you need any of these message me your email and I will send them to you.

 

[CONAIRE MCNEARY]

We're always gentle here! Welcome.

I looked through the Vogue archive and found a few from 1943, but they are all quarter page ads as follows:
1943
Most Likely to Succeed
For Precious Ever-lingering Memories
Guardian
O Little Star of Bethlehem

1944
Over and above the call of Duty
Perpetually Yous (full page)

1948
To the Ladies (half page)

1957
Some Women Always Stand Out (Full page)

1962
My Name is Trigère. I Hate Time

Then they start getting more prolific (374 in total) and as you say, you probably have them.
The above are too big to post here so if you need any of these message me your email and I will send them to you.

Thanks very much for the reply. Unfortunately those adverts aren’t of interest to me but thanks for looking I do appreciate it. The adverts featured in the following publications from 1952-1954:

Graphis
Life International edition
Time Atlantic edition
The Illustrated London News

I am sure there are other publications I have overlooked but these are the only ones I have come across to date. I have managed to track down eight of the ten adverts but unfortunately the last two are proving to be very elusive! If anyone can shed any light on these I would appreciate it. If you have access to any ‘professional’ magazines from 1952-1954 please let me know. I believe they also featured in architectural magazines too.

many thanks

 

[Jacek]

Sorry I have no access to professional issues - I am a documentary filmmaker and the magazines you mention are out of may area of interest. But many libraries and universities etc. have access to digitised data bases so try them. the NY Public library would certainly have them but you have to be a NY resident - I tried unsuccessfully from LA

The Illustrated London News Archive is handled by Mary Evans Picture Library in England Mary Evans Picture Library. Historical images. Historical archive. Images of history. Images. Pictures. History. ILN. Stock. Photos Fine Art. Illustrations.
They may be able to help you but they are in the business of selling images for commercial use so are quite expensive. But do a search there and if you are lucky, at least you may be able to find the exact issue.

 

[Jacek]

The Illustrated London News Archive is handled by Mary Evans Picture Library in England Mary Evans Picture Library. Historical images. Historical archive. Images of history. Images. Pictures. History. ILN. Stock. Photos Fine Art. Illustrations.

If you can't find what you need, contact them - they are very helpful.

 

[Jacek]

Sorry I have no access to professional issues - I am a documentary filmmaker and the magazines you mention are out of may area of interest. But many libraries and universities etc. have access to digitised data bases so try them. the NY Public library would certainly have them but you have to be a NY resident - I tried unsuccessfully from LA

The Illustrated London News Archive is handled by Mary Evans Picture Library in England Mary Evans Picture Library. Historical images. Historical archive. Images of history. Images. Pictures. History. ILN. Stock. Photos Fine Art. Illustrations.
They may be able to help you but they are in the business of selling images for commercial use so are quite expensive. But do a search there and if you are lucky, at least you may be able to find the exact issue.

Did you try searching Google Books? They have many LIFE issues. You need a downloader but you can find those on line (for Mac OS X anyway) - if not and you find what you need in Google Books Google Books send me the link and I will download the images for you.

 

[CONAIRE MCNEARY]

Did you try searching Google Books? They have many LIFE issues. You need a downloader but you can find those on line (for Mac OS X anyway) - if not and you find what you need in Google Books Google Books send me the link and I will download the images for you.

Thanks for the reply. I tried Google Books but they only seem to have the Life US version not the International which featured the Rolex adverts I want. I will keep digging and see if anything comes up.

 

[ChrisD]

View attachment 1218088

My father, Des Dalton, was one of the crew on the Ituna, so if you manage to track the original artwork down, I'd be grateful if you could share where, and whether it can be purchased. It's a great story, and a wonderful graphic! Chris