Saturday, August 29, 2009

Deconstructing Old Ads with Bill Sonnett


Deconstructing Old Ads with Bill Sonnett

The Bite-em Bate (note spelling of "Bate") is seldom seen in advertising. In this April 1917 issue of National Sportsman, the magazine followed a practice that is still seen today in outdoor magazines. As long as you buy an ad for a new product, the magazine does a promotional "write up" under the guise of informing the sportsman of a new and exciting product. When I showed this ad to a very prominent student and collector of Indiana baits, he got a bit excited and felt there was new information as regards the Bite-em Bate Co. Notice that though it is being promoted as "new to the trade" it is also stated that it has been used by "expert fishermen" for the last two years




-- Bill Sonnett

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