Track 15: Postum

Postum was a coffee/tea alternative. Grandma Stampfel drank it. I never met anyone else who did. This was an obvious attempt to sell it to the kids. Never knew a kid who drank it, either. Love the first line:

Be staunch and true
A real buckaroo
Drink Postum, cold or hot
‘Cause Postum is a he-man’s drink
Its flavor hits the spot
Postum, Postum
Drink it, cold or hot
For Postum is a he-man’s drink
Its flavor hits the spot

Five reps. I tasted it once. Yuck.

Track 16: Prell Shampoo

From an early TV ad. In 1949, the Prell tube was anthropomorphized, as a Mae West-inspired cartoon named Tallulah. Muriel Cigars also anthropomorphized a cigar for TV, its cartoon also inspired by Mae West. The Muriel tag line was, “Why don’t you pick me up and smoke me sometime?”, with a provocative emphasis on the word “smoke”. I was in eighth grade at the time, and there was a girl named Muriel in our class who had to put up with, “Hey Muriel!! Rienke wants to smoke ya!”

I’m Tallulah, the tube of Prell
And I’ll make your hair look swell
It’ll shine, it’ll glow, so dandruff-free
For radiant hair, get a hold of me!
Tallulah, the tube ‘a’
Prell shampoo!

Track 17: Rival Dog Food

The woof woof was an actual dog bark. Another classical music (Strauss) rip-off, although no one said rip-off before 1967. The expression (circa 1963) was take-off. Three reps.

Gimme Rival dog food
Woof woof! Woof woof!
Gimme Rival dog food
Woof woof! Woof woof!
Your dog’s eyes will shine
Coat looks fine
With nourishing Rival dog food
Woof woof! Woof woof!
With Rival, the quality’s high
Which makes it your best dog food buy
Woof woof! Woof woof!