Houston, the Adverts Have Landed: The 1969 Moon Landings as Told in Lancashire Newspaper Ads
Houston, the Adverts Have Landed: The 1969 Moon Landings as Told in Lancashire Newspaper Ads
On 24th July 1969, the three astronaut crew of Apollo 11 safely splashed into the sea in their re-entry module. Days earlier, Neil Armstrong had taken a small step onto the moon and propelled humanity on a giant leap into the future of space exploration. The moon had been touched, and suddenly the rest of the solar system seemed within grasping distance. With the universe now humanity’s for the picking, the future promised to be one of prosperity and plenty. Austerity would be a thing of the past; if earth were found to be lacking, humans could simply reach out into space and find all the provisions they desired.
Is it any wonder then, that the moon landings heavily influenced how businesses advertised their wares and services? A quick glance at Lancashire’s local newspapers in the run up to the Apollo mission reveals a multitude of moon-themed advertisements. Here, I’ve compiled a business directory from the pages of Lancashire newspapers, circa 1969.
Houston, the Classified Ads have landed.
Taxis and Motor Sales
Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins scooted across the uncharted territory of space in a snazzy lunar module worth many millions of dollars. Earthlings with a more modest budget could still sample a taste of the interplanetary action by buying a quality used car from Hutchinson’s of Nelson Car Sales, who insisted that they would take most vehicles in exchange, ‘even motor cycles, scooters, moon spaceships, tractors, etc.’
Prefer to take a taxi? Fear not, for Lancashire’s cab companies provided many a cosmic chauffeur service during the summer of 1969…
Home Appliances and Furnishings
The Apollo astronauts famously took many practical objects onto the moon surface: a camera, radio and geology tools among others. They did not, however, take a washing machine or Hoover vacuum cleaner, as there would have been nowhere to plug them in. Thankfully for homeowners back on earth, they could plug in a variety of home appliances, available to purchase at ‘down to earth prices’ from terrestrial retailers.
Of course, no home is complete without soft furnishings and accessories; after all, the Apollo astronauts wasted no time in decorating the moon surface with an American flag and shiny gold plaques.
Catering and Hospitality
The astronauts aboard Apollo 11 may have been subjected to frankly revolting sounding foodstuffs such as freeze-dried chicken patê and dehydrated fruitcake cubes, but fortunately for the people still back on earth, the catering options were somewhat more appealing. The Tivoli Cafe in Damside Street, Lancaster, reassured patrons that their cafe could be reached by means of earthbound public transport, without having to resort to borrowing a rocket from NASA.
Meanwhile, across town at the Cross Keys Hotel, partygoers could find plenty of space to host their social engagements in between jetting off into space. The hotel, the proprietors pointed out, had an advantage over any lunar party venue, being ‘nearer than the moon’ and therefore incurring lower taxi fares at the end of the night.
Festive Treats
Months after the Eagle had landed, Christmas arrived, bringing with it a sleigh-load of celestial seasonal goodies. Barely had the last firework of Bonfire Night fizzled out before Santa Claus was arriving at local department stores to open his grotto. At Centenary House Co-op store in Morecambe – a building that today looks as though it’s been through an atomic attack – the man in red arrived by Moon Rocket. Meanwhile, at Carlines in Lancaster, Father Christmas was the proud custodian of a Space-age Venusian Grotto. It’s to be hoped that Santa would be able to acclimatize to the scorching Venus temperatures, given that he usually resides at the notably chilly North Pole.
Thus concludes our orbit through the moon-age advertisements in Lancashire’s local press. Some of the ads were stellar, others demonstrated total lunacy; all of them take us blasting back to the beginning of the space age, when optimism overtook nuclear paranoia as the prevailing mood of the day. Back to the nightmares next time.
By Rebecca Shaw
Comments
Post a Comment