Lincoln, Me. (DG)---
On my website (http://www.dg125.com), I created a feature known as “In The Shadow.” It is about the lesser known products that share the same brand name with a more famous product. These products may not necessarily get the same publicity as their more popular namesake, but there were many satisfied customers who used them--- and they were also heard on the radio. What you are about to read is the first of a 2-part series on these lesser-known products with a popular name that were heard on the radio.
Let’s begin with Jell-O. That familiar name is associated with the wiggly fruit flavored dessert. Jell-O Pudding & Pie Filling and Jell-O Tapioca could be considered in the shadow of the gelatin dessert, but there was another Jell-O product--- or in this case 2 products that took a definite back seat. They were Jell-O Ice Cream Powder and Jell-O Freezing Mix.
As you might already guessed, Jell-O Ice Cream Powder and Jell-O Freezing Mix were frozen dessert mixes. Both of these products provided delicious homemade ice cream for a fraction of the price of buying store bought ice cream.
As the name implies, Jell-O Ice Cream Powder was made in powdered form. When it was mixed with milk, Jell-O Ice Cream Powder made 1� quarts of homemade ice cream. It was made with either a hand cranked freezer or poured into refrigerator trays and chilled in the freezer. There was no way the family could get tired of how it tasted, because Jell-O Ice Cream Powder was sold in 5 delicious flavors--- Vanilla, Chocolate, Strawberry, Lemon, and Maple. There was also an Unflavored Jell-O Ice Cream Powder for those people who wanted to experiment with a different, unusual, or weird ice cream creation.
Jell-O Freezing Mix was freezing syrup that was sold in 6 different flavors--- Vanilla, Chocolate, Strawberry, Maple Walnut, Orange Pineapple, and Tutti-Frutti. The Vanilla and Chocolate flavors had smooth, rich syrup, while the fruit and nut flavors had chunks of real fruit and nuts with its natural juices in rich syrup.
No matter the flavor, Jell-O Freezing Mix provided deluxe homemade ice cream. All it took was mixing the contents from a can of Jell-O Freezing Mix with milk and whipping cream and pour into freezer trays. After a stir midway into chilling, 6 generous helpings of homemade ice cream were ready to be eaten. Jell-O Freezing Mix created deluxe ice cream without the deluxe price to go along with it.
Bayer Aspirin was (and still is for that matter) the most famous aspirin brand in the world. For generations, the aspirin tablets with Bayer printed crosswise relieved the aches and pains the typical human being encountered. Children were also human beings, and they also had aches and pains to contend with. Since Bayer Aspirin was more suited for adults, a smaller dose was needed according to the age of the child. One alternative was to break a Bayer Aspirin tablet in half. In doing so, half a tablet could be intact, but the other half was usually a powdery mess. It was necessary, but cutting Bayer Aspirin tablets was wasteful Another sensible alternative was to give the child Children’s Size Bayer Aspirin, a pain relieving product made especially for the small fry
In the enclosed commercial from the MR. CHAMELEON program on CBS Radio, announcer Howard Claney stated that Children’s Size Bayer was half the dosage of regular Bayer Aspirin. If the situation called for it, each tablet could easily be divided without mess and waste, because it was grooved in the middle for that very purpose.
Claney also stated Children’s Size Bayer Aspirin was uncolored and unflavored, so the offspring wouldn’t mistake it for candy with the intent of helping themselves. It didn’t give the impression of looking or tasting like candy, but it also helped to keep Children’s Size Bayer Aspirin out of reach of children at all times.
The creation of Children’s Size Bayer Aspirin eliminated the headache of cutting aspirin tablets. More importantly, it provided peace of mind for the parents, whose children were getting the proper dosage of Bayer Aspirin and were feeling better with the pain relieving product more doctors recommended.
For 16 years, Walter Winchell sent his famous “Lotions Of Love” to the radio listeners at the closing of his JERGENS JOURNAL program. Of course, the closing was in behalf of Jergens Lotion.
The popular hand lotion was the best known of the Jergens line of beauty aids, but there were other products that did their part in bringing out the beauty in women.
One such product was Jergens Face Powder
Although Alix took part in styling the 5 shades, it didn’t cost an arm and a leg to buy Jergens Face Powder. Its 3 sizes were reasonably priced at $1, 25�, and 10�.
Dryad was another product that took a back seat to Jergens Lotion. This product may not exactly bring out beauty, but it did protect a woman’s daintiness from perspiration and its foul smelling odor
To officially introduce Dryad to the listeners, announcer Jim Bannon talked about an introductory offer on THE JERGENS JOUNRAL. This offer consisted of a 50� bottle of famous Jergens Lotion, the lotion for ”Soft, Smooth, Romantic Hands.” As an added bonus, a 25� jar of New Dryad Cream Deodorant was included at no extra cost.
Once the ladies took advantage of the Jergens Gift Offer, the chances were very good they used Dryad on a regular basis. Unlike other deodorants, Dryad went directly to the source of perspiration odor and stopped it before it even had a chance to start.
When it established itself, Dryad’s advertising featured sad looking women who were spending a lonely evening at home. They were playing solitaire; reading a book; or going to bed early. The real tragedy here was the lonely evening was caused by something these ladies weren’t even aware of--- the ever dreaded perspiration and its stinky odor. If Dryad was used, perspiration and odor were completely under control. Those lonely evenings weren’t so lonely any more.
We conclude this article with a familiar name. When someone said, “Lifebuoy” during radio’s golden age, the first thought would be the popular bath soap. Its never ending fight against that nasty “B.O.” (Body Odor) was the secret to a person’s success in being around other people.
While Lifebuoy Health Soap was stopping “B.O.” at every turn, there was another quality Lifebuoy product that didn’t care anything whatsoever about the infamous stink. Its main interest was a man’s face with a lot of whiskers on that face. You might have already guessed this shadowed product is Lifebuoy Shaving Cream. It was a lather shave cream that was made to soften the toughest whiskers so they could be shaved off clean and close.
If anyone ever said Lifebuoy Shaving Cream was all wet, that was a very nice compliment. Lifebuoy was specially made to be moist from the first moment it was applied to the face to the final stroke of the razor. Its advertising stated Lifebuoy’s “Stay Moist Lather” was so moist it “Holds Moisture Like A Camel (the animal with the hump, not the cigarette).”
Since it was a Lifebuoy product, Lifebuoy Shaving Cream was made with tender skin in mind. It was gentler to a man’s face than any other shave cream or shaving soap. Using Lifebuoy Shaving Cream was also easy on the pocketbook. Each bright red tube held enough shave cream for 120-150 shaves.
You have just read the first of a 2 part series of “Shadowed Products.” In Part 2, there will be some more of these overlooked products who were also radio sponsors. It will be presented on my website in the near future.
