Campbell Soup

A look at some of their vintage ads

Who doesn't have a can of Campbell Soup in their cupboard? Everyone knows their name, but how did they get to be so popular?

Mmnn...Mmnn...Good! (Or something like that!) That, of course, is part of the answer. The quality of their soup is good!

And if you are humming a tune in your head right now, then that means the quality of their advertising was good too!

(This photo was taken from the Aug. 1937 issue of Pictorial Review.)

Campbell Soup has been around for a long, long time!

And so to, has their advertising...now highly collected as vintage ads by ephemera collectors from around the world.

Early On... Advertising

The Campbell Soup Company was no exception.

(WOW! What an exciting time period for ephemera collectors!)

The combination of improved printing methods and the burst in popularity of magazines was too good to pass on.

The timing was right and the perfect format was in place.

In fact, they were one of the leaders in this rapidly growing field, along with the Coca Cola Company, (and maybe a few others.)

They were setting the level of the bar pretty high!

The Campbell Kids ads produced the largest following.

(Look closely at the lower right corner of a couple of these ads.)

Their smiling faces could be found printed in various forms, including post-cards, place mats, cookbooks, and of course print advertising.

(NOTE! The middle three ads are from the 1940's. Oct. 1941 LIFE, Aug. 1941 LIFE, and Feb. 1949 Mc Call's Magazines respectively.

The ad on the right is also from the 40's, we believe. OOPS! we forgot where we found it!

The last ad, below came from The Saturday Evening Post, Jan. 1967.)

Many other industries took advantage of early print adverting as well, most notably the automobile and cigarette companies.

However, the key difference here was that they were diversified into many, many companies. Campbell Soup dominated their category.

Take a look through nearly any old magazine and you are likely to find one of their vintage ads. That's where we obtained all of our photo's that we used on this page.

Random Notes...

Our Advice?

Well, that depends on how serious you are! For some novice collectors (such as ourselves), we tend to let our eyes gravitate towards what we like.

For the more serious collector, make sure to look for ads in "tip-top" condition: no tears, watermarks, stains, oil spots, folds, or rough edges!

Early edition ads, are obviously much more difficult to locate, and as such, are more valuable...even in a lesser condition.

Try taking in a trade show that specializes in paper ephemera items. Ask your local antique dealer who they know; someone that may have some ads for you.

Need more info? Try this site, The Digital Deli, Campbells Soup. They offer a comprehensive review of the timeline of Campbell Soup advertising.

Good luck and enjoy your search!

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