Wednesday, April 10, 2013

1962 Armstrong advertisement: Teddy and Turtle on the floor



This full-page advertisement was featured in the March 1962 issue of House Beautiful magazine.1 The page was too big to scan — measuring about 9¼ inches by 12¾ inches — so I had to photograph it instead.

The advertising copy states:
See the boy. His name is Teddy.
See the turtle. Its name is Turtle.
See the floor. Its name is Tessera.2


Teddy likes to play on the Tessera floor. He likes the Tessera's little chips, everywhere. He likes to push finger along the Tessera. He says it feels knobby like Turtle's back. Teddy likes to look down between the little chips of the Tessera. Teddy looks into everything. Why don't you look into Tessera? Send for a free sample of Tessera Vinyl Corlon. Write Armstrong, 6203 Atkins Ave., Lancaster, Pa. In Canada, Dept. 32-H, Box 919, Montreal, P.Q.

Tessera Corlon is one of the famous Armstrong Vinyl Floors

I was going to quip: "I wonder if Teddy is pretending that his pet turtle is Gamera, stomping along an alien landscape." But this advertisement is from 1962, and Gamera did not make his film debut until 1965, so that would not have been possible without time travel. So there.

I do wonder, however, how Teddy's mother felt about having Turtle walk across her nice, clean Armstrong floor.

Armstrong World Industries, which has its headquarters in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, is a flooring and ceiling company that was founded in Pittsburgh in 1860 by Thomas Armstrong and John Glass. It was incorporated in 1891.

If you're interested in more about Armstrong, LancasterHistory.org, located at 230 North President Avenue in Lancaster, has a seven-box collection of historic materials about the company.

Its voluminous and varied contents include:
  • Certificate of registration for trademark for linoleum and felt-based floor coverings made by Armstrong Cork Company, Pittsburgh. Application number 231720. Filed 1927, granted 1927.
  • Sheet music. “Sweet Quaker Maid,” words and music by James L. Knipe. Introduced by the Armstrong Quartet at the Eleventh Annual Convention of Armstrong Jobbers. . “He’s Cuckoo (He’s a Member of the Koo Koo Klan),” words and music by James L. Knipe. Published by Armstrong Cork Company, Linoleum Division, Lancaster. 1927.
  • Brochure for Armstrong’s Idea House. Lincoln Highway, one mile west of Lancaster. 25 March to 30 September 1953.
  • Interoffice communication from R. H. Caldwell to G. F. Johnston thanking George for inviting him to the convention. 8 December 1971.
  • Communication to Wholesale Salesmen regarding the article in Modern Floor Coverings about resilient flooring. March 1973.

Footnotes
1. This is the second advertisement from this issue of House Beautiful that I have featured. See the "What the hell is that on the wall??" post from February 2011.
2. Not to be confused with tesseract.

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