Sunday, March 25, 2018

1964 ad for "Gory Green on Ghost White" Frankenstein socks


NOW YOU CAN WEAR FRANKENSTEIN! screams this advertisement from the back pages of the Winter 1964-65 issue of Horrors Monsters, a quarterly magazine that was issued by Charlton Publications (1945-1986) back in the day. The topics touted on the cover included The Curse of Frankenstein, Black Sabbath, The Frozen Ghost, a short story titled "The Monster in the Tomb," and a tribute to Vincent Price.

But all of this, I think, pales in comparison to ... Frankenstein socks! Victor Specialties of Derby, Connecticut, was offering the socks, described as "gory green on ghost white" in all sizes for just $2. (That's the equivalent of about $16 today, so I think they were making a tidy profit on these.)

The advertisement further touts: "You'll cause a panic everytime you wear these socks and the gals will shudder and shriek whenever you offer them your hanky. Great fun."

That's right, there was also a $1 Frankenstein handkerchief. And the dubious notion that "gals" would "shudder."

But let's stay focused on the socks. Obviously, there's a surfeit of Frankenstein and classic-monster socks available today, as they're made in every factory from Kathmandu to Bucharest and sold at novelty stores near you, right alongside the endless Funko Pop! figures featuring the entire cast of Head of the Class (excluding Jawaharlal, who wouldn't sign over his rights).

Unfortunately, numerous online searches — a highly productive use of my time and something that's definitely recommended as a way to procrastinate on taxes — failed to yield any images of the 1960s Victor Specialties socks offered in this advertisement. Yes, hard as it is to believe, there might not be anyone out there who held onto a pair of cheap socks for a half-century just so they could take a photo of them and upload it to the Internet in the 21st century. So this might be the only image we have for the historical record...


* * *

Somewhat related...

(Link to this tweet.)

Note for posterity
  • This is the 2,500th Papergreat post.

No comments:

Post a Comment