Automobubbling

A reader sent in this 1932 Oldsmobile commercial, and I thought it was worth sharing. I won't be doing a full deconstruction, but I have a few thoughts after the jump.

Okay, a few points.

• I'm a fan of history and nostalgia, but I don't think this ad has aged well at all. Is this the least funny, least original, and most creepy cartoon of all time? If not, it has to be in the conversation.
• Obviously televisions, and thus television advertising, weren't around in 1932. This advertisement was shown at movie theaters--which makes me wonder just how annoyed I'd be if I had to sit through this 6+-minute commercial before watching my feature film. Perhaps this was all such a novelty at a time that even advertisements were fun.
• "Come on, I have my Oldsmobile outside." So Oldsmobiles impressed the ladies in 1932?
• "So let's all sing about the old Olds that is still rolling right along ... She is the queen of his gas machine ..." Yeah, times have changed.
• Automobubbling?
• "Many people thought the automobile would never replace the horse. But it certainly took the place of the parlor sofa on a Sunday afternoon." Way to aim high.
• Okay, I have to admit the song is pretty catchy.

--Chris H.

Comments

[Cookie the Dog's Owner on September 10, 2008 at 09:31 AM]

I don't think this was a commercial, it was just a cartoon built around the song. "In My Merry Oldsmobile" was a pop hit in 1905, which would have made it an "oldie" in 1932 (in the same way that "Rock Lobster" and "Hit Me With Your Best shot" are today).

[Chris Hafner on September 10, 2008 at 09:45 AM]

Thanks for the knowledge, Cookie. I didn't know that about the song. Yet this still felt "commercially" to me. The intro screen said "By Arrangement and Cooperation with Olds Motor Works" and there was that live-action interlude in the cartoon.

I don't know - I'm just left confused.

[Mochi Mochi on September 10, 2008 at 02:01 PM]

I think this is a perfect example of how "humor" does not translate well across cultures or time. It's hard not to think of this as product placement. But this was humor of the time. Imagine people sitting in theaters wracked with laughter at the comedic genius of this cartoon. It does not make sense, and can't really make sense to us, since the culture that produced it is so long gone and almost completely foreign to us. It's like my trying to explain current humor to my friends in Spain or Japan. When you have to explain the joke you know it's not remotely funny. Very much like the fact that what my parents find funny, what I find funny, and what a 4year-old find funny are not likely to have much commonality.

The thing that I notice about this animation, aside from how grotesque it is, is how completely unacceptable it all is in our current culture. This meshes really well with the Stutz article from CookieTDO. Two pieces of cultural history that come from this country but feel entirely at odds with acceptable contemporary societal tastes.

[Will on September 10, 2008 at 03:56 PM]

Fleischer Studios was Disney's big competitor back in the stone ages. For the time, the animation is pretty slick. The voyeurism bit in the beginning is a little creepy, perhaps, but it's got some clever gags in it. I enjoyed it.
Besides, they can't all be "Duck! Rabbit! Duck!", you know.

[Sillypickle on September 23, 2008 at 09:10 PM]

Yeah this is definitely a weird redone version of the song. I remember learning it and singing along at an incredibly fun concert at my alma mater. I couldn't get through this cartoon; it felt like it was trying to ruin the song!

[Craig on September 27, 2008 at 05:13 PM]

The past is like a different country. They do things different there.

[Meseret Hailu on October 12, 2009 at 07:44 PM]

I like to ride in an Oldsmobile too, but times are different now. People are different too. Why are they fighting after their wedding? Thanks for posting.