133 replies to this topic

[don.siegel]

An ad I just picked up here in France, for a Bobsled set by the Italian manufacturer Polistil, under the Dromocar brand (used for their smaller scale cars). Very much kid oriented, since it was in Tintin magazine, pitched to the 7-12 age bracket... Nice graphics. The set is relatively rare too. 

 

 

Don 

[leadfoot4]

A friend just e-mailed this to me, and I thought I'd share the image. It's from 1966, published in the Rochester, NY newspaper....

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[Ralphthe3rd]

Hey Guys, I'm searching for some Obscure Advertising for  Marx HO Slot Cars. I collect all the pre 1970 HO brands, and have a fondness for Marx, since it was my Very first HO Slot car. Anyway, It's easy to find full page adverts for Marx HO(and 1/32) Slot Sets, but I've only seen one small snippet of an old advert  from a 1964 Sears catalog, showing the actual Marx HO cars, and it's hardly worth mentioning. Soooo, do any of you have an advert showing the Marx HO line-up of cars available for a certain year ? I'm going to try and attach the only advert I already have, showing the 1964 Marx HO cars....please help me find better than this !

[sidejobjon]

Another 1/24 scale company Gar-vic wonder if they ever made HO scale like shown in this ad,

Would love to add to collection if they did? The Doc would know?

SJJ

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[don.siegel]

Nobody's ever found one. 

 

If it was ever made, it would have been a prototype, and has long disappeared. 

 

Don 

[Tim Wilkins]

Always liked the Indy Turbine and have a ticket from the 1967 race.

 

 

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[Slot_Grasshopper]

I saw this pic from 1963 posted on Twitter,  it's got the Model Motoring / Aurora billboard in the top right corner.  

 

<< Bridgehampton 500 Km GT race, September, 1963. The front row: Ken Miles (No. 98 Shelby American Cobra, pole), Dan Gurney (No. 99 Shelby American Cobra, with Carroll Shelby leaning on his car) and Bob Holbert (No. 97 Shelby American Cobra). 

 

Finish: 1. Gurney 2. Miles 3. Holbert   >>

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[Vay Jonynas]

These two ads that I saw in Boys Life magazine in 1964-65 sparked my lifelong fascination with slot cars:

 

 

[Vay Jonynas]

Thanks much for that Cap's, Vay - I hadn't seen that! Interesting figures too, if they're accurate, and first time I've seen a distinction between hobby shops that add tracks, and commercial raceways... total of 3,500 for early '66 sounds about right - assuming other figures we've seen are correct! 
 

 

Hmmmmm. Here's an article with a much higher estimate of 20,000 tracks before the end of 1966:

 

 

http://99wspeedshop....com/menu02.html

 

 

 

 

In the U.S., the first commercial track appeared in Kalamazoo Michigan in 1956. This grew to an estimated 20,000 commercial track by 1966.

 

[don.siegel]

Nope... in fact, I just saw a reference to that site elsewhere here and it's very good for the magazines, but that's the first time I've seen that 20,000 figure. I was going to write him anyway, so I'll ask about that too. All the sources I have give an estimate of 3,000 to 5,000. 

 

The track in Kalamazoo was the first rail racing track in the U.S., but it was a club, not a commercial venture. The first commercial track was in 1959, 1960 or 1961, depending on who you listen to... but I think Larry, on here, has said that his local hobby shop added a track in 1959. 

 

Don 

[don.siegel]

Just found a rather surprising ad from 1967, in Scientific American! It's by ITT (yep, the phone company) and it's for the amazing new technology of floor heating - just like the Romans did! I got a good laugh out of this one, because the building I live in in Paris is from 1960 and has floor heating, like a lot of buildings from that period. It must have seemed like a good idea at the time... We didn't realize that before buying it (after looking at 20 apartments, we were tired and never noticed there were no radiators), so got very worried once we found out, because of rumors about varicose vanes, etc. Turns out those are just rumors, but the problem is that it can't really be turned down or off at night, because of thermal inertia, so it stays too hot at night - but we've gotten used to that. And like any central heating installation, it's never equal between apartments and floors. 

 

Anyway, here's the ad, yet another using slots to sell a product! 

 

 

Don 

[stumbley]

The house I grew up in, in little Socorro, New Mexico (pop. 7K on a good day) had heated copper pipes beneath concrete floors. Socorro is in the high desert, and can have huge extremes in temperature during the year. One winter was -10 F for weeks and the preceding summer had 6 weeks of 105 F. We were VERY glad to have floor heat that winter!

 

The houses were designed by the president of the small college at which my father was a geology professor, and built in 1948. They were WAY ahead of their time, as all utilities were underground. The president was a physics guy and evidently knew what he was doing.

[don.siegel]

Good story - didn't realize houses used that system too. And that was way before the floor heating trend for apartment buildings! 

 

Don 

[mickey thumbs]

These days heated tile floors are popular in bathrooms. No more cold toes coming out of the shower.

[Mr. M]

Re #107 above. There was a Hallmark movie set in the mythical town of Aurora. Someone had a sense of nostalgia humor or just searched on the name and knocked off a town sign that looked just like the HO Aurora logo font and surrounding oval.

[Vay Jonynas]

Nope... in fact, I just saw a reference to that site elsewhere here and it's very good for the magazines, but that's the first time I've seen that 20,000 figure. I was going to write him anyway, so I'll ask about that too. All the sources I have give an estimate of 3,000 to 5,000. 

 

 

So what did you learn?

[don.siegel]

Well, that was over a year ago... can't remember if I ever wrote to them, or did and didn't get an answer, which seems more likely... 

 

Don 

[don.siegel]

PS: really contacted him this time and he says he saw it in a trade or business magazine; was going to double check when he got back home. 

[Vay Jonynas]

From what I've read, Polk's must have been a pretty amazing place. 

 

I can't recall ever seeing any pics of the inside of the place. Anybody have any images they can post?

 

Here you go:

 

 

 

 

[madmike52]

Polk's Slot Car Photos- circa 1963

[edscars]

Actually had that one in the early 70's, was my favorite. Might still have it! Called something with "Turbine" in the name!

That futuristic car was the AFX Turbo Turnon.  Its companion car had 2 engines in the rear and was called the "Too Much"

[edscars]

My sister spotted this ad back in 1969 and I was so surprised to see it. It's a CTA ad (Chicago Transit Authority) for their Loop trains that circle downtown Chicago. The odd part is that they used Aurora HO slot car track to represent the L loop train track around the downtown area.  This ad never seems to show up on ebay - I've been looking for another for over 10 years. Good eye, sis!  

[don.siegel]

Great find Ed! I was still living in Chicago in 1969 (tragic year for the Cubs...), but don't remember that ad - I was still in high school and very rarely took the L. 

 

I'll ask my brother to keep an eye out for one of these! 

 

Don 

[edscars]

Cool Don. I went to several of those Cub games in '69 as a 10 year old. Some of the Cubs like Ron Santo, Ernie Banks, and Don Kessinger would take side streets like Berteau on the way home from games on route to their suburban homes, going through nearby neighborhoods to me. Great memories, even though the Mets spoiled our dream that year.

[edscars]

In Dec '66, the inner cover of this magazine had a Christmas ad for what some boys were hoping for...Aurora HO...HO HO. I imagine this ad found its way into some other publications as well.

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