Old Williams Shaving cream ad. How old is it? Any input appreciated :)

[techkiller80]

So my dad knows i like old ads and found this in an attic of an old house where the owners are moving. I have google searched every Williams ad i could find and can't find anything like it. Size is 31.5Hx21L It is some type of particle board maybe 1/4 inch thick. My mom had it framed for me. I thought initially it was WW2 with the aviator theme but looking closer the planes appear to be more akin to WWI planes and the aviator glasses of the pilot also appear pre WW2.

The only marking is on the bottom it says Aviator Card W-219 Printed in the USA

Any insight to it's history would be so greatly appreciated

 

[techkiller80]

On a side note the owners have been in the house for maybe 30 yrs so this was in the attic before they owned the house....my first thought is this would have been in a store selling Williams products or possibly a barbers shop

 

[Virgil Sollozzo]

If this isn't retro, it is almost certainly the 1930s but that's a best guess.

 

[techkiller80]

If this isn't retro, it is almost certainly the 1930s but that's a best guess.

I don't think it was retro as It was literally falling apart when my dad took it and my mom did her best to repair a few areas.

 

[emwolf]

That looks an awful lot like Buddy Rogers.

 

[techkiller80]

I just googled Buddy Rogers and I don't see that he did any ads or work with the Williams Shaving Cream company.

 

[dmshaver]

The planes are not biplanes, which almost all WWI planes were. So I will say it is from the 1920's or 30's.

 

[Lane101]

Williams launched Aqua Velva in 1917 so sometime after that. Suspect @dmshaver 's estimate is as close as we can get. Likely this ad is from the late 1920's through the 1930's as monoplanes began to supplant most biplanes at the start of that time period.

 

[om2000]

As per Wikipedia, that bottle of Aqua Velva is from 1930s:

Aqua Velva - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Also, here is a ca. 1929 ad with the same cream and aftershave:

The Aqua Velva State – Today in History: November 17 - Connecticut History | a CTHumanities Project

On November 17, 1917, the J.B. Williams Company of Glastonbury filed a trademark with the US Patent and Trademark Office for the Word Mark "Aqua Velva."

connecticuthistory.org

Regarding the cap of the tube: "You can't lose this cap!"

 

[AnimalCatcher]

The style of the shaving cream tube in the ad was sold from the teens until the late thirties, though the artist does seem to have taken a bit of artistic license with the illustration. The aftershave in the ad with this particular bottle style and label was sold between 1917-1931. After 1931 the neck of the aftershave bottle was shortened, and the label was changed.

My best guess would be the mid to late 1920s. Maybe my fellow J.B. Williams collector @abw11365 knows more about this piece than I do and will stop by. By the way.... this is a very cool Williams image and one that I had never seen before. Thank you very much for sharing.

 

[Breen]

As a modest Williams collector thank you for posting this!! That’s a really nice piece, and I’d be very happy to own it. Congratulations and Enjoy!!!

 

[dotKomo]

Very cool.

 

[gpjoe]

I have no idea, but the only thing cooler than that ad is the fact that mom framed it for you...very nice.

 

[StewB]

If you get a chance and Antiques Roadshow is nearby, I would check if someone knows more about it.

 

[abw11365]

@techkiller80 @AnimalCatcher So IMO, neither the shaving cream nor AV are complete / accurate depictions of the Williams products of the time. But Williams was using that style of cap (loop in the top of the cap) approximately 1924 - 1933. From 1924-31, the tube had a loaded brush on it. Then they switched to the "W" in a square logo in 1932. By 1934 they had moved away from this style of cap. The tube in this picture has neither the loaded brush nor the "W" logo although I personally doubt they ever made it without one or the other on it. That AV bottle has AV written in red on white as one line which they used up until 1931. In 1932 they switched to AV in white on two lines in a red square. Based on all of this, I'm going to say 1924-31 is the window of release of this ad. I will say that in all of their other advertisements I have seen, JBW used accurate depictions of their product containers so this is somewhat baffling to me.... but VERY cool and would be very happy to own it. It's possible (maybe even likely) that they reduced the words on the AV bottle and removed the loaded brush & size from the tube to make the lettering stand out / bigger / more legible... but I haven't seen them do that in other advertising. There may be other individuals knowledgeable about airplanes, aviator caps, etc that could narrow it down further. I hope this helps.

 

[Fordfather]

So my dad knows i like old ads and found this in an attic of an old house where the owners are moving. I have google searched every Williams ad i could find and can't find anything like it. Size is 31.5Hx21L It is some type of particle board maybe 1/4 inch thick. My mom had it framed for me. I thought initially it was WW2 with the aviator theme but looking closer the planes appear to be more akin to WWI planes and the aviator glasses of the pilot also appear pre WW2.

The only marking is on the bottom it says Aviator Card W-219 Printed in the USA

Any insight to it's history would be so greatly appreciated

That image looks like Rear Admiral @luvmysuper

He was a naval aviator in the 1930's.

 

[luvmysuper]

That image looks like Rear Admiral @luvmysuper

He was a naval aviator in the 1930's.

A common error many people make.
I had a NAVEL aviary.
We raised pigeons with belly buttons that could hold top secret messages.

 

[sarimento1]

very nice piece, congrats!
altho it's already framed, you might consider photographing it just to preserve.
enjoy!