Jingle Jangles

If you live long enough everything seems to turn back on itself. For me, this comes in form of advertising jingles. Most of the current crop of TV commercials attempt to incorporate either a mostly forgotten song from the 60s or 70s or some indecipherable hip hop tune. I just tune these out because my brain is still full of the purpose-written ad jingles of the 50s.

I can still hear the Robert Hall song rolling through my head School bells ring and children sing, It’s back to Robert Hall again… or for Christmas sleighbells ring and children sing, just to get you in the mood for more shopping

And what about Dinah Shore belting out See the USA in your Chevrolet… or, In my merry Oldsmobile… or We’re the men from Texaco… at the start of the Milton Berle Show.

Since my family used Ipana toothpaste I can still sing Bucky, Bucky Beaver new Ipana toothpaste… Then there was Halo everybody, Halo… how about Gillette’s Look sharp, feel sharp…or you’ll wonder where the yellow went… a question that was enough to convince you to buy Pepsodent. How about Plop plop, fizz fizz, oh what a relief it is? For men with hair Brylcreem, a little dab will do ya… and Robin Hood shooting his arrow for Wildroot as his merry men sang the theme song, Robin Hood, Robin Hood, Riding through the glen, Robin Hood, Robin Hood, with his band of men, feared by the bad, Loved by the good,
Robin Hood, Robin Hood, Robin Hood.

But for the real men in the crowd there was Rheingold the dry beer, is my beer… Hey Mabel, Black Label… or Schaefer is the one beer to have, when you’re having more than one…

Then there was Take me along, take me along… from United Air Lines. This was before companies frowned on the added expenses associated with taking a wife on a business trip. That killed the ad. That and the travelling man’s prospect that having the wife along just might prohibit having a little something on the side in Dubuque. 

Or Guy Lombardo’s brother singing the Savarin song on New Year’s Eve. Then there was Chock Full O’ Nuts is that heavenly coffee…

Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don’t… but if things are backing up on you Call Roto Rooter, he’s the man…

With a nod to Don Draper, Double your pleasure, double your fun with Doublemint, Doublemint Gum…and I wish I were an Oscar Meyer wiener, then everyone would be in love with me…

And lastly, and especially if you watched New York morning TV during the sixties there was the International Women’s Garment Workers Union unforgettable, Look for the Union label… that ran just after the commercial for Chock Full O’ Nuts.