New Yorker Ads

The New Yorker was as known for its tony ads offering a catalog of status symbols available for purchase.The ads in the April 20 New Yorker offer a glimpse of the lifestyle or aspirations of the magazine's affluent or wannabe readers. They shopped at the "finest stores," mostly lined up along Fifth Avenue or in the Fifties, where the clothing shortage apparently was not as severe as it was elsewhere; even menswear was available, although Arrow apologized that it was still behind in shirt orders. The New Yorker readers were also in the market for top-the-line phonographs and radios, and outdoor furniture for their suburban patios. They drank and ate candy and they smoked; the back cover of the magazine showed a young boy and his mother about to surprise Dad with a perfect gift, a carton of Chesterfield's, which offered "all the benefits of smoking pleasure." Like emphysema and lung cancer? For the time being, wine drinkers apparently had to make due with domestic vintages judging from the many ads for California and New York wines and absence of ads for French labels. They traveled by train and plane on business and pleasure and weekended in Atlantic City. Automobiles were being produced again but there were wait lists for purchase. The readers needed equipment and services for their businesses and they made investments. They patronized fashionable restaurants, nightclubs and hotels. They contemplated learning a second language to increase their marketability or taking dance lessons to improve their social desirability. They could catch a live television show at the new Dumont network studios at the downtown Wanamaker's department store where they could also purchase a set if they wanted to watch at home, although the programming offerings were extremely scant at the moment. Also see ads for textiles and clothing brands.