A Severe Test for the Memory: Pears Soap advertisement – Vintage Print
(Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)
Description
This historic image of A Severe Test for the Memory: Pears Soap advertisement brings a moment of history to your wall. Drawn from the Snapshots of the Past archive, it is an authentic piece of documented history.
Framed, it is ready for the wall; unframed, it is ready for the frame you choose. It brings character to any room and makes a memorable gift. Free shipping in the lower 48 states. Since 2001, Snapshots of the Past has shipped historic prints to tens of thousands of customers around the world.
A Severe Test for the Memory: Pears Soap advertisement
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The title, "A Severe Test for the Memory," is a playful nod to the advertiser's real goal: making the Pears name stick in the minds of shoppers. Pears, a London soap maker, was one of the most heavily advertised brands of the late 19th century, when manufacturers were turning cleanliness into a mark of respectability and modern domestic life. Its advertisements ran in newspapers, magazines and on posters, and they often paired a clever slogan with sentimental or elegant imagery. Looking at this piece, notice how the wording does as much work as the picture, asking the viewer to play along while planting the brand in memory.
| Original scan | 639 × 898 px |
|---|---|
| Reference | 560 |
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Snapshots of the Past helps heritage brands, museums, historians and storytellers tell stories with history: historic prints, image licensing and historical storytelling drawn from more than 25 years of research and curation.
