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When Fashion Ads Were Illustrated

Posted on July 21, 2014December 13, 2015 By Ann Thompson

In San Francisco, in the early ‘50s, the major clothing stores placed large illustrated ads in a number of our local newspapers. The stores like Roos Bros. (Roos/Atkins), The White House, The City of Paris, and I. Magnin & Company— all featured their usually conservative styles using our local illustrators of the time.

I remember Joseph Magnin Co. (J Magnin or simply JM) just as I was beginning my art career. The first of their stores was atthe corner of Stockton and O’Farrell Streets but soon after that they opened in the Financial District…on Montgomery Street. This made it easy for me to run down the street from the Belli Building to pick up something new. Everything that JM offered: clothing, hats, shoes, and a wide variety of useful and novel gifts—appealed to the youth market—and their ads through the years showed a growing development of youthful art style changes too. I often tacked the full color JM ads on my studio walls.

These examples are from the yearly (juried) exhibitions presented by the Art Directors and Artist Club of San Francisco and some of these ads were also award winners in their category. The copywriting was very creative, also, but sorry to say, it is not clear here because this collection has been scanned from ADASF’s Annuals. I don’t have a copy from each year, but from the ones that I have, I have scanned small b/w halftones (some as small as 2 1/2” high, so quality is lacking. Try to imagine color and some of them at full newspaper page size.

 

Joseph Magnin Co. 1958  Artist: Betty Brader Ashley Art Director: Marget Larsen (Click on the image to see a larger view)

1-1958-at-gallery
Joseph Magnin Co. Artist: Betty Brader Ashley Art Director: Marget Larsen
2-1958-bouquet
Joseph Magnin Co. Artist: Betty Brader Ashley Art Director: Marget Larsen
3-1958-eye-shade
Joseph Magnin Co. Artist: Betty Brader Ashley Art Director: Marget Larsen
4-1958-legs
Joseph Magnin Co. Artist: Betty Brader Ashley Art Director: Marget Larsen
5-1958-sardines
Joseph Magnin Co. Artist: Betty Brader Ashley Art Director: Marget Larsen

 

Joseph Magnin Co. 1963  1, 2, 3 Artist: Betty Brader Ashley  Art Director: George Coutts  Copywriter:Lois de Banzie 4 Artist:Joan Lowell  Art Director: George Coutts / Gil Brunk Copywriter:Lois de Banzie (Click on the image to see a larger view)

1-1963-Tulip
Joseph Magnin Co. San Francisco Artist: Betty Brader Ashley Art Director: George Coutts Copywriter: Lois de Banzie
2-1963-pg-25-1
Joseph Magnin Co. San Francisco Artist: Betty Brader Ashley Art Director: George Coutts Copywriter: Lois de Banzie
3-1963-Picasso
Joseph Magnin Co. San Francisco Artist: Betty Brader Ashley Art Director: George Coutts Copywriter: Lois de Banzie
4-1963-The-Flats-Int
Joseph Magnin Co. San Francisco Artist: Joan Lowell Art Director: George Coutts / Gil Brunk Copywriter: Lois de Banzie

 

Joseph Magnin Co. 1964  1 Artist: Betty Brader Ashley  Art Director: George Coutts 2 Artist: Verena Deu Pree / Joan Lowell  Art Director: Gil Brunk Copywriter: Louise Garcia 3, 4 Artist: Verena Deu Pree  Art Director: Gil Brunk Copywriter: Lois de Banzie 5 Artist: Joan Lowell  Art Director: Gil Brunk  Copywriter: Lois de Banzie (Click on the image to see a larger view)

1-1964-vive
Joseph Magnin Co. Artist: Betty Brader Ashley Art Director: George Coutts
2-1964-takr-a-bow
Joseph Magnin Co. Artist: Verena Deu Pree / Joan Lowell Art Director: Gil Brunk Copywriter: Louise Garcia
3-1964-pjama
Joseph Magnin Co. Artist: Verena Deu Pree Art Director: Gil Brunk Copywriter: Lois de Banzie
4-1964-butterfly
Joseph Magnin Co.Artist: Verena Deu Pree Art Director: Gil Brunk Copywriter: Lois de Banzie
5-1964-well-schooled
Joseph Magnin Co.Artist: Joan Lowell Art Director: Gil Brunk Copywriter: Lois de Banzie

 

Joseph Magnin Co. 1965  1, 2, 3 Artist: Joseph Allen Hong Art Director Joseph Allen Hong  Copywriter: Louise Garcia 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 Artist: Betty Ashley Art Director:Joseph Allen Hong  Copywriter: Louise Garcia 13, 14 Artist: Verena Deu Pree  Art Director:Joseph Allen Hong  Copywriter:Louise Garcia (Click on the image to see a larger view)

1-1965-the-girl-who
Joseph Magnin Co. Artist: Joseph Allen Hong Art Director Joseph Allen Hong Copywriter: Louise Garcia
2-1965-jungleundiesr
Joseph Magnin Co. Artist: Joseph Allen Hong Art Director Joseph Allen Hong Copywriter: Louise Garcia
3-1965-unseamingly-beautiful
Joseph Magnin Co. Artist: Joseph Allen Hong Art Director Joseph Allen Hong Copywriter: Louise Garcia
4-1965-basic-pink
Joseph Magnin Co. Artist: Betty Ashley Art Director: Joseph Allen Hong Copywriter: Louise Garcia
5-1965-4-days-ahead
Joseph Magnin Co. Artist: Betty Ashley Art Director: Joseph Allen Hong Copywriter: Louise Garcia
6-1965-follow-the-leader
Joseph Magnin Co. Artist: Betty Ashley Art Director: Joseph Allen Hong Copywriter: Louise Garcia
7-1965-visual-art
Joseph Magnin Co. Artist: Betty Ashley Art Director: Joseph Allen Hong Copywriter: Louise Garcia
8-1965-quite-a-catch
Joseph Magnin Co. Artist: Betty Ashley Art Director: Joseph Allen Hong Copywriter: Louise Garcia
9-1965-games
Joseph Magnin Co. Artist: Betty Ashley Art Director: Joseph Allen Hong Copywriter: Louise Garcia
10-1965-bain-de
Joseph Magnin Co. Artist: Betty Ashley Art Director: Joseph Allen Hong Copywriter: Louise Garcia
11-1965-vegies
Joseph Magnin Co. Artist: Betty Ashley Art Director: Joseph Allen Hong Copywriter: Louise Garcia
12-1965-courageous
Joseph Magnin Co. Artist: Betty Ashley Art Director: Joseph Allen Hong Copywriter: Louise Garcia
13-1965-strokes-of-genius
Joseph Magnin Co. Artist: Verena Deu Pree Art Director: Joseph Allen Hong Copywriter: Louise Garcia
14-1965-everybody-jumps
Joseph Magnin Co. Artist: Verena Deu Pree Art Director: Joseph Allen Hong Copywriter: Louise Garcia

 

Joseph Magnin Co. 1966  Credits missing (Click on the image to see a larger view)

1-1966-1966
Joseph Magnin Co.
2-rise-and-shine
Joseph Magnin Co.
3-1966-nouveau-ritz
Joseph Magnin Co.
4-1966-nights
Joseph Magnin Co.

 

Joseph Magnin Co. 1967  1, 2 Artist: Gail Mitchem Art Director: Marlon Chapman  Copywriter: Louise Garcia 3 Artist: Tom Rice / Verena Deu Pree  Art Director:Tom Rice  Copywriter:Louise Garcia 4 Artist: Verena Due Pree  Art Director: Joseph Hong Copywriter:Louise Garcia (Click on the image to see a larger view)

1-1967-a-word-to
Joseph Magnin Co. Artist: Gail Mitchem Art Director: Marlon Chapman Copywriter: Louise Garcia
2-1967-first-shorter
Joseph Magnin Co. Artist: Gail Mitchem Art Director: Marlon Chapman Copywriter: Louise Garcia
3-1967-beautiful
Joseph Magnin Co. Artist: Tom Rice / Verena Deu Pree Art Director: Tom Rice Copywriter: Louise Garcia
4-1967-must-go-on
Joseph Magnin Co. Artist: Verena Due Pree Art Director: Joseph Hong Copywriter: Louise Garcia
Geezerpedia, Of That Time

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