Skip to main content

Advertising Thimbles

 

There have been lots of different ways of advertising products or services over the years.  These days the most powerful methods are probably the television and the internet. Both tend to get taken for granted and its hard for us living in a technology driven world to imagine what life was like before the internet or even the good old Telly.

The first electronically transmitted television pictures were sent in 1926 but it wasn't until much later, probably the 1950s/1960s when most households would be able to get a TV.  The world wide web has only been in public use since the 1990s. 

Now advertising has been around a lot longer than that, so what did people use? Newspapers?  Radio?  Well, why not pop your product on a thimble?

This thimble is brass and has the wording "Use Hudson's Soaps" right around the base.  The vertical lines surrounding the wording, could indicate that this was possibly made by Charles Iles of Birmingham, a thimble maker who specialised in base metals.

 Now, I think this is quite clever advertising. What better way to highlight your product then by popping it on an item used to possibly mend or make a piece of clothing which would need washing at some point.  What do you need to wash clothes - soap, or in this case dry soap powder.  Hudson's was founded by Robert Spear Hudson in 1837.  He began grinding down the course soap available at the time to make finer flakes. Today, we would know this product as washing powder.   Hudson's Soap was eventually sold to Lever Brothers in 1908, who in turn merged with Margarine Unie and became Unilever in 1930.  The name Hudson's was in use until 1935. 

 Just goes to show that advertising is always at it's best when it's simple but effective!

Bye for Now

Olly

    
 
Labels:

Comments

  1. Unknown9 August 2013 at 14:53

    I have a thimble like this with Hudson's soap. What would be its resale value

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Olly9 August 2013 at 19:30

      Hi Nigel,

      Thimble value is determined by a number of things. Condition, rarity and age are a few. Advertising thimbles like this one were mass produced. They pop up on eBay from time to time for around £0.50 - £1.

      Delete
  2. Richard C. Lambert6 April 2019 at 07:04

    Thank you so much for sharing this great blog.Very inspiring and helpful too.Hope you continue to share more of your ideas.I will definitely love to read. rtb advertising platform

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Thimbles Silver Hallmarks

  Did you know that before the 1880’s silver thimbles did not need to be hallmarked? No? Well, although the silver used was the correct grade to be classified as sterling, the amount used per thimble was too small making the duty payable for the hallmark more than the thimble was worth. This changed in 1884 when applying for a hallmark became mandatory. Hallmarks or any other kind of marking on a thimble helps to date it. Even the little dimples can help you tell how old it is.   This thimble is hallmarked. They are a bit tricky to read sometimes as they are incredibly small and sometimes are worn, especially when the thimble has been well used like this one. I inherited this one from my mother-in-law, who probably inherited it from her mother. This hallmark gives the makers mark, CH for Charles Horner; the Lion symbol, indicating that it is sterling silver, the mark for Chester Assay office and the date letter. The date letter is for 1897. I mentioned in an earlier post that
5 comments
Read more

A Passage of Time

Hi all, Time flies doesn't it? Seems like only yesterday when I last posted to this blog. Can't believe it was March 2015! I think I must have been asleep because I have no idea why it has taken so long to post. These thimbles show the passage of time. All of it a lot before mine, I hasten to add. These little ladies show the changes in fashion in the United States from 1900 through to 1947. Originally part of a collection from Avon in the1980s. The four above are from left to right, 1910, 1900, 1928 & 1927. These four are 1923, 1938, 1942 & 1947. The 1920s must have been a great decade for fashion in the US, with 3 examples from that era included in the collection. In fact the 20s were a time of great change and not just for clothes. It was the interim period between two world wars. People thought that with the end of the First World War, conflict was over and there was a new, vibrant, buzz for the future. It was the age of bobbed hair, the Char
13 comments
Read more

A Thimble Trail

Hi all, Lots of places have souvenir thimbles which can be taken home as a small memento of a journey to a far away place, a visit to an historic building, a theme park, or even a popular tourist attraction.   Most of the souvenir thimbles in my collection have either been given to me by friends and relatives or purchased in charity shops or from ebay.    Rather than being a record of places that I have been they are more of a wish list - a thimble trail of places I would like to visit. One of my friends brought this back from a recent trip to Scotland. I picked the next couple up from Ebay. Both Scotland and the Lake District are places that I haven't been to yet but would like to. That isn't the only thing they have in common.  They are both a bit soggy and grey at the moment so maybe that's a trip I should save for summer months ☺. In the meantime, here are some thimbles with a nice bit of blue sky and sunshine... Bye for now Olly
5 comments
Read more