Light Within: The ads of 59

The ads of 59
Tuesday, 27 March 2007

Owais Mughal

I own a copy of Pakistan Railway's time table published in November of 1959. Besides train timings, it has a section of advertisements which is a great glimpse into our national past. I've selected following 8 advertisements from this publication. Some of the brands advertised then are still in the market. For good or bad a lot has changed in the past 48 years. Take a look at the following.

(1) A public notice advertisement asking public to buy railway tickets for children above three years of age. Note the male dress shown in this ad. It has definitely gone out of fashion.

For the ad above, imagine how difficult it must've been to do non-air-conditioned rail travel in a 'sherwani'. Noe the dresses of parents are very eastern style whereas the young boy is claded in all western. Also note the gesture of surprise shown by the lady. such body language is also out of fashion now. The last words in the advertisement show whom the ad is from. The words read NWR Publicity, which stands for North Western Railway (as Pakistan Railway was called until 1964) Publicity department.

(2) Tibet Toilet Soap and Tibet Tooth Paste.

Though not so popular now, Tibet brand products are still available. Note the word Dacca written as one of the cities where Tibet cosmetics were produced in united Pakistan. I wonder what do the words 'Twice as Lovely' mean? How can we quantify loveliness. Probably it means that after using Tibet products, one will become twice as lovely as compared to their current degree of loveliness. By extrapolating this statement, a mathematical mind may also deduce that Tibet beauty products can thus make an ugly person turn into half ugly (= twice lovely). Ok i've gone too far. lets go back into the 50s :)

(3) Rustam and Sohrab bicycle

The advertisement above is of the famous bicycle brands of Pakistan called Rustam and Sohrab. Most of you may be familiar that these cycles are named after the epic Persian characters of Rustam and Sohrab from Shahnama-e-Firdausi. While both Rustam and Sohrab are not in this world anymore, Sohrab bicycle is still in production in Shahdara, Lahore. I am not very sure of Rustam brand though. May be our readers can enlighten us on Rustam brand's current production level. I do remember seeing Rustam brand in my childhood.

An interesting thing to note in the advertisement above are the spellings of the word de-lux. Also note the words 'National Labour' showing the pride of manufacturers in utilizing local labor. The last line reads 'made with 90% indiginous parts'. I wonder what were the 10% imported parts for a bicycle in 1959. May be the ball-bearings that connect to the pedal. Also note the offer of 5 Years Warranty for Sohrab and Rustam brands

(4) Don't rob the nation !

The above advertisement is self explanatory. Just one thing I want to mention here. What is the symbolism of hand approaching the train? Does it symbolize long arm of the law. It seems to be going to the wrong place though i.e. the locomotive. An engine driver is exempt from buying a rail ticket. remember!
(5) Trains don't wait

This interesting ad is from West End Watch company located at M.A. Jinnah Road, Karachi. Can somebody confirm if they are still in business? The ad gives the message that West End watches offer a guaranteed timely arrival for you to catch a train. What is interesting is the man in the -ad seems to be wearing a West End Watch (note the red wrist strap) and the train is seen arriving. The distress on the man's face shows that he has somehow already missed the approaching train. How can one miss a train which has not arrived yet? May be there are forces much stronger than West End watches in play here e.g ESP, traffic jams, wrong station, old time table etc.

(6) Bombay Cloth House in Anarkali bazar, Lahore

Note the 4 digit telephone number for Lahore City in this ad. I guess these days extensions in a single building run in 4 digits.

(7) Roznama 'tameer' Rawalpindi

Again note the dress this guy is wearing while reading the Daily 'tameer' (Construction). Also note the items in circles which show the highlights of what the daily 'tameer' stands for. Despite all the noble mottos, I believe this newspaper is not in circulation anymore.

(8) Sartaj Sewing Machine and Sartaj Bicycle

Sartaj industries had a very diversified product line in 1959 i.e. sewing machines and bicycles. In this ad they are offering their sewing machine for monthly installments of Rupees 10 only. Also note how 4-digit telephone numbers decorated all over the ad.

posted by S A J Shirazi @ Tuesday, March 27, 2007,

3 Comments:

At 2:13 AM PKT, Sidhusaaheb said...: Perhaps the Sherwanis were worn only during winters and it was the one who made the sketches who made use of the artistic licence. It's hard to understand though, since the boy is seen wearing a pair of half-pants, which could signify warm weather. However, even I had to wear half-pants to school, even during winters (with woollen socks) as the school I studied at claimed to be very 'prim and proper'. Perhaps those who actually travelled in trains in that era could explain it all.

Meanwhile, I did not know that sarees were popular even in Lahore, though I've known for a long time that these were worn in Karachi and thereabouts.

:)
At 2:07 PM PKT, Waqar said...: Great work, do you have any other pictures of Sartaj industries?
At 2:09 PM PKT, Waqar said...: Do you have any other pictures of Sartaj industries, please do reply. thank you

taurus_bay@hotmail.com