I’m pretty fascinated by Virginia Slims’ advertising campaign of the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s: “You’ve come a long way, baby.” I’ve seen enough episodes of Mad Men to realize that any feminist leanings of the ad agencies (or cigarette companies) was probably a farce, but I can get down with their message. Utilizing flappers, suffragettes and independent, Afro-wearing ladies as inspiration is just fine in my book, and if the cigarette in question is “tailored for the feminine hand” — well, yeah, that’s a little weird, but I’ll go with it.
Now the television commercials: that’s another level of amazing. The first is from Japan, the second a relic from 1967. It’s so strange to conceive of a time when cigarette ads were on tv!
I played “Mary Patrick” in the above ad–getting kicked off the train into the snow, for smoking. I appeared in several Virginia Slims print ads in the late 60′s and early 70s, when I was an actress in New York, in my early 20′s. I’ve been searching the internet today for the first time, to see if I can find any of them. I can’t seem to find the first one I did–scrubbing clothes on a washboard in an old-time kitchen. That ad was the first of the “Drudgery Series” in 1970, and was hugely popular at the time it came out. It was in Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar, posters in NY subway cars, and highway billboards. They used the image, and some others I did, in their “Book of Days” calendars for years afterward. Too bad I never got any royalties. I was rehearsing a “feminist” musical at the New York Shakespeare Festival Public Theater at the time it came out, and some of my feminist friends accused me of selling out. But, I was just trying to support myself as an actress.
That is incredible! Can’t believe you were in the commercial.
I came across this post while searching for info on the poster i have. I think i have the poster you are refering to with you and the washboard. I was trying to see what value it has. How can i contact you?
These ads are awesome! Thanks for sharing! I work at a gold mine in Alaska. I was told that women just drive trucks in mining. I am now operating drills and doing the “hard and dangerous” work! We have come a long way and I’m damn proud of this fact and damn proud to live in a country where I have the opportunities I have because so many before me have fought and worked hard to open doors!!!