One of my favorite pastimes is watching vintage commercials. The sensibilities of retro America were not quite what they are today: You won't expect to see Paris Hilton biting into a Carl's Jr. burger in any of these.
Which isn't to say people didn't have fun in yesteryear, just check out this video of vintage rock and rollers dancing and tell me that isn't a good time.
What I enjoy most is seeing how brands have evolved throughout the decades. Things become so familiar as a kid, it's hard to imagine that they once existed when your parents were kids too.
In this 1950s Kellog's commercial, the iconic brand mascot is almost unrecognizable. Can you guess who it is? It's none other than Tony the Tiger.
The ambassador to Frosted Flakes Cereal is hardly comparable to his modern image. It's not just the black and white, either. Today's Tony is a towering, buff figure. The signature growl, "They're grrrreeeat!" even sounds different.
Although that isn't surprising if you've watched any cartoon like The Simpsons — the voice actor is the same, yet Homer's voice today is a shadow of it what it once was in the beginning.
In the 1970s, Tony was even bestowed a nationality. Yep, somewhere along the way, Tony became Italian. First introduced in 1951 and voiced by Thurl Ravenscroft, until his passing in 2005, the mascot has solidified its place as a part of classic Americana.
Please SHARE if you loved Tony the Tiger as a kid!
