The "Happy" the Cowboy ad on back cover of comic book.  A typical comic book ad from the 1950s.

Things ain't what they used to be.

Comic books have always been vehicles for commerce, originally carrying ads to reach younger consumers (you know... kids) with everything from flower seeds to the famous x-ray specs. But have you ever considered that checking out the advertising from bygone days might be an excellent way to see how much our culture has changed?

Sampling just one ad from the back of Straight Arrow #27 for instance shows us "Happy The Cowboy," a ventriloquist's dummy. He was advertised as being over 19" tall with moving mouth, arms and legs. Nothing too unusual there. In fact, if Happy wasn't a smoker you could see him on sale today. Ah, but he was a smoker, cigarette firmly in place. Talk about something that would never happen with a child's toy today!

Girls were expected be future homemakers, as witnessed by the "ready for action" hand-driven sewing machine advertised. "Now you can make many lovely dresses for yourself and your dolls, or make extra money selling things you make!" the ad enthused.

The "Life Like Sandy" doll is another oddity. The illustration for the doll, pictured as a seductive topless toddler and enthusiastically saying "I sleep, I drink, I wet, I sleep and you can wave my hair, too!" is just a little creepy by modern standards, but again it was very mainstream when it was done.

Next time you're checking out an old comic or a magazine from days gone by, give the ads a read and see if they don't transport you to another way of seeing things.