Ads from the Past - Live in Florida!

I was really surprised to find this box of matches among my father's things at his office in Argentina. As far as I know he didn't visit the US until the 70's and this ad seems to be older than that but of course I may be wrong.

As you can see, the box is in pretty good sahpe -maybe one match is missing- and I simply LOVE the ad on it, from a time when a lot in Florida was just $195 and you could buy it by spending $5 a month. With all the financial crisis going around, who knows, maybe this becomes true again..., but I doubt it!

Take a look to the rest of it:

Front Cover
Back

A couple of highlights from the text are:

- In the inside fold (not possible to scan without damaging the box) after explaining how you can get your free booklet and photos, it reads: "It is understood that no salesman will call". Something you will never find nowadays..., if you ask for any brochure for free it is understood that you will get a call or an email from a salesman!

- At the very very end of the inside, in a place that you will see once the matches are gone, there is a warning "Do not mail matches". In that sense, it seems that nothing has changed at all and companies still have to give obvious warnings because you never know who may read the ad and make a stupid decision.

The company maker of the matches is "Match Corp. of America - Chicago" and the more I read the more it seems to be from the sixties or older, but I guess someone out there may know exactly when the 441-27 became a "new 4 lanes highway" and that can help established from what decade this is. If you have any clue, please let me know!

Soon more to come from my excursion into my father's office... born in 1915 (we just celebrate his 93rd birthday) and a pack rat like me, going to his office was like traveling in time, a travel from where I got lots and lots of antique and unexpected stuff. Stay tuned for more!