24th Jun 2008

MILLION DOLLAR SECRET: Birdhouses!

Comic books weren’t the only source of questionable (or ridiculous) advertisements back in the day. See page 2 of an article about photography in April 1930 Popular Science…

Boys! Build Bird Houses!
Yeah, birdhouses. That’ll make you rich.

Dull Lawnmowers Need Help
That’s a modern equivalent $48 to $72 an hour. (I found this one extra funny because my father worked in a lawnmower repair shop while he was in high school. Even though it was the 50’s, I still don’t think he was making $4 an hour…)

At least this stuff is funny, because you can think, “Poor sap, buying instructions on how to make hundreds of dollars building birdhouses!” and laugh a bit at his expense. The modern version is endlessly repetitive “stock tips” and “business secrets” cramming my inbox…

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One Response to “MILLION DOLLAR SECRET: Birdhouses!”

  1. June 24th, 2008 at 9:38 am Buzz Says:

    I would have loved making birdhouses. (Although I suspect it would have required more manual dexterity than I possess for the higher end models and more tools that we had at my house.) $1 for a book of plans isn’t so bad, and even if you didn’t sell more than a few for $3-5, it would be loads of fun.

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