Our list of Great American Brands that advertised in mid-century women’s magazines would not be complete without the mention of Tide laundry soap. It has been a favorite for washing clothes for generations. In fact, I just started a load of laundry and what detergent did I use? Tide.
I found several Tide laundry soap ads in my collection of mid-century women’s magazines. Most were from the early 1950’s and featured classic mid-century illustrations. The ad below is from the August 1951 edition of Family Circle magazine.
She hangs the cleanest clothes in town – She swears by Tide.
Tide is one of the newest brands on our list of mid-century Great American companies. It was introduced in 1946 thanks to work by the chemists at Procter & Gamble who found a way to clean clothes in hard-water environments. Automatic washing machines were still not mainstream in 1951. Washing required using a wash tub and a wringer to get the water out. The ad was clear to point out that the extra task of rinsing was not necessary.
With Tide you can skip the rinsing, and save all that time and work. Just wash, wring out, hang up. Tide will give you the cleanest possible no-rinse wash!
All of the ads from this campaign included a picture of a basket of laundry with a box of Tide on top.
The bulls-eye orange and gold logo still exists today.
Here are a few more ads from the early days of Tide.
This one features a happy family.
We wear the cleanest clothes in town – The whitest, brightest ever! Will any soap wash clean as Tide? A thousand times no! Never!
The ad also suggests that you buy Tide to wash dishes. Hmm.
Two more with happy family illustrations. We have a smiling mother and daughter, and a proud father and son.
This one is from 2 years later. There is no laundry basket in this one, but we still see a happy housewife.
Tide partnered with Maytag for this one.
Mid-Century Page 
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