vintageads | (no subject)

Just yesterday I ran into a girl at work whose name is Swastika. She is of Indian descent. My other co-worker was freaking out over her name - she had no idea about the pre-Nazi history of the swastika as a symbol of good luck. I must say that even though I am aware of that history it was startling to see someone named that. Dumb Nazis totally ruined a perfectly nice symbol! :P

Swastikas?

WTF???

Yep, they're a good luck symbol in several cultures. This ad was pre-Nazi.

If I didn't know the timing the thing came out, I could have sworn it came from the English version of Signal. Which was a Nazi propaganda magazine put out in several occupied countries. They had a special English version made for the Channel islands.

Yep! I remember there being a reference to swastikas in relation to Meyer Wolfsheim in The Great Gatsby. I think they were on his cufflinks for something like that. I think they were considered good luck, which is probably why they used them in this ad.

When I first read it, I thought it was saying, "Your preserves will keep. Good luck."

Yeah, there's even a page called Reclaim the Swastika (http://reclaimtheswastika.com/), and an artist named ManWoman (http://www.odditycentral.com/pics/manwoman-savior-of-the-swastika.html) had over 200 swastika tattoos on his body. (He died of cancer last month.)

It's actually a solar symbol (the cross, with rays extending in all directions), with 'feet' added to show the sun in motion through the sky and seasons, and by extension a symbol of time and eternity. Appropriate for a method of preservation, no?

That's right; Native American swastika jewelry is very desirable, because the only surviving pieces are pre-1933 ones that managed to escape being destroyed by zealots.

Post-1933, of course, the swastika was replaced with the cross.

no love, The Boston Woven Hose & Rubber Co.

Interesting dude! May he rest in peace.

Yep, they were a good luck symbol before WWII. Once in a film history class, before watching a silent film, the professor warned us that there were scenes with swastikas used as good luck symbols so no one would get upset over it, and sure enough one of the word card screens had them decorating the card along with 4 leaf clovers and such. It was interesting to see.