Mid-Century Marketing

For this posting I am venturing outside of Ottawa to share some pieces of mid-century marketing for houses and developments in Peel Region (Brampton/Bramalea and Mississauga). I have to admit that I spent the first 2/3 of my life living in Brampton, so I know quite a bit about my hometown and its mid-century roots. Here are a few great mid-century marketing pieces along with my own fun insights and comments.

Enjoy!

All that is missing in his dream bubble is a white picket fence, his wife, 2.5 kids and a dog named Scruffy. Ah, the North-American dream. Gotta love it!

1960s Gender roles aside, this companion ad was perfect for the time.

The same two birds in front of the house seem to be in most of the Bramalea ads from the time, such as in the 2 above...I wonder why?

I always love the features of 'dream homes' from the 1960s, like a carport and hood fan...

Whoa! Hold it! Don't sign yet...until you have seen Bramalea. But you must act quickly...Bramalea is selling out fast...there is only enough land to sustain building for the next 35 years (literally, Bramalea was finally completed at the end of the 1990s).

I am not sure if newspaper readers felt the same way in 1963, but Bonnie Bramalea terrifies me. Where are her pupils?

She's baaack...and slightly less creepy. Still no pupils, though.

Ok, so they topped pupil-less Bonnie Bramalea, with the creepier talking house!! The sound and light production must have been neat to see, though.

It is official...the free helicopter rides have to be the coolest marketing gimmick ever! The nearby development of Peel Village also offered free helicopter rides around the same time to see that neighbourhood being built.

This is very idyllic ad...the only thing is that there are no hills in Bramalea where you can look out over the land...(at least not in the 1960s. Much later the former dump was turned into a ski-hill, which does offer an outlook over Bramalea).

In 1961, a series of simple, but cute, ads were run for Bramalea. I love them all, so I have included every one!

These last three are my absolute favourite!

Did children really parade down the street in the 1960s? Maybe in Bramalea they did!

Things are happening in Bramalea! This groovy ad has a far out design that screams 1970s!

I have heard semi-detached houses called many things: doubles, twin homes...but Sweatheart Homes is certainly unique. I have never heard it used again, though...

Oh how I wish I am old enough to have been around to see all 28 model homes. It would have been sensory overload. I visited the 26 model homes in the Springdale community (also in Brampton) model home court in the 1990s, and it was a day in itself to see them all! But I was in heaven. I still have the shopping bag that they gave out to fill with floor plans.

Yep, that is a car on top of a house in Applewood Heights, Mississauga. It is little known fact that it was quite normal to park your car on the roof of your house in 1960s Mississauga.

Ok...that was a lie. This was a marketing stunt by Shipp Builders - who also owned car dealerships. They were able to draw attention to both their houses and cars that were for sale.

Comments

AnonymousMay 25, 2012 at 10:32 PM
I grew up in Brampton (Heart Lake) and had no idea there were so many interesting houses in Bramalea! Thanks for sharing, makes me think it's time for a trip home.
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