Animated Advertising: 200 Years of Premiums, Promos, and Pop-ups

Pharmacologia.

This volvelle allows a physician to determine equivalent doses of medication ingredients. A volvelle, used since the 13th century, was especially helpful in science, astronomy, and mathematics, where they were often attached to an endpaper and…

Maltine Obstetrical Calendar.

Useful premiums, like this one, tend to be retained and used. Maltine, maker of food supplements for infants, children, and pregnant women, used this volvelle to help calculate a pregnant woman’s due date.

Premier aliment après le lait maternel [First food after breast milk].

These cards for Algeria and Tunisia are of a set of 10 representing the French colonies. Geographical information is on the rear along with instructions for assembling. The company offers a scrapbook to display all ten cards. Seeking to complete a…

meunier, tu dors [miller, you sleep]

These cards for Algeria and Tunisia are of a set of 10 representing the French colonies. Geographical information is on the rear along with instructions for assembling. The company offers a scrapbook to display all ten cards. Seeking to complete a…

M’aime-T-On? [Do you love me?].

Still popular today, this promotional volvelle shows in the top die-cut hole the suggested maladies the lozenges can help. How well they may help is indicated in the middle slot, from “no way” to “a lot.”

Elixir De Kempenaar Liqueur Hygiènique.

Jacques Neefs, a well-known Belgium wine and spirits merchant, often used this large series of Elixir cards to promote his business. Pull-out cards with unrelated humorous chromolithographed illustrations—more for children than adults—were used by…

Ziron will steady your nerves.

This patented ‘snap your wrist and the gun goes bang’ premium really gets one’s attention. A 1917 newspaper ad reports there is a money-back guarantee on the iron supplement product. Gearing premiums to children, whether or not they were the…

Differential Diagnosis in Renal Diseases.

Noting on the back “For the Medical Profession Only,” this helpful movable graphically shows the kidney’s pathology, attached to the urinary symptoms and diagnosis. The drug Nephritin, according to the interior text, must be given in large doses to…

Standard Bio—Physiologique (Masculine & Feminine),

Dr. Encausse was the son of a famous occulist who claimed, “sport is a means of strengthening the body, improving the race and creating health.” The card is a handy reference for norms of male and female bodily measurements. It gives values for…

Nivea Magic Book [Nivea Toverboek],

The split page or slice book allows the manufacturer to showcase several products at once but in a fun way. Turning the cut sections will present a uniquely dressed figure, each holding a different Nivea brand at the bottom of each page, such as skin…