113 Years Ago
The March 27, 1913 Colorado Transcript included this advertisement from Fromhart Hardware, urging readers to get ready for spring with a new plow.
The character in this ad appeared weekly in the paper during 1913 and 1914. Based on his attire, he may be a baby, though in many of the drawings, he looks more like a gremlin. Assuming he was a baby, it's a little disconcerting to note that he was always handling sharp objects--axes, hatchets, saws, scythes, drills, carving knives, etc. When he wasn't wielding a sharp object, it's because he was aiming a gun.
You may recall the article I published in December--"The Era of Creepy Mascots"--about the creature (possibly a monkey) that appeared in Lemert & Co. ads from 1916 to 1918. Lemert was the same hardware business under a later owner. Apparently, the taste in advertising art was inherited with the business.
