Browse Items (73 total)

Ellingson's romantic story dramatizes readers' anxieties about having the requisite beauty and personality traits to succeed in the marriage market. The story advises readers to seek advice from women's magazines; to value (but also be wary of)…

This advertisement draws on the conventions of the advice column and on consumers' deference to medical expertise to promote Noxema face cream. The advertisement also imbues the product with near-magical properties, promising that users will "Feel…

On this page, Olsen turns his attention to the other part of the cruel deception: the false promise of success and social uplift that sports provides to black youth. Olsen notes the fall-out from this “meaningless dream” is the emergence of a “new…

On this page, Olsen engages the topic of black collegiate athletes, where he begins to reveal the “cruel deception” of racial opportunity in sports. Olsen traces the path of a black person recruited to a university to play high-level sports. He…

Featuring an attractive model with bright blonde hair, this advertisement for Prell Shampoo promises hair that is "angel-soft, smooth as satin, glowing with that 'Radiantly Alive' look he'll love." Users of the product will also be "free of…

This page opens Part 1 of Jack Olsen’s five-part series on the ‘black athlete’, and it is titled “The Cruel Deception.” Olsen begins the piece by addressing the persistent story of racial opportunity in sports, citing the oft-used phrase “look what…

"You're lovely to look at . . . lovely to be near . . . only when underarms stay dry and odorless," warns this ad for FRESH Cream Deodorant. Thus readers are informed that beauty is not just a matter of appearance; rather, they must consume…

The prologue to the Black Athlete cover story introduces the story, which probes whether or no sport is “one of the few areas of American society in which the Negro has found opportunity.” The introduction promises to complicate this notion, and…

Two white cartoon men are served a “dram” of Drambuie liquor, described as “a luxurious after-dinner adventure.” They are served by what looks like an Asian waiter in an Oriental place (perhaps China). The point is that you can enjoy Drambuie in any…

This SI cover page features art depicting a young black man running towards a hurdle that resembles a road blockade. The background is a close-up of the man's face, his obstacle reflected in dark black sunglasses. The title reads "The Black…