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Picture this: you’re
seven years old, and living in an apartment complex with indoor corridors. One
fine November morning as you step outside to leave for school, you notice a
newspaper with your Mom’s picture on the front page, sitting on every doorstep.
Well, that’s exactly what happened to me in November of 1970.
It wasn’t a newspaper in this case, of course, but rather a
weekly advertising paper for Jewel Food Stores, the leading Chicago-area
supermarket chain. My mother was working as a freelance advertising model at
the time, and unbeknownst to me she’d just completed this shoot for “The
Jewel”.
Excited about her newfound fame, I bolted back into the
apartment, screaming “Mom, you’re in the paper!!” or something along that line.
Mom was excited too, but in a different way. She proceeded to run down the hall
in her bathrobe (letting out a small shriek, if I remember correctly) and picked
up every single one of those ads from the doorsteps, lest the neighbors see
them and recognize her. (My apologies to our ex-neighbors for having missed out
on Jewel’s outstanding 1970 Thanksgiving deals. I hope you enjoyed the holiday
nonetheless.)
Now you’re probably wondering how they prepared that
beautiful, incredibly appetizing turkey Mom is holding in the picture, aren’t
you? That’s simple – they took a nice,
big, raw turkey hen and varnished
it. You know, there’s nothing like a
coat of Minwax to bring out a rich, festive glow in the ‘ol holiday bird. (Delicious-looking
turkey simulated by professionals in a faux dining room. Please don’t try this
at home.) The aroma left something to be desired, however: “I had to stand
there and smile and hold that platter for an hour. I couldn’t wait to get out
of there. I thought I was gonna die!” she says.
She must not have let the strain show, though, because Jewel
apparently liked her work enough to hire her for some ads for Turn-Style, their
discount store division, a few months later.
Another photo from this shoot appeared in a full-page ad in
the Chicago Tribune. Amazingly, Jewel used this photo in the Trib for three
successive Thanksgiving seasons, 1970, ’71 and ’72 – the latter appearing more
than a year after my mother ceased modeling work altogether. (At least one of
those years, the photo was in color. Of course we wouldn’t save one of those
now, would we? ) The November 20, 1972 version is pictured below, courtesy of
ProQuest. I dig it, not only for Mom’s presence, obviously, but also because
it’s the most complete listing of Jewel-Osco stores from that era I’ve ever
seen. Those of us who are retail history fans (and isn’t everyone, at heart?),
can appreciate that.
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Below, the rest of the pages from the advertising flyer.
And let me extend to you my “unvarnished” wishes for a very
happy Thanksgiving!
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