Cadbury's Bourn-Vita: Post Haste!

Ambleside
1954
Sound
2m

Mrs Ellen Edwards of Workington, Cumberland unwinds after a busy day with a nice cup of drinking chocolate.

Mrs Ellen Edwards, who lives in the country near Wokingham in Cumberland, has a busy day as the local postwoman. She is also a busy housewife and mother and has to do the daily chores without the aid of electric or gas appliances. At the end of her day she enjoys nothing better than relaxing with her family and a mug of Bournvita. Part of an exceptional series of cinema commercials featuring working women and a campaign that used real names and addresses too!

Advertisement for Cadbury's Bournvita. Mrs Ellen Edwards, who lives in the
country near Wokingham in Cumberland, has a busy day as the local postwoman.
She is also a busy housewife and mother and has to do the daily chores without
the aid of electric or gas appliances. At the end of her day she enjoys
nothing better than relaxing with her family and a mug of Bournvita.

What Women Want?

Caring mums, hard-working housewives or independent, fun-loving 'new women' - the female consumer has long been a target of screen advertising.

In the cause of selling anything from baked beans to washing powders to all manner of labour-saving devices, advertisers have promised to make women's lives easier and to help them build happy homes and successful relationships.

There's no getting past the fact that women have all-too often been patronised and objectified by a male-dominated advertising industry. But screen advertising also tells (and sells) a more positive story of social progress for women, with increasing social and economic independence. This collection tracks the ups and downs of female empowerment in the 20th century, with its false steps as revealing as its forward ones.