Twink Dyes: Changing Hues

1922
Silent
5m

Pretty in Pink 1920s style: an innovatively hand-coloured cinema advert for Twink dye.

Long before the Brat Pack, here is a 1920s version of Pretty in Pink. Jean Millar plays 'The Only Girl', told by her artist lover and widowed father that her clothes are too grey. This cinema ad for Twink dye takes the innovative approach of hand-colouring the black-and-white print to recreate the dyeing process, with added rainbow flourishes.

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.