1950 · Confectionery

Tootsie Roll

The Life of the Party

An illustrated woman, glamorous and smiling, is ringed by a cluster of attentive men, with the candy positioned as the reason she is the center of attention. Running in LIFE magazine around 1950, the ad repositions a penny-cheap sweet as social currency rather than sugar, leaning on the era's convention of selling everyday products through romantic popularity. The Tootsie Roll itself dates to 1896, when Leo Hirshfield is said to have named it for his daughter.

Category

Confectionery

Decade

1950s

Period

Comic-book candy advertising

Origin

Sweets Company of America 'Life of the Party' comic-page ad

Format

Vertical print