Vintage Advertisement

Pears Talc: Pears is the oldest registered brand in the world, and also one of the longest running ones. It was conceived by Andrew Pears in 1807, in London owing to a need for safer skincare products. He first created the famous transparent, amber Pears soap; and it was advertised by Thomas J. Barratt— the father of modern advertising— using ingenious ways, one of which was bringing original paintings under use (Bubbles by Sir John Everett Millais, 1866). Currently, the products under the Pears umbrella are produced in India, by Hindustan Unilever Limited. This hand-painted Hindi ad endorses a now out-of-production talcum powder, meant to appeal to both— the ethnic as well as the cosmopolitan woman.