General Telephone & Electronics, 1970

General Telephone & Electronics ad, 1970, originally uploaded by Gatochy.

Scanned from Taschen's "All-American Ads of the 70s". Click image for 1404 x 884 size.

"Fluorescent lights used to make everyone look terrible. But they don't anymore.

On an Autumn evening in 1939, thousands of housewives turned on the first fluorescent light.

That same evening, fluorescent lights turned off thousands of housewives.

The new lights were twice as bright as lightbulbs and could last longer on less electricity, However, they had a glaring disadvantage: They made everything look funny.

Filet mignon looked embalmed. Colors changed color. And even the loveliest of women turned an unlovely shade of blue.

Ever since that night, lightbulb makers have been trying to take the ugliness out of fluorescent lighting.

Finally, one of them did it. Our very own Sylvania Company, we're proud to point out.

They came up with a lamp that had all the advantages of a fluorescent - plus the warm friendly glow of a good old lightbulb.

It's called the Incandescent/Fluorescent. And it's the nearest thing yet to a flattering fluorescent.

In the modest words of a Sylvania engineer who worked on it, 'It may or may not make people look better. But at least it won't make them look worse.'"