42 Vintage Food Ads That We Can't Believe Are Real

Keeping with the terrifying babies theme, Heckers' Buckwheat Baby is eating pancakes...that are steaming hot...with a FORK AND KNIFE.

Could there be a more straightforward ad? Simple and to the point, Mott Robertson's Ice Cream wanted the people to know just one thing: It's good.

Not sure why the boy looks so scared—it's the pig that should be worried with the catchphrase, "Good with bacon."

Is that a girl dressed as...a pickle? Holding a can of tomato soup? I'm just so confused.

"We aim at perfection and always hit the mark." You know what's not perfect? Forgetting to put your actual company's name on the ad—but I like the confidence.

Like the Pillsbury Doughboy, just a tad less cute. There's actually a reason behind the "Eat Bread. More Bread" messaging: During World War I, the United States and the UK encouraged their citizens to trade in white bread for alternatives, like whole wheat, to better ration supplies.

Between the woman's quirky dress and the product's French name, this could be an ad from Emily in Paris. It's not though. It's an ad for a mineral water from Spa, Belgium, and the original poster now sells for more than $3,000.

Sorry, Oreo biters. This ad just might confirm that twisting your cookie open is the right way to eat it. Also, can we talk about the lemon filling? It's either gross or genius.

"When nature paints in rich October browns" sounds like a Taylor Swift lyric, but it was used to market peanut butter in 1925. In fact, the very lengthy ad reads more like a poem about fall than anything else.

Ozzie Orange—cute or terrifying? This mascot looks more prepared to brawl in a saloon than to sell produce.

Not going to lie, a bunch of people in a bar cheering "Pabst! Pabst! Pabst!" seems pretty funny. Maybe this ad was on to something...

I can see a cold one in your future! Stare at this fortune-telling bartender long enough, and you just might be convinced to buy some bottles of Budweiser.

Supernatural food ads were apparently a thing in the '40s? The Jaffa genie grants the power of vitamins to all who buy its oranges. Okay!

Is it wrong that I wish this still existed today? Layer-Pak made it easier to customize salads. Want carrots, but not a fan of celery? Prefer extra green beans, but not peas? You got it.

If you're more of a fruit person, Del Monte's fruit cocktail was for you. Five fruits in one can + one confusing recipe + a whole lot of gelatin = deliciousness.

While Crisco boasts about being "digestible" and easy on the stomach in this ad, this was during a time where the brand used A LOT of trans fat as a major ingredient—one which was deemed unsafe in 2015, and was officially banned by the FDA in 2018.

No specific brand here...just plain old bananas. In the '50s, the Gros Michel variety (which looked completely different from the bananas we eat today) went extinct due to the Panama disease fungus. When it was replaced by the modern Cavendish variety, it took some time for people to get used to—hence this ad about the fruit's "latest style."