157. Today in 1920s Turkey: 18 March 1926 (Hands. Soft, Fragrant Hands…)

(Advertisement for Necip Bey’s Lotions, Akbaba or “Vulture/White-Bearded Old Man,” 18 March 1926, no. 343, page 6.)

English
Hands…
— My, what soft, what fragrant hands you have…
— Of course… I’m using one of Necip Bey’s lotions!

Türkçe
Eller…
— Ne yumuşak, ne muattar ellerin var…
— Elbet… Necip Bey’in kremalarından kullanıyorum!

Comments:
This advertisement appeared on the back page of an issue of the bi-weekly satirical journal, Akbaba. Turkish periodicals, like many of their kind across the globe, relied on the revenue generated by advertisements to offset the cost of publishing. Ads usually graced the last page or last several pages of a given periodical, although many were also included on other pages, embedded between the columns of other content like articles and short stories.

This ad uses both text and image to attract the reader's attention; inform them of “Mr. Necip’s lotions;” and entice said reader of purchasing this brand of product. The photograph consists of a woman’s hands and forearms which reach out of the lower left corner of the frame to gently cradle a handsome man’s face. The focus of the advertisement, the hands, fall precisely at the center of the picture. This thematic focus is repeated in the accompanying text which opens with the word “Hands” in a typeset larger than the rest of the message. This advertisement for Mr. Necip’s scented moisturizing products is targeted at a strategic extremity, the hands, as they are a person’s most exposed and most accessible body part. This way the announcement hopes to reach the widest audience and appeal to a most common concern, hand-care.

But Necip Bey’s lotions provide more than touchable softness and fragrant scent to the hands (and, presumably other body parts). Advertisements and the images they employ often convey additional messages and this example certainly conforms to this principle. Arguably, the man’s modern dress and the woman’s bare forearms suggest they occupy a certain elevated socio-economic class, one with perhaps the disposable income to spend on non-essential products and one that is concerned with the trivial details of its own outward appearance. The advertisement also sells affection, approval, and romantic attraction. Accordingly, Mr. Necip’s lotion facilitates and enhances male-female contact and an important basic sense: touch—and the ad’s clever photograph manages to focus on the hand as both toucher and touch-worthy.

Today in 1920s Turkey has featured several advertisements in the past. These examples can be accessed using the below links:

144. Become Healthy and Strong with “Oxyhemoglobin”

104. Early “Mercedes-Benz” Advertisement

74. Enhance Your Male Body With Roussel Belts

70. His Master’s Voice Gramophones

(Entire page, Akbaba or “Vulture/White-Bearded Old Man,” 18 March 1926, no. 343, page 6.)