Dollars in Hares (Mar, 1922)
The thing I love about this ad is how literal the graphic is. You know that the artist was thinking something like: “Well the headline is ‘Dollars in Hares’, let’s draw a little hare here, and um, well, let’s just put a big dollar sign IN the hare. The client’s gonna love this”.
Dollars in Hares
We supply guaranteed high grade stock and buy back all you raise at $7.00 to $18.50 and up a pair, and pay express charges. Big profits. Use back yard, barn, cellar, attic. Contract and Illustrated Catalog Free,
Standard Food & Fur Association
403Y Broadway, New York
Oh yeah, I’ll raise rabbits in my attic. I’m sure that the 200 degrees in the Summer and -20 degrees in the Winter temperatures won’t kill them.
Years later, Hugh Heffner ran across this ad while cleaning out his attic. The rest is history.
In my area in the 1920s and even later, huge rabbit drives were held regularly where local farmers ganged up and killed every rabbit in site, often killing 1000 rabbits in a day or two and the women folk would prepare a huge feast (but no rabbit on the menu). And someone in NYC was paying up to $18.50 a pair?