JOY ALONG THE WAY: LIGHT AND LITHESOME ADVERTISING

Due to a somewhat scarcity of books when I was learning to read, I read a lot of advertising. Anyone remember the little girl sitting beside a fireplace, eating Post Toasties? I fell in love with that little girl and what was said about Post Toasties. And the little downy chick on the Bon Ami wrapper? I caught the significance between the pictured chick and the fact that Bon Ami hadn't scratched yet. And, oh, those Campbell kids advertising Campbell's Soup, I had a whole scrapbook of those little rosy-cheeked characters. Once, the little boy, running, with scarf floating behind said, "With Campbell's treat each day to eat, I'm full of vim and go. I make the pace for any race nor care for ice and snow!" By the way, when smiling, Newt Gingrich reminds me of the Campbell Kid boy.

It's a wonder I didn't go into advertising. No, not really. I think that area of employment was not offered to women then.

Some pictorial and poetical advertising still influences me to buy that product if I am using some kind of that product anyway.

Consider coffee. I was recently given a half-pound gift package of Bucksroo Blend Coffee made in Colorado. Here is what it says on the sturdy paper container: "A coffee that recalls the memory of a crisp mountain morning when the snowy peaks are crimson with first light, the smell of fresh coffee on a crackling fire, smoke curling into the endless sky.

"From the Rocky Mountains comes a coffee of the frontier. Brewed lightly, subtle enough to warm a schoolmarm's heart. Cowboy style, able to cure a snake bite. Make it anyway you want, and expect a rich, full taste."

Isn't that enticing. I could hardly wait until the next breakfast after receiving the gift to brew me a cup of this "best dern coffee," as the description went on to say. While brewing I could study the painting on the front of the package of a cowboy removing a speckled blue granite coffeepot from his campfire, a painting worthy of cutting out and pasting into my daily journal for it is a replica of a painting done by artist William Matthews.

About Celestial Chamomile tea: "This herb tea is a soothing, golden tea with a delightful and delicate taste that has been enjoyed for centuries. We use only the choicest chamomile flowers to make this enchanting and fragrant tea. Relax and unwind with a soothing cup of Chamomile Herb Tea." Note the words: soothing, golden, delightful, delicate, enjoyed, enchanting, fragrant, relax, unwind and soothing. Enticing choice of words, isn't it?

I suppose I might even buy a little box of cockleburs if the side panel said something like this: "Grown at the edge of a sun-splashed field that slopes gently down to a murmuring river where sunfish leap and play. These one-of-a-kind burs, when dried, can be opened to reveal two magical seeds. The magic of these seeds is that one is so designed to germinate the first year it is planted, the other one to germinate the second year after it is planted! (Really) These burs can be displayed in a crystal dish or wadded together into a curious kind of ball that would become an interesting conversation piece, especially if sprayed with sticky glue and then powdered with glitter."

REJOICE!Jean Bell Mosley is an author and longtime columnist for the Southeast MIssourian.