IF YOU were shopping at Kennards in December 1963, a typical must-have gift was described as offering an "exclusive wrap-around construction" with "no midriff bulge" and "no waistline rollover".
It's fair to say you don't see many Sarongster Girdles these days but, back in the swinging Sixties, it was quite the purchase.
Kennards, now the flagship Debenhams in North End, took out a four-page advertisement in the Advertiser in the run-up to Christmas 1963, flaunting its many wares.
Apart from the girdle, other adverts extolled the virtues of Playtex bras (complete with "non rubber, Wonderlastic Spandex") "Career Girl" red stilletos, Old Spice aftershave, and a "loaded" pen (it's not entirely clear what it's loaded with).
There were a few gender-specific sales pitches. For example, a luxury transistor radio "for mum" and a "really handsome" tape recorder for dad.
And for those of you set to enjoy a new tablet or other electronic device for Christmas, what about the 1963 equivalent – a typewriter, no less.
Jean Nash, from South Croydon, was in her 30s back in 1963 and thinks the advertising back then was more informative and powerful than it is today. On modern-day trends, she added: "I do not even know how to use a mobile phone."
William Parker, 84, from Sandilands, particularly remembers the adverts promoting electronics. When we showed him the 1963 page, he enthusiastically pointed to an advert for a junior Hoover advertisement. "I had one when I was young," he said.
The advertisement shows a Hoover for children, with a big Hoover bag attached to the rod. The Hoover junior comes with "exclusive 'beats as it sweeps… as it cleans' action" the advertisement says. Mr Parker thinks the advertisements from 50 years ago are more effective but he adds that he was paying more attention to advertisements back then.
Pam Claire, 80, of Auckland Rise, Upper Norwood, laughed when she saw the women's clothes and lingerie advertisements, especially the one promoting Playtex.
It shows a drawn picture of a woman looking cheekily from behind her hair locks while showing a spandex bra and skirt.
According to the advertisement you can "give yourself the gift of glamour" with these.
Ms Claire said of the 1963 adverts: "They are more colourful and informative.
"The modern ones are much more brash whereas the older ones are not so over the top."
