Mid-America Boat Show Advertising – 1961, 1971 & 1972

Although the 2022 Progressive Cleveland Boat Show isn’t until March, many Northeastern Ohioans remember that traditionally the show (previously known as the Mid-America Boat Show) used to be held in January.

It was a nice distraction during the cold winter months to think about boating, even if you’re not a boater (like me). 

I did a post back here, in which I compared the different approaches to advertising the event, promoting it with special appearances by the Osmond Brothers and Jerry Murad’s Harmonicats (1965); featuring a Miss Boat Show in the ad (1969); and enlisting Popeye, the world’s best-known spinach-eating sailor as a mascot (1970).

Well, here are two more examples of Boat Show advertising with different approaches.

Back in 1961, this family-oriented ad appeared in the Lorain Journal on January 14th. 

As you can see, the gimmick that year was “fabulous magic waters that actually dance to the excitement of music under a rainbow of colored lights. A huge 60 foot entertainment marvel that will make a lifetime impression.”A year later, in time for the 1972 edition of the Boat Show, the Journal featured these promotional photos of swimsuit-clad lovelies in the sports pages (for fathers to peruse, I guess). On the day each photo appeared, it was positioned right next to the popular “Rambling With Rudy” column, and directly above the bowling scores. Curiously, there was no ad for the Boat Show on the same page, apparently letting the photos do the job of promoting the event.