This was a kit sold for children 12 and up, which let them create metal soldiers and other figures. The kit included a crucible, a heating unit, and lead ingots that you would melt in the crucible, to then pour the molten lead into molds.

I assume you could then paint the resulting figures, if you wanted.

Here is a photo showing those components. The crucible and electric heater are on the right. I suppose(?) you would file or trim away the flashing and pour-funnel from the final cast figure, but this photo shows the result straight out of the molds.

Ages 12 and up.

Not much about it, just Spirographs! Nobody is too old to enjoy one. The standard model sold here for $2.99. I never knew they made a motor one!

If I was eph-ewe rich, I would buy a Spirograph for every child in the world. It's gotta be a good thing, to learn that mathematical patterns are cool and fun.

This brand still existed into the 1970's, advertising under the same name! I assume in the 1940's, the modern slang was not in common use. Some word origin sites say "poo" arose in the 1950's. By the 1970's, this branding must have become problematic!

Nothing wrong with the product, as far as I know. Similar dry shampoos can be purchased today, under rather different branding.

$2.85 in 1949, is about $40 today. So 91 weeks of that, plus the unspecified down payment, would exceed $3600 in today's terms, possibly over $4000.

1949 saw the first episode of the Lone Ranger, which ran 52 episodes that season. The first broadcast of the Emmy awards. The first televised charity telethon, for a cancer foundation.

There were 4 television networks in the USA. ABC, CBS, NBC, and the much lesser known DuMont network, which operated from 1940 to 1956.

I am very confused as to this idea, of a solder returning from probably WW-I (1917 ad!), buying a swagger stick for his little girl.

Would a single little girl in 1917 prefer a swagger stick to the dolls or the pinwheel? Swagger sticks are called out in the biggest font, the very centerpiece of the ad, but they don't even bother to show a swagger stick? Was this hyper progressive, at 50+ years before the army let women become officers? Did somehow, the Marks Brothers Toy Company create a branch in the timeline where that happened decades before the other timeline where no one ever imagined swagger sticks as gifts for little girls? Maybe we'd still be waiting on female generals and admirals today, in the other timeline?

I have so many questions.

Another quack cure from the early / mid 1900's. You can find them still in antique markets. It seems to be a UV light wand. UV light is harmful to eyes and can be carcinogenic, causing skin cancers. There are a few skin conditions that spot UV is used to treat today, but most of this ad is harmful quackery!

The ailments the wand claims to cure:

• Asthma
• Boils
• Blackheads
• Catarrh
• Colds
• Eczema
• Failing Hair
• Hayfever
• Headaches
• Insomnia
• Lumbago
• Nervousness
• Neuralgia
• Paralysis
• Pimples
• Rheumatism
• Skin Diseases
• Sore Throat
• Other ailments

You can read more about Ives Manufacturing at wikipedia.

They made trains and dolls powered by clockwork mechanisms starting in the 1860's. In the 1910's they sold electric trains as well, although many US households were not electrified yet.

Eventually they succumbed to competition from Lionel and other companies. Lionel ran ads comparing the cheapest models from Ives to the highest price models from Lionel. That was effective despite Ives designs often being more realistic at the same price point. By the 1920's Lionel had twice the revenue of Ives and was profitable. Ives was losing money and sold out to Lionel in 1928.

You can still find their trains or other toys on ebay or vintage toy sites.

You can read about them here. They were made by Lincoln Car Works for Sears to sell from catalogs. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_Motor_Car_Works

They had to compete against cars from Ford that were much faster, up to 45 mph for the Ford Model T, compared to only 25 mph for this Sears model.

Probably, no one will attempt to fight.

Wizard Oil cures tooth aches AND sprains. Cuts AND diphtheria. Ear aches AND a lame back.