Vintage UK Home & DIY Adverts (Vol.5)

[@tornado_smith]

Who knew Sellotape made a condensation absorber? Great collection as always

[@RetroSteveUK]

Does sound weird, doesn't it? Like Colgate, another example. They used to make ready-meals!?

[@markrowley2739]

Economy 7...I still sing that to my wife at shopping - Economy Helen 😂

[@RetroSteveUK]

That definitely is one of THOSE jingles, isn't it?

[@garrylawless3550]

Thanks Steve, another collection that makes me smile. Thanks again.👍🏻😊

[@nellyfett2681]

Nice to see Brucie again, to see him nice!

[@RetroSteveUK]

I thought that too. A little bit of Brucie lost media.

[@lokizig]

Sadolin ive never heard off but most of the others I remember Thanks xx

[@ElijahRetro1982]

The music at 10:26 makes me wanna watch Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels(1998), great movie. Another thing that's great is this video

[@RetroSteveUK]

I love a bit of British Gangster movie, me. Snatch is my favourite .. "Do you know what nemesis means?" So many quotable lines, and again, a superb soundtrack.

[@ElijahRetro1982]

@RetroSteveUK I saw Snatch in theaters, loved it since. "Boris the Blade, as in Boris the Bullet Dodger?"

[@mgthestrange9098]

2:42 hmmm, must be from before they came up with ‘Does exactly what it says on the tin’ 3:33 this advert is basically electricity: it’s great isn’t it! I always wanted one of those home spa things for the bath, did anyone have one and were they any good.

[@RetroSteveUK]

I think "says on the tin" was Ronseal. The home spa .. my Mum had one. It was pretty basic - a pump, plastic hose and a plastic bath mat with holes for the air flow. She used it a couple of times then it rotted away in its own mildew mould in a plastic bag for years. I threw it away for her when helping clean out her spare room a couple of years ago.

[@lokizig]

Firstly whats a coalman 😁 Only joking remember them coming to ours xx

[@RetroSteveUK]

I remember my Grandma having coal delivered to her coal shed, directly through a wooden hatch facing the road.

[@AtheistOrphan]

@@RetroSteveUK- ‘Corralls for coal’

[@jwb52z9]

I have never seen a commercial for coal before. Google tells me they existed in the US, but they were either before I was born or never shown where I live. I always wondered how UK homes don't end up riddled with black mold because it's so damp, but I guess those condensation absorbers are the answer. I wonder why you don't hear about the push fit plumbing fittings anymore. They're still made.

[@RetroSteveUK]

I used a push-fit pipe to mend my outdoor kitchen sink outlet a few years ago.

[@G4RY1159]

Back when the Shops were on Open on Boxing day, and they took cash

[@AtheistOrphan]

9:24 - Alexei Sayle!

[@RetroSteveUK]

Yeah, I think so.

[@kumachan9311]

When the Star wars films where on ITV at Christmas back then, I'd have to record them [Not watching to edit out the adverts] because my Sci Fi hating Dad would have just sat there ripping on it, so they where LOADED with these Boxing day sale Adverts

[@RetroSteveUK]

Burned into the memory, then.

[@kumachan9311]

@@RetroSteveUK I remember "Courts furniture sale STARTS BOXING DAY" [Right in the middle of a good bit] but I think I got the Video triple box set from WH Smiths not long after

[@El-Ritmo]

People used to joke that MFI stood for "Made for Idiots", which seems very uncharitable, particularly given how popular they were. It does seem they were ruined by idiots, though - a popular business sunk by predatory practices and scummy sales tactics. And they were _very_ popular - an article on _The Guardian_ says that "at one point, one in three Sunday lunches was said to be made in their kitchens and 60% of children conceived in an MFI bedroom." Though maybe they'd have sold more furniture if people weren't doing those things in their stores... 😜😁

[@RetroSteveUK]

🤣 Modern equivalent now would be Ikea I suppose.

[@El-Ritmo]

@@RetroSteveUK Yes, but without the bad will - no-one gets irritated by Ikea constantly having "sales" or saying, "hurry, only four days left" only for a new "sale" to begin immediately. (Ikea is apparently considered a factor in the MFI demise, but I think most of it was self-inflicted.)

[@stevenkampf4067]

did MFI stand for More Furniture Ideas,or did i just always imagine it.?

[@El-Ritmo]

It stood for "Mullard Furniture Industries", but it seems entirely plausible they'd have used "More Furniture Ideas" and other phrases using the initials for advertising, so maybe you picked up the idea from an advert at some point?

[@RetroSteveUK]

I had no idea, but you have your answer in El-Ritmo's reply there.

[@AtheistOrphan]

For years I thought my brother was a spy as I thought he worked for MI5. Turns out he actually worked for MFI.