Charles Lindbergh‘s solo flight across the Atlantic in 1927 certainly captured the hearts of people around the world. Honors and awards were heaped on the young pilot, and every city in the country wanted to meet “America’s Greatest Hero,” as newspapers called him. And even though he was an aw-shucks-it-was-nothing kind of fellow (much like myself), the “Lone Eagle” saw that his fame gave him an opportunity to promote the commercial possibilities of flying. So, just weeks after returning from Europe (aboard the Navy cruiser Memphis, by the way), he clambered in his famous plane, the Spirit of St. Louis, and soared across America.
His journey finally brought him to Memphis on October 5, 1927 — the 62nd city on his itinerary, with 14 more to go. Even before he arrived, local businesses hopped on the Lindbergh bandwagon. His photo and name were dropped into all sorts of advertisements for such diverse products as fountain pens, candy, furniture, automobiles, and things like the card shown above, printed above for the Memphis Engraving Company, and now in the Lauderdale Library. (This is a neat little piece. According to the instructions, you stare at the image for 30-40 seconds, and then look at the sky or a blank wall, and a perfect image of Lindbergh will appear. Try it for yourself. It works!)
Copywriters, it seemed, worked overtime to come up with ways (often bizarre) to link his name with products. “Just as Lindbergh won the heart of the world with his daring deed,” proclaimed an ad in The Commercial Appeal, “so has White Rose Laundry won the approval of all Memphis with their scientific method of dry cleaning.” Oh, sure. And A.R. Taylor ran an ad that said, “Two Winners: Charles Lindbergh and Our Genuine Walnut Desks.”
