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Morton's Salt is best known today for its symbol of a little girl with an umbrella. This Morton Salt advertisement appeared in the Lady's Home Journal in 1966. It was meant to show how old the compsny was. The boy here wears a flat cap and knickers. Notice the front porch, an important part of American homes in the early 20th century. We at first thought this was a real 1912 photiograph, but it may have been a modern recreation. It clearly is a posed photograph.
The company here uses a historical image, suposedly from 1912, to show that Morton Salt has a venerable history. Actually, I think the photograph may have been altered to show the Morton Salt box in the boy's shopping basket. It seems a little too convenient that the salt contaner would be posed so prominently in the boy's basket. The photo may have been edited. It seems like a real family photograph. The text below the photograph reads as follows: "54 years ago [i.e., 1912] you could send a boy and he'd bring back the best salt. He had only to look for the Morton label. Today, many salts try to get as close to the Morton label as they can. But, close doesn't count. Morton is still one of a kind. When it rains it pours."
The photo is interesting because it shows a typical American front porch in 1912. Porches were important parts of American homes in the early 20th century. The mother holds her baby in arms. The boy has just returned from his shopping errand with the basket containing, among other things, the Morton Salt that his mother sent him for. The porch certainly looks authentic to us. The mother and childre, however. do not look right to us. This is clearly a posed photograph, but this is not how a 1912 photographer, presumably the father, would have posed them.
The boy here wears a rather large flat cap with a bill that seems to have a snap, a dark long-sleeved shirt, and what look to be above-the-knee knickers which blouse rather amply, button-on suspenders, long black stockings, and high-top shoes. They look longer and cut fuller than I think was common for the 1910s. They look to HBC more like 1920s or even 30s knickers. Also the dark shirt and suspebdervknickers do not look right to us.
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