In a space that now houses Gran Electrica, Dumbo's foray into fine Mexican food, there once lived a haberdashery with a rather bizarre marketing strategy. While we can all thank Lewis Carroll for introducing us to the effects of mercury on lonely haberdashers (twinkle...twinkle...little...bat...), the reality of this particular mad hatter seems a trifle darker.
Can you explain how 2 chickens fighting over a frog could possibly convince the New York public to purchase new hats? (please invent your own captions in the comments)
And to think that you'd receive a free copy of this non sequitur just for gracing Turnbull's house of mercury poisoning? Keep on, dear reader, for the chicken-fight may be the most sensical of Mr. Turnbull's ads.
"Turnbull's hats turn dentists into vigilantes!"
"Turnbull's hats make cartoonish minstrels into cartoonish minstrels."
"Turnbull's hats give errant cats psychic control over the universe!"
You may enjoy many more ridiculous (and also beautiful) ads in the Brooklyn Public Library's digitized archive.
