Instead of creating a fictional or fairytale world, the "East Bengali' advertisement precisely would capture a real, everyday problem faced by ordinary people, allowing consumers to instantly relate it to their own lives.
From an illustrative perspective, the meticulous craftsmanship is truly commendable.
The mother's posture, the simple, casual drape of her saree, the teep (টিপ) on her forehead, and the agonised expressions on the faces of the two children—everything brilliantly conveys social realism.
In particular, the mat spread on the floor, a comb, and that timeless family portrait of distress caused by lice have been brought vividly to life by the artist.
To our misfortune, we can hardly ascertain the identity of any of the artists behind these advertisement illustrations.
How many of you will recall, --- my dad's favourite hair oil was Jaba Kusum - a product of 'made in India' company in Kolkata. I have seen my father buy, use and discuss 'Jaba Kusum tel' with his friends and cousins !!
A father in rural Bengal going to bathe with his son on his shoulders. We never saw this kind of hair oil advertisement even during the boom era of advertising agencies. (1923)
Regardless of the visual's artistic quality, the novelty of the concept remains undeniable. The image instantly brings to mind the famous anecdote of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar walking all the way from Midnapore to Kolkata. It has often been written that the exhausted scholar was occasionally carried on someone's shoulders.
Others might recall Nandalal Bose's masterful illustration accompanying Rabindranath Tagore's verse, depicting a Santhal child perched on his father's shoulders. In this advertising visual, we similarly see a young boy riding on a man's shoulders. The boy is shown pouring oil onto his father's head, while the latter has a towel (gamcha) slung around his neck. The advertising tagline read:
"Jabakusum Oil keeps the head cool" ('জবাকুসুম তেল মাথা ঠান্ডা রাখে').
Compared with the refinement we witnessed in later hair oil illustrations, this drawing appears rather rudimentary. Yet the expression of sheer relief on the elderly man's face as the oil trickles down his scalp is vividly captured—so much so that one of his eyes is blissfully closed. (Daily Star newspaper, Dhaka)
Manufactured by C.K. Sen & Co., 'Jabakusum' was one of the most successful indigenous products of the Swadeshi movement era.
The visual, too, is entirely swadeshi in spirit. The father's simple dhoti, bare torso, the towel on his shoulder ....evoke the timeless, familiar image of rural Bengal !!
An advertisement in an almanack printed on the old printing presses of Battala, featuring a massive radish, is a source of laughter today.
The artist Shailo Chakraborty once observed that advertisers often hesitated to promote their products through cartoons.
Shailo Babu used to write a regular column on cartoons in the weekly magazine Deepali, edited by Basanta Kumar Chattopadhyay. Later, at the editor's behest, these columns were compiled into a book.
An iconic early 20th-century advertisement for Bukhsh Ellahie & Co., featuring classical maestro Gauhar Jaan holding a cigarette to promote their brand
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