I went through a stack of Reader’s Digest magazines the other day, and you’ll never believe what I spotted in one of the issues.

There it was in all its weird 70s glory: An ad for Rosicrucianism.

For a small fee, interested readers could be sent an information pack that would tell them everything about this great secret society. Right above that, they could mail-order suits that added the illusion of extra muscle to their bodies. Somewhere to the left or bottom, underwear for sale.

Well, oops. Secret societies shouldn’t have been taking out newspaper ads, and maybe they would have stayed more secret. Just a tip for any future groups.

This brought me to another topic: Bridge ads.

Yes, at one point, bridge took out ads – and sometimes, it still does.

Here are some classic ads for bridge. Have fun!

ACBL Newspaper Ads

Let’s start with some modern bridge ads first.

The ACBL hosts this useful newspaper ad template on their website. In short, it’s perfect for any editors or layout artists who might decide their publication needs some bridge.

Use it, don’t use it. It’s out there!

ACBL Newspaper Ads: Your Brain On Bridge

Here’s one of my personal favourites, also a modern ad from the ACBL website.

This Is Your Brain On Bridge. I like that, and I’d even say that’s brilliant. What more needs to be said? It gets people to check out bridge, and that’s the whole point of advertising the game.

If you’re in the position to stick this somewhere in your magazine or website, you should!

The Coke Ad From 1934

Coca-Cola ads are so well-known that they are the subject of many articles (and obsessive collectors) all over the world. Vintage or antique ones can sell for hundreds, and they’ve always had a knack for advertising.

For a while in 1934, they also advertised coke as an accompanying drink for bridge games (featuring celebrity of the time P Hal Sims).

If any readers reach for their soda while reading any of the above, relax. It just means that vintage advertising still works just as well.

Old Gold Vintage Ad Scorer 1933

Next, we get to the Old Gold Vintage Ad Scorer.

This bit of bridge history goes way back to 1933 – a time when companies were hoping to lead the race in bridge innovation with more elaborate scorers and gadgets of the time. One of these is the Scorer.

It’s advertising with a practical goal.

Royal Bank Advertising Vintage 1968

Just in case you thought I was done, not yet. I also unearthed this Royal Bank bridge advertisement from the late 60s.

I think they were advertising the Royal Bank brand more than they were advertising bridge, but they still used the game as their preferred means-to-an-end. (Thanks, of course!)

Now, imagine if your own bank ran an ad featuring bridge… What would it look like?

Have you seen any cool or unusual classic ads for bridge?