Magnavox True High-Fidelity - Life in the rainbow.

Back in Yore, what we call a "stereo" was called a "Hi-Fi". That's because equipment capable of accurate tonal reproduction was kind of a new idea, having been introduced to the audio market in the Fifties, to distinguish snooty products that try to sound good from cheapo products that satisfy themselves with just trying to make sound.

Do we even call our audio setup a "stereo" anymore? It seems we're overdue to replace the term with something else, since stereo audio isn't exactly front page news any more. What's the new term? "Music thing"? "Audio system"? That sounds a bit douchey. Consider the P.A.G. staff on watch to identify the new word for whatever people use to listen to music... whenever they're not listening to it on crappy ear buds or crappier computer speakers.

Anyway, Magnavox promises you will live in a "rainbow of music". Where do the people in the picture live? Judging by the weather and vegetation, it kid of looks like one of the pinkish-violet regions of Planet Purple.

I hope the rapturous couple is either heading out or just came back from a gala dinner. They didn't get all dressed up just to listen to their Magnavox Brittany while staring out at the blue fog, did they? Who knows? I guess that's life inside the rainbow. Are jobs easy to find there? It looks like the real estate market is doing pretty well in the rainbow, so whatever Mr. Overposed does for a living, it must be paying pretty well.

The car's running. Are you guys coming or what?

So how do you photograph a fantasy in the days before Photoshop's blur filters? Lots of Vaseline on the lens. But you can't just smear it everywhere. You have to smush it around artistically, so you don't obscure the talent or product. The P.A.G. Image Analysis Squadron has detected the areas of the picture effected by the magical Vaseline smudge, which we now present to you for your interest:

So how much did Mr. and Mrs. Overposed pay for their Magnavox? $650 in 1957 dollars is the modern equivalent of $4975.70! Holy jeez! There isn't enough Vaseline in the world to make that look good.

Big one is in here.