Ads from 1950s Lebanon

Posted by: adonis49 on: November 26, 2013

14 Priceless Ads from 1950s Lebanon

The Golden Days of Beirut were undoubtedly before the Civil War, especially in the 1950s and early 60s.

Lebanon was a prime destination for the world’s most prominent jet setters, almost every brand in the world was open in Beirut, nightlife was amazing, hotels were next-level and heck, we even had a red light district.

November 22, 2013 by Gino Raidy

On this 70th anniversary of Lebanon’s independence, all we have to show for it is an ugly 50,000LL bank-note with a spelling mistake, two suicide bombings, no government cabinet and a continuing influx of refugees without any light at the end of this long tunnel.

Perhaps, it’ll do us some good to remember what the good old days were like, what our grandparents lived through, how your grandma might’ve had dinner at The Carlton Beirut, which your Grandpa paid for with a cheque from Chase Manhattan…

Wajid Hitti, a good friend of mine, has digitized a massive collection of the ads from that era his father had saved up from the days he worked at Gaumont Palace in Down Town Beirut (which used to stand next to St Vincent de Paul church).

During the war, the building was largely occupied by Syrian troops, and the tower (11 stories was a lot back then) fell into ruin. Wajid’s dad found out the Syrian troops were burning the books and booklets from the 50s-60s era, and made sure he reclaimed them in order to preserve the pop culture heritage of a time when it was a pleasure to live and love in Beirut.

I will be posting ads like these regularly from now.

To kick things off, here are 14 amazing ones.

And again, a MILLION thank yous to Wajid and his father for giving us the opportunity to back in time on this bitter-sweet day.