The Arrow Collar Man… an early advertising concept and model that preceded the Marlboro Man. From Wikipedia:
The Arrow Collar Man was the name given to the various male models who appeared in advertisements for shirts and detachable shirt collars manufactured by Cluett Peabody & Company of Troy, New York. The original campaign ran from 1905-31 though the company continued to refer to men in its ads and its consumers as “Arrow men” much later.
The Arrow Collar ads were a collaborative production of New York ad agency Calkins and Holden; Cluett, Peabody advertising director Charles Connolly; and commercial illustrator J. C. Leyendecker… President Theodore Roosevelt referred to him as a “superb portrait of the common man”.
He was what American men aspired to be, and most importantly, he always had on the right shirt.
Some of my favorite images. Note that the man is not the focus of these – he is just the backdrop for the shirt and the woman in front of him (as it should be, when you’re wearing formal clothing).
Later ads referring to the Arrow Collar Man.
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