Easter Week 2014: Brach’s 1972 Easter Promotion!

I grew up with Brach’s candy and as long as I can remember, it’s always been around.  The brand and its products have found ways to thrive through countless changes in the confectionery world, which is a testament to how timeless their candy is.

While Brach’s Pick-A-Mix offerings have always been a part of my candy enjoyment year-round, I also remember them for their great holiday offerings and seasonal store displays.   Today I’m excited to share a wonderful piece of historical candy ephemera – the contents of a 1972 Easter promotional sales kit, sent out to Brach’s salesmen.  Featuring a full-color catalog as well as black-and-white supplements, it’s a fabulous window into Easter candy’s past and one I’m excited to share today!

The pages and images from the catalog speak volumes themselves, so I don’t have much additional to say about them.   I will note that the cover features a photo of a beautifully-decorated and well-stocked Brach’s candy display.  Historically, Brach’s put a lot of effort into creating these types of point-of-purchase display areas, even going so far as to sponsor contests for the best displays in stores.  Some of these store displays were impressively large and with all manner of signage.  As such, if you were around in the 1960’s or 1970’s, the catalog’s cover image may be a bit of a flashback.

Without further comment, here is the Brach’s 1972 Easter promotion sales catalog:

Brach’s – Easter Candies – candy product catalog – Page 01 – April 1972

Brach’s – Easter Candies – candy product catalog – Page 02 – April 1972

Brach’s – Easter Candies – candy product catalog – Page 03 – April 1972

Brach’s – Easter Candies – candy product catalog – Page 04 – April 1972

Brach’s – Easter Candies – candy product catalog – Page 05 – April 1972

Brach’s – Easter Candies – candy product catalog – Page 06 – April 1972

Brach’s – Easter Candies – candy product catalog – Page 07 – April 1972

Brach’s – Easter Candies – candy product catalog – Page 08 – April 1972

Isn’t that catalog a thing of confectionery beauty?

Beyond the catalog, the salesman promotion kit had three supplemental pieces.  The first must have been a late addition to the Easter promotion for the year as it is printed in only two colors:

Brach’s – Plastic Bunny Banks for Easter sales information sheet – 1972

The next piece is a schedule and list of markets where Brach’s would be running Easter TV commercial spots.  Back in the 1972, this would have been key information for a salesman to have when dealing with his store accounts:

Brach’s – sales sheet – local TV spot Easter advertising market list – 1972

Finally, the last element of this kit I have to share is definitely a relic of the past – it’s a profit calculation wheel.  This would have allowed a salesman to quickly calculate profits on volume sold:

Brach’s – Easter 1972 salesman profit disc wheel

And that’s everything that came with the Brach’s 1972 Easter Promotion Kit – I hope you enjoyed this glimpse into candy sales and marketing history.  Tomorrow is Easter and we will be back with one last look at fun Easter goodies both past and present.

See you next time!