How to spot a fake

If you see an old ad on the internet that's BANNED or SHOCKING, and it not only looks amusing to modern eyes but flatters your sense of superiority to the past, it's either one of a handful of real ads in endless rotation around the web, or it's fake. If it's the latter, it's usually easy to spot. They get the fonts of the era wrong, usually, and the text doesn't have the right feel; it's like a parody of a parody. But this one's really good.

heigh800px; width: 525px;" />

Someone sent it to me for my online site on old ads and regrettable food, and at first glance I thought it was real. Potato sauce: sounds plausible. Why, I'd like some of that on my steak, now that I think about it. But the moment I looked at the details I was irritated for not seeing its obvious falsehood right away. The tagline, for example. No one would ever propose that the use of Potato Sauce is the signal for a party to commence. The author gives it away with the company's slogan:

The font for the "Norgold" is right for the era, but not right for the packaging of the era:

It's wise to avoid actual typefaces; that "Norgold Russet" is done in Life Savers.

Here's some sleuthing about the source of the images. Again, it's a good job, and a few tweaks might have made it much less suspicious.