No Hitch-Hikers

While checking out this broad collection of mid-20th century commercial printing samples, I saw this bit of lost Americana:


What a fascinating sociological artifact.

It tells us that hitch-hiking was common and that hitch-hikers expected to be picked up. That lots of people didn't want to pick up hitch-hikers, enough that someone started making NO fists to the point where "these dynamic stickers are sweeping the country!!"

That someone else then saw those stickers as an advertising opportunity. The stickers were sold to the advertiser -- such as the car dealer shown in the sample -- who would then give them away to customers. The ad faced the driver, with the unfriendly red NO fist facing the world.

The poster also tells us someone thought all of this was such a great idea that it should be copyrighted.