There’s an allure to 1970s New York City that can’t be ignored. Gritty, grimy, and full of swagger. In my mind, everyday life was a scene from either Taxi Driver or Annie Hall, situation-dependent of course. Heated political climates, crime everywhere, and edgy music that laid the groundwork for anything we call alternative today. And corduroys, macrame, trench coats, and halter-tops? Yes, yes, yes, yes.
One of the more interesting tidbits from 1970s NYC? Its obsession with the arrival of the Tutankhamun exhibit. In 1976, the Metropolitan Museum of New York organized a nationwide tour of the Treasures of Tutankhamun, and NYC was the last stop in 1978. By the time King Tut arrived, New Yorkers had already been waiting four long years. They were downright jumpy with excitement. The day ticket sales opened confirmed it: Tutmania at the Met had set in. Lines of eager museum-goers stretched down 5th Avenue for twenty-three blocks.
This ad served to build that momentum. The copy reads: “The exhibit you’ve been waiting for since 1325 B.C.” Coupled with the glittering, gilded funerary mask set on the stark black background, it’s enough to make me try and buy tickets right now.
FUN FACT: Tutmania had gripped the US (and the world) so tightly, even Saturday Night Live paid tribute. Steven Martin’s famous novelty song, “King Tut,” performed on SNL, sold over one million copies.