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This image of people wearing swimsuits in a room with computer hardware popped up on Twitter recently.

a woman wearing a swimsuit operating a computer in front, a man and a woman wearing swimsuits reading in the background

Where was this advertisement published, and what computing product or service is it offering?

Brian H
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user
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2 Answers2

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It's advertising computer room air conditioning.

enter image description here

No doubt appeared in some late 1970's or early 1980's US-based computer magazine. But exactly which one I couldn't find based on a little bit of searching for phrases and keywords in the full advertisement.

JdeBP reports the ad appearing in 1982 and 1983 in "Computer Decisions" magazine. I could not find an on-line copy to confirm that but I did dig up a Google Books search that refers to the ad.

"Airflow" in Computer Decisions Volume 15

enter image description here

George Phillips
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    That makes sense, thanks. Nailing down the exact time frame would be nice, from the look of the equipment I'd think 1979s. Also the guy's shorts looks 70s style. – user Jun 23 '20 at 10:21
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    Telex and TWX but no Fax # is a clue to the timing - i.e., definitely no later than early 1980s. – manassehkatz-Moving 2 Codidact Jun 23 '20 at 17:24
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    Official Gazette of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, Vol. 1033, Number 5 ("Trademarks"; August 30, 1983), page "TM 642", says of the "DATAC" mark: "For Computer Room Air Conditioners (U.S. Cl. 34). First use Jul. 16, 1982; in commerce Jul. 16, 1982". So, that puts a lower bound on the date. That, combined with manassehkatz-Moving 2 Codidact's comment, leaves a pretty narrow time-range. :-) – ruakh Jun 23 '20 at 18:22
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    The publication is most likely a "trade rag" as indicated by the "Circle 102" at the bottom. At first I thought it might be from Datamation, but that seems to have used "Circle [num] on Reader Card" in the relevant time frame. – njuffa Jun 23 '20 at 19:02
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    I Googled the company address - it is just a few miles from me - and that got a couple of references that also point to ~ 1983 or 1984. – manassehkatz-Moving 2 Codidact Jun 24 '20 at 03:42
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    @manassehkatz-Moving2Codidact You know what you have to do. Drive out there and find that old guy that's been with the company forever, show him (yes, it will be a him) the ad and he'll hopefully dig out the actual magazine. – pipe Jun 24 '20 at 08:17
  • I used to work in Bangkok in an office that was previously used by IBM. The floor that I was on used to house lots of equipment so it had a very powerful aircon. Even at tickover, it made the room a lot colder than most people wanted. I was happy but the local staff kept jackets and sweaters in the office. Being European, it seemed to odd for people to don more clothes as they entered the office. – badjohn Jun 24 '20 at 10:37
  • Your upper bound might be off. One can find 1987 versions of this blurb that advertise "five basic series and over 40 models". Presumably 6 basic types and 42 models is thus later than 1987. Unless the figures were going down. (-: – JdeBP Jun 24 '20 at 15:30
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    Apparently they were. Further searching turns up volume 15 of Computer Decisions, Hayden Publishing, 1983; pages 77 and 163. Page 163 has "circle 92", though. For "circle 102" you want the same advertisement in volume 14 of Computer Decisions, also Hayden Publishing, 1982, page 179. – JdeBP Jun 24 '20 at 15:42
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    Great detective work! You will be giving us the name of the models next. Actually the guy looks kinda familiar from car ads. – user Jun 25 '20 at 11:18
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    @pipe My guess is that old guy will have a this ad ripped out of the magazine and posted on the back of his office door. – CCTO Jun 26 '20 at 02:43
  • Here is a picture of a tape-drive very similar to those shown in the advert.

    As you can see, they are IBM 3420

    https://i.stack.imgur.com/Tz4U4.jpg

     – chasly - supports Monica Jun 26 '20 at 14:59
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I see DATAC on the advert. On googling I found the following:

Since 1977, the DTAC commitment to the customer, a quality heavy equipment air conditioning product and specialized service has helped us grow into a reputable manufacturer of heat/cool systems for heavy equipment. http://www.dtac.com/

This tells you an earliest date for the advert. Furthermore they are a US firm so the computer is probably an IBM.

Here's an IBM 360. You can see that the console is a teletype so this is an earlier model than the one in your picture which has monitors.

enter image description here

I'm sure a little googling would track down the actual model. I don't have time to do it right now.

Charlie Phoenix
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