Puma 1980 Vilas Pro vintage sneaker ad

Here’s another old school ad from Puma in 1980 for the Vilas Pro model tennis shoes. These vintage tennies were names after Argentine tennis star Guillermo Vilas.

Ad info is below:

PUMA. OUR STORY IS ON THE BOX.

It's a strong statement — Puma is quality. And because we mean it, because we believe in it, because we can back it up, we put that claim on every box. When professional Guillermo Vilas wanted a great shoe, he chose Puma. We put his name on the shoe he selected — the Vilas Pro. Made of full grain leather with tough, natural rubber sole, this outstanding shoe provides the comfort, performance and durability tennis players expect and appreciate. So go to your favorite sporting goods store today and look for our claim on the box. Puma is quality. We stand on it.

PUMA

1981 vintage sneaker ad for the Tred 2 California Tennis Shoes

Here’s a 1981 vintage sneaker ad for the Tred2 California tennies. Tred 2 began as a brand that resoled shoes before eventually starting up their own brand. In the early 80’s they updated their logo to the arrow / chevron design and ‘Twice the shoe’ slogan in the ad below. If you want to learn more about their history you can see some other old ads Tred 2 advertisements here.

Ad info is below:

Discover The California.

New from Tred 2. Just what Californians are asking for in a tennis shoe. Cool. Clean. Comfortable. Lightweight and long-lasting. Pick up a pair at your local sporting goods or department store. You'll discover why Californians call Tred 2 "twice the shoe!'

TRED 2
TWICE THE SHOE.

Ektelon 1988 vintage tennies ad

We usually post old school runners on the blog but thought I'd mix it up for today’s post. Here’s a vintage 1988 advertisement for Ektelon racquetball sneakers. According to Wikipedia This brand was founded in 1964 in San Diego after the invention of racquetball and was named Ektelon based on a combination of two Greek words: "ektein", meaning to stretch out, and "telon", representing the concept of perfection. They are now based out of New Jersey and since 1988 have been owned by Prince Sports. 🎾

Vintage 1980 Soma brand tennis shoes ad

Today we’re going to mix it up and post a pair of old school tennies. This ad is from 1980 from a brand called Soma. Soma was a sub brand of Mitsui & Co. based out of Japan and lasted from around 1976 to 1981. They were all about the Duolite sole. Btw, nice use of the Mercedes-Benz hood ornament to show how "classy" these sneakers were.

​Ad info is below:

STEP UP 

Introducing SOMA. The no-compromise tennis shoe for the no-compromise tennis player.

Your tennis shoes are a compromise between what your feet need, and what a shoe designer can give them. A tennis shoe must be flexible, yet offer firm support. It should also fit comfortably, absorb shock well, and be durable. 

In an effort to give you all that, conventional tennis shoes are built as a complicated structure of many little parts—each trying to do one job. Unfortunately, they can't do them all equally well. So your feet suffer. And so does your game.

Duolite. The no-compromise sole.

A SOMA tennis shoe is different. Simple, not complicated. Outside, it has the classy look you'd expect in a quality tennis shoe. But below, we've replaced all those little parts with our exclusive Duolite- sole—two layers of polyurethane permanently bonded together.

The layer closest to your foot is soft for comfortable shock absorption, and orthopedically molded for real support and fit The bottom layer is firmer, for superior durability and traction on any court surface. Together they're the first really new tennis shoe idea in decades. Tomorrow the world will be playing in SOMA. Today you can be the first player at your club to wear them. For more information, contact: SOMA Sports, Inc., 200 Park Ave., N.Y., N.Y. 10017. 

SOMA's exclusive Duolite" sole eliminates compromise—does the whole job with just two parts instead of many. 

SOMA It's as simple as that. 

SEE READER SERVICE PAGE FOR MORE INFORMATION