Design & Desire in the Twentieth Century

Los Angeles art director and photographer Marc Shur has posted a stunning set of outdoor advertising signs that date from about the Forties through the Sixties on his Flckr set. The photo here shows a sign that incorporates a clock, located on Ventura Boulevard in Encino, California, and is just one of a collection of dozens of photos of outstanding retro signs you can spend the better part of a hour or so enjoying.

Marc Shur, Time to Buy (2012). Copyright: Marc Shur.

Web Designer Depot takes a fun look back at Apple Computer advertisements over the company’s history. According to the site:

“Apple first started advertising its products in the late 1970s.

A wide variety of ads were shown in the 80s, some of which served to convince consumers that they should purchase a computer, and, specifically, an Apple.

These ads were text-heavy and light on images, as were many computer and technology ads from that era.”

You can also see a few more ads on Attached. View the iconic Ridley Scott directed “1984” television ad here.

Apple Computer Advertisement, (circa 1977).
Source: http://3-www-accel-pss.googleusercontent.com/gadgets/proxy?container=accel&gadget=www.howtobearetronaut.com&debug=0&nocache=0&v=ub09v8cmq5bo21gd8bmjdkiep4&rooe=1&html_tag_context=img&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.howtobearetronaut.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2011%2F10%2F471-520x537.jpg

Check out mid-century interior designs and advertising illustrations in this slide show of retro bathroom designs from 1955 through 1960. Thank you to Fix A Faucet for the original post.

Robert Krantz, Kohler “Mayflower” Bathroom Illustration, 1959.
Source: http://fixafaucet.com/retro_bathrooms/images/crop/kohler_bathroom_1959.jpg

Just the thing for mid 20th Century summer celebrations out on the patio—Big Sister Tutti Frutti Cordial drinks. This Australian advertisement is from 1954 and was shared by Vivat Vintage. Cheers all!

Anonymous. Big Sister Cordial Concentrate Advertisement, 1954.
Source: http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ll8rll8JLH1qadocxo1_500.jpg

I’m not one of those folks who has great luck at garage sales, but my new online friend  interior designer, Joshua Taylor does. One of his recent garage sale finds is a Douglas Fir Plywood booklet “77 Ideas for Remodeling Your Home with Fir Plywood.”

Douglas Fir Plywood Company Advertising Pamphlet, copyright 1957.
Source: http://www.javiergd.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/douglas-fir_9_sm.jpg

The booklet is wonderful because it not only gives advice on how the product was used during the period, but the graphic design and illustrations in the pamphlet make it an interesting mid-century advertising piece. You can see more from the booklet at Josh’s Blog.

Other examples of use of fir plywood.

Interior, Hadley and Peter Arnold, Bel Air, CA.
Source: http://media.dwell.com/images/230*306/canyon-house-living-room-portrait-interior.jpg

Frank Lloyd Wright, Bench from Unitarian Church, Shorewood Hills, WI (circa 1951)
Source: http://media.dwell.com/images/230*306/canyon-house-living-room-portrait-interior.jpg

1. Lester Beall’s poster series for the United States Government’s Rural Electrification Administration, designed between 1937 and 1941, were influenced by the Russian Constructivist Movement and increased ”public awareness of the benefits of electricity” (1).

 
Team Work, poster, 1937-1940.
Source: http://s3files.core77.com/blog/images/2010/01/beall1.jpg

2. In 1937 Beall was the first graphic designer to have a one-man show at New York’s Museum of Modern Art.

Untitled Drawing, year unknown. Ink on paper
Source: http://www.lesterbeall.com/images/personal-7.gif

3. Although Beall’s firm had many corporate clients, such as Caterpillar Tractor and the New York Hilton, in 1960 “his identity program for International Paper Company was his most extensive…and is noteworthy for the graphics standards manual, one of the first to be so fully articulated” (1).

Spread from Internatiional Paper Graphic Identity Manual (Year unknown).
Source: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2793/4248648354_b3dd18fc51.jpg

4. Beall incorporated a variety of media in his work: “woodcuts, lithos, drawings and pieces of paintings”(2). In addition, he possessed a passion for photography and continually experimented with photographic effects and techniques (1).

Cover of  “What’s New” publication for Abbott Laboratories, 1939-1940.
Source: http://www.lesterbeall.com/images/type-4.gif

5. Beall’s work continues to impact designers today.

Hitler’s Nightmare, for Crowell Publishing Company, 1939
Source: http://www.uiu.edu/~art/melindaportfolio/images/multimedia/melindagraphicdesiger/images/lesterbealwar.jpg

For more on Lester Beall read R. Roger Remington’s essay “A Creative Genius of the Simple Truth” written for the occasion of Beall’s award of the medal of AIGA in 1992. Also visit www.lesterbeall.com, a site devoted to his life and work. More resources on Beall can be found here: http://www.lesterbeall.com/reference.shtml.

References

1. Remington, R. R. (1993). A Creative Genius of the Simple Truth. http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/medalist-lesterbeall

2. An Architectonic Clarity. (2010). Lester Beall.org. http://www.lesterbeall.com/architectonic.shtml

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus, but no, he was not created by the Coca-Cola Company. The origins of Old Saint Nick first appeared in third century Greece; under Roman rule “Bishop Nicholas suffered for his faith, was exiled and imprisoned” (1). Many folk legends later surfaced regarding Nicholas’ legendary generosity. The feast day of Saint Nicholas is observed in many countries on December 6 (1).

Left: From New York Historical Society Alexander Anderson (1775-1870), St. Nicholas. Dec. 6th. A.D. 343. Printed for the New-York Historical Society, New York: 1810. Reprinted by Alexander Anderson, 1864. Source: https://www.nyhistory.org/web/images/Exhibits_Collections/Exhibits/santa/santa2.jpg

“It Happened Here: The Invention of Santa Claus,” on exhibit now through January 7, 2011 at the New York Historical Society in New York City, highlights the creation of the American vision of Santa Claus.  “Clement Clarke Moore…penned a whimsical poem about St. Nicholas” (2), which is retold each holiday season as “A Visit from St. Nicholas.” Moore described the jolly old soul as “dress’d all in fur, from his head to his foot” (3) and continued:
          His eyes - how they twinkled! his dimples how merry,
          His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry;
          His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
          And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow (3).

Thomas Nast “Merry Christmas.” January 4, 1879
Source: http://www.philaprintshop.com/images/nast1479.jpg

Later in the century “Thomas Nast’s Harper’s Weekly cartoons of Santa”(2) would further mold the American image of Saint Nicholas. In the early 1920’s, beloved illustrator, Norman Rockwell’s saintly version of Santa appeared on covers of the Saturday Evening Post.

Haddon Sundblom (circa. 1931). Santa Claus and his Coca-cola.
Source: http://www.junkfoodnews.net/COCA-COLA-SANTA-712w.jpg

So where does the connection between Santa and Coca-Cola come in? According to the Coca-Cola Company Web site, at the beginning of the Twentieth Century, people tended to think of Coca-Cola as a warm weather drink. In order to change the product’s image, a campaign was launched to let everyone know “that Coca-Cola was a great choice in any month” (4). Fred Mizen was the first illustrator to depict jolly old St. Nick for Coca-Cola in 1930, but in 1931 the firm “commissioned Michigan-born illustrator Haddon Sundblom to develop advertising images using Santa Claus”(4). Using Moore’s poem as inspiration “For the next 33 years, Sundblom painted portraits of Santa that helped to create the modern image of Santa“ (4).

Who was Haddon Sundblom?

Illustrator Haddon “Sunny” Sundblom, was over six feet tall and struck an imposing looking figure. Prior to rendering his Coca-Cola Santa advertisments, he specialized in creating images of “wholesome, sexy young women” (5) enjoying Coca-Cola. Sundblom’s work influenced many pin-up artists of the forties and fifties. Another of Sundblom’s iconic advertising images is the Quaker Oats Man, created 1957 (6). The artist’s last magazine cover was published in 1972, a sexy pin-up style Miss Claus for Playboy’s Christmas Issue. Sundblom died in 1976 (7).

Haddon Sundblom. Playboy Cover, December 1972.
Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/5/5b/ Playboy_magazine_ december_1972_cover.jpg/200px-Playboy_magazine_december_1972_cover.jpg

Design & Desire would like to thank all its readers for their support and wish you all a joyous holiday season with best wishes for the coming year.

References
1. Who is St. Nicholas? http://www.stnicholascenter.org/Brix?pageID=38

2. It Happened Here: The Invention of Santa Claus. New York Historical Society. https://www.nyhistory.org/web/default.php?section=exhibits_collections&page=exhibit_detail&id=6101893

3. Variations 1823-1844, Troy Sentinel, Tuesday, December 23, 1823. http://iment.com/maida//familytree/henry/xmas/poemvariants/troysentinel1823.htm

4. Coke Lore: Coca-Cola® and Santa Claus. http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/heritage/cokelore_santa.html

5. HaddonSundblom. http://www.mutoworld.com/Sundblom.htm

6. Quaker Oats: Reference. http://www.thefullwiki.org/Quaker_Oats

7. Haddon Sundblom. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haddon_Sundblom

For Further Reading
Haskell, R.B. (2006). The True Story of Saint Nicholas. Alan C. Hood & Co.

Moore, C. C. (1912). Twas the Night Before Christmas: A Visit from St. Nicholas. New York: Houghton Mifflin

Santa Claus Picture. (2010). Holiday Decorations. http://www.holidaydecorations.com/Santa-Claus-Picture.html

Sundblom, H.  Fahs Charles, B.  &  Taylor, J. R. (1997).  Dream of Santa: Haddon Sundblom’s Advertising Paintings for Christmas, 1931–1964. Random House.

Source: http://bit.ly/azROZZ

Thanks to The Weekly Wright-up for their original post. Read the full story.