Bavarian BonBon Bags

Kirstein cough drops originated in Nuremberg, Germany in 1899 when pharmacist Dr. Carl Soldan combined eucalyptus and menthol to create a soothing lozenge for sore throats. Malted sugar cough drops were added to the company product line in 1932 and are still being produced today from the original recipe of boiling the malt sugar over an open fire and breaking them into chunks. Soldan's cough drops have been enjoyed by many generations and long considered to be a Bavarian treat, however I would argue that their glassine bags are the sweetest treat. These examples have no date, but could be as old as the 1930s when anthropomorphic advertising characters were routinely popularized for marketing purposes. Early in the 1930s, the Soldan company began printing their paper bags in their own print shop which was considered as an innovative move at that time. I presume they also had a small in-house art department of accomplished illustrators and lettering artists as well. Each of these glassine bags are currently available from this Viennese dealer. Below is an undated advertising postcard for Kirstein's cough drops from Vintage Postcards.

Below are two metal signs introduced in 1955. These Bavarian malt sugar characters are taking to the hills to promote the Kirstein cough drop family enterprise. The images were designed by Margit Sidonie-Doppler (born Kovaks), a student of Austrian-born designer, Joseph Binder. Via Genuin.

And here are two more BonBon bags from another Viennese sweet treat manufacturer also available here.

Timely Tutoring in Topics, Tastes and Trends of Typography from Bradbury Thompson

Westvaco Inspirations for Printers may be one of the most influential and highly prized series of paper promotions ever produced in the 20th century. The leaders at Westvaco, formerly named the West Virginia Pulp and Paper Company, believed their paper promotions should be an educational living record of advertising design and commercial art. What they often produced was something so entirely modern, that many issues still look contemporary seven decades later. Bradbury Thompson (1911-1995) was a key figure in their success. Beginning in 1939, he was responsible for the design and art direction of over sixty of the Westvaco Inspirations issues. Undaunted by minimal resources and budgets, he sourced out historic, public domain images and combined them with modernist effects. He relied on classic typography for the most part, but once went so far as to design a conceptual version of an U&lc alphabet he called Alphabet 26 which premiered in Westavaco Insprirations No. 180 in 1950. One of Thompsons' seldom seen art direction triumphs, issue No.129, is available here. This 16 page issue from 1941 is "A Primer of Typography, Including Timely Tutoring in Topics, Tastes and Trends." Thompson personally designed the front, back and 1st page spread. Other contributors were Charles Sheeler and Stow Wengenroth.

The Eskimo Book

The Eskimo, a 15-page scrapbook, has long been sold off on Etsy, but I find the book so endearing I wanted to include it here. There is no name or age given, but it is said to be made as a class project in the 1930s, rendered with construction paper, crayon, pencil, and ink. A close look at the hand-cut letters on the cover reveals some clever production handwork, as it appears this young student folded some of the symmetrical letters (The H, E and O) in half before cutting them out. I'm not sure what the intention of the four cornerpieces were, however the choice of the muted color palette perfectly suits a book on the Eskimo, as in theory, these monochromatic colors typify the landscape of the frozen North. I think the standout image of the entire book is by far, the 3-legged black polar bear silouette. It's a stunning design—almost postmodern in concept with it's simplicity—though my guess it was copied from a photo. None-the-less, it was very perceptive to willingly illustrate a polar bear in black on white, which is contrary to our very notion of one, but it works beautifully. I hope the teacher gave this kid an A+ on this book. It is well-deserved.

To see more kids book art, checkout the former Letterology links on The Story of Paper and the original AutoFaceBook.

The Story of Paper

As promised, I present the companion book to "The History of Printing", featured in my previous post; "The Story of Paper" written by a young Joe Obzina in room 5A at John Hay School in Seattle. There is no date on this book, however I believe it to be from the same era as the book on printing which was 1930. What leads me to think this is the last chapter  where Joe includes a list of 27 pulp and paper mills in the State of Washington in 1928. This charming book was another estate sale find from several years ago, found in stacks of well, paper.
     The binding of this book is a Japanese "stab binding", and coincidentally it uses the same grey binding cloth on the spine as the Printing book did. The other similarity between the two books is the cut construction paper lettering for the cover design and a simple silouette of a silkworm which is instrumental in the making of Japanese papers. They both match the sewing thread and the interior endsheets. The book measures 7.5 x 9 inches, making it just a bit larger than the other. 

The title page is simple and plain, and lacks any sort of typographical hierarchy or ornament. Joe was not an adventurous book designer.

The history of paper coincides with the history of writing, which Joe gives only slight mention in his first chapter on "Ancient Writing Materials".

Joe is actually a much better writer and speller than young Albert was, but could take a lesson from him on illustration and layout.

The tipped-in "School" and "Special Paper" samples are a wonderful addition. Following these are lists of 36 different "Kinds of Paper" and 52 different "Uses of Paper", from Blotters to Parasols.
 

Side Note: Pardon the recent Letterology makeover here, but I inadvertently pushed the wrong button the other day and there is no quick fix. I tried googling "Why doesn't Google understand the definition of the word 'Revert'", but got not reply. Time for that big move over to Wordpress soon! 

A Torch for Printing

A young Albert Maertens of Seattle made this book on The History of Printing for Miss Levine's class assignment in 1930. I found this treasure sitting atop an assorted pile of tools and junk in a scary basement of an 1891 house in the Georgetown neighborhood. It was an estate sale which brought me there just a few days after Christmas, and it was advertised as the oldest house in Georgetown. Visiting just before closing time was a bit of a lark as I recall, but I was curious to see the oldest house there. The book was my only purchase; for $10 I think. Now I'm not a big believer in fate or destiny, but finding this little book was a great delight. I felt it belonged in my hands (for now) and I would give it safe-keeping.

So thoughtful of Albert to take note of Gothic lettering (also known as Blackletter). He reminds us "We see them on Christmas." 

As a former teacher of typography and book design, I was pleased to see that young Albert followed instructions well and included the correct sequence of pages for his frontmatter; a Title Page, followed by his endearing Dedication page and then Table of Contents. Although he wasn't the best speller, his handlettering fittingly resembles a roman text font of the day, and he did manage to capture the spirit of initial caps by applying a box around each first letter of a sentence. All four of the tipped-on watercolor (and one pen and ink) illustrations are charming, as is the crafty cover design of cut paper letters, a small book and two curious little torches. The book itself measures approximately 5.5 x 7.5 inches, has three sewn signatures and is bound with construction paper wrapped boards and endsheets. Perhaps my favorite thing about young Albert's book however is the last page entitled I am the Printing Press by Robert Daves (Davis). It is an abbreviated version of an early 1900s advertisement written by Robert Davis to promote the Hoe printing press.
     My curiousity about Albert Maertens' life led me only to some general online records. He died in Seattle in 2007 at the age of 91. This would have placed him at the age of 13 or 14 when he made this book, and it must have been very meaningful as he kept it all of those many years. On Friday I will feature another child's handmade book from this same era which is a perfect companion to this book on printing. It is on the topic of paper.