Playing With Fire

Happy 4th! Be safe out there folks ;)
:: Early 20th century Miller's Firework's ephemera from the Library Company of Philadelphia.

Joyful Holiday Greetings

I could not let the holiday season slide by this year without some seasonal best hits from some of the 20th centurys' most notable designers. Leading off here is an accordion four-panel card by Alex Steinweiss, the inventor of the album cover. Steinweiss (1916-2011), who spent much of his career designing for Columbia Records, preferred to just put a bow on it. I'm just sorry I didn't put this on my own xmas list, but it's still available here if anyone is feeling overly generous. 

This 1958 holiday card by Dutch designer Dick Bruna (b.1927-) was designed for Pastoe, a furniture company in the Netherlands. 
::via Centraal Museum

This undated Christmas greeting found here was illustrated by Erik Nitsche (1908-1998.) Though there is little record of its origin, Nitsche often signed his work which to a small degree, has helped to preserve his legacy. This seasonal design is rather unusual for Nitsche, who is more widely known for his bold, daring, and modernist artworks produced for the General Dynamics company in the 1950s and 60s. Below is another unusual holiday piece found here, which he designed as a circular in 1936 for the F.A.O. Schwarz Toy Company, titled the St. Nicholas Special. These are both great examples illustrating Nitsches' broad range of styles and lettering. 

Last up is a particularly handsome holiday card from 1955, designed by Scottish designer, Robert Stewart (1946-1995) for the famed Dovecot tapestry studio in Edinburgh. 

     You can find a seasonal sampling of last year's best hits here. May all of these timeless holiday treasures brighten your day!  

::via Writing Warp & Weft

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.

The Biggest Catch of Fish Lettering

Although several nice versions of this Prichard & Knoll trade card with novelty fish lettering were produced in the later 19th century, you might say they are now endangered. These two came from the same dealer and recently sold at auction for handsome sums. They are equally nice, however the first card has much finer detail held in the rainbow trout artwork and fish lettering. It was printed by Stahl & Jaeger Artistic Lithographers in NYC. The second card has the name reversed and several alternate letters, along with some clever wave-like handlettered text with flourishes below the fish which add to its appeal. They each have an eel ampersand. 
     Directly below is another unrelated trade card from 1871 with similar novelty lettering of fish. This particular card from Fisher Ice Boxes and Refrigerators of Chicago, found here, is sporting an amphibious eel for the letter S. Although this Fisher card is nowhere near as elaborate as the two above, the artist did provide some level of detail to the three-colored fish. I guess the imaginative art of fish lettering requires a fine line and some reel angling, just like fishing.

The art of fish lettering actually goes back much further than I had ever imagined. To track its amphibious influences required some further fishing of my own. Much to my surprise, I discovered this decorated initial S from a 7th or 8th century manuscript. The scribe likely had fun creating this with the aid of a compass. 
     For a completely different take, there is this contemporary Golden Fish alphabet created with goldfish tails by Lauren Nash. 

Dutch designer Monique Goossens uses actual fish called "sprats" to create her amphibious alphabet. And a bolder version you might want to wrap in newspaper from Handmade Font. Refrigerate after serving.

  

Flags & Fireworks of Every Description

Some nicely illustrated advertising covers sure to spark a Fourth o'July holiday spirit. Dates of these extremely rare envelope covers from various fireworks manufacturers and importers, range from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

And one seven-star confederate flag cover printed with wood blocks, and an imprint advertising a Georgia bookseller and dealer in musical instruments.
All covers via Schuyler Rumsey Philatelic Auctions 

Typographic Trade Cards

Source 

Source

Source

Source

Source

Source

Source

Source

Source

Source

Source

Source

Source

Source