Citroen Ephemera

Really loving these 60's Citroen promotional booklets designed by Parisian studio, Delpire over on Grain Edit. They were created by the father of Francois-Charles (iconomaque) who worked at the studio in the 60's and were discovered whilst he was sorting through his father's studio.

What a great bit of ephemera to start the day with!

Via Sell! Sell!
Images copyright iconomaque.

From the reference box #91

#91 - Vintage fasteners. I love these 50's Snap Fastener and Hooks & Eyes cards from "World Famed", Newey's - "If it fastens Newey's make it!".

They're only small cards, but they have some great type...

and some lovely print...

Think I feel another collection coming on!

There are 90 more wonderful items tucked away in our reference box - take a look here.

Christie's Travel and Vintage Poster Auction

These wonderful Olivetti posters are coming up for auction on the 5 November as part of the Christie's Travel and Vintage Poster sale. You can view the ecatalogue here - you won't be disappointed, there are loads of great travel posters, but these Olivetti ones get my bid (or they would if I'd saved a few more pennies this year).

Olivetti Divisumma (above top) by Herbert Bayer (1953) is lot number 252. It's a linen-backed, lithographic print (71 x 51cm) classed as A- condition with an estimation of £1000-£1500.

Olivetti Elettrosumma 22 (above bottom) by Giovanni Pintori is lot number 255. This lithographic print (70 x 49 cm) printed by Arti Grafiche M & G Pirovano in 1956 is not backed, but is classed as A condition and has an estimation of £600-£800.

Find more sale information here. Happy bidding!

Images copyright Christie's.
Via Quad Royal.

From the reference box #90

#90 - Vintage throat lozenges circa 1950. I bought a few of these packages at a boot sale recently and have since found out a bit about the companies. Bradosol Antiseptic Lozenges are still available today, but these sample packs (above) are from when they were first introduced to the market in the early 50's by CIBA Laboratories, Horsham, England.

CIBA (Company for Chemistry Industry Basel or Gesellschaft für Chemische Industrie Basel) was a Swiss company started in the 1800's that first opened factories in the UK in 1911. It merged with Geigy in 1970 to create Ciba-Geigy Ltd and in 1996 they merged with Sandoz to form the pharmaceutical giant we know today as Novartis.

Here's an information booklet selling Bradosol, "to the Dental Profession".


I also found a sample/specimen pack of Collozets mouth and throat lozenges (below), "Manufactured in England by The Crookes Laboratories Limited, Park Royal, London".

I can't find out anything about Crookes Laboratories, but I did find this advert for Collozets from the late 50's...

If you want to see more delicious packaging and ephemera have a root around here.

Preston Bus Station by Jonathan Kenyon

I was surprised to find these photographs of Preston Bus Station by Jonanthan Kenyon this morning on We Heart. I grew up in and around Preston and know this building very well. I've always loved it's bold architecture and unapologetic scale.

I was saddened earlier in the year to hear it's going to be knocked down as part of Preston's Tithebarn scheme (yet another urban regeneration programme) after it's application to become a listed building failed. It was designed in the late 60's by a Preston-based architect, Keith Ingham who worked at a local company, BDP (ironically the company now running the regeneration programme!) and when it first opened in 1969 it was hailed as the largest in the world.

There's no denying that the building could do with a bit of tlc, but Jonathan's images really capture the beauty of the building even in it's current state. Long live Preston Bus Station!

Images copyright Jonathan Kenyon.
Via Notcot.

Chocolate Week

No, I haven't made it up. This week is National Chocolate Week (11-17 October), "a time of pure indulgence involving the country's best chocolatiers and chocolate shops holding events all over the UK".

So to celebrate I thought I'd share with you my best chocolatey find - chocolate type (above) from The Letteroom made using original Dutch moulds. These delicious looking letters are 17cm high and weigh in at 200 grams each. Now that's a lot of chocolate!

Each letter is available in either white, milk, dark or strawberry flavoured chocolate and can be personalised with wording or a pattern. They also sell mini (4cm high) letters for the less greedy!

Images copyright The Letteroom.

Vintage coffee tins

I love these 40's and 50's coffee tins from Roadsidepictures' (US photographer, Allen) collection of vintage packaging and advertising on Flickr. There's so much to look at, this is definitely one of those sets you need a lot of time and a cuppa to really enjoy.

Allen says he's always enjoyed, "photographing old neon signs, cars, motels, gas stations, roadside attractions and suburban life" - all of which can be seen in his Flickr sets.

See more vintage packaging here, here and here or have a rumage through our reference box here.

Images copyright Allen at Roadsidepictures.
Via Notcot.

SR692: Swissair - The Ultimate Fansite

I can't get enough of all the wonderful Swissair design and print on SR692: Swissair - The Ultimate Fansite. They have a massive collection of Swissair printed ephemera including posters, tickets, calenders, publications, postcards, annual reports, time tables and route maps, as well as a very informative history of the brand and logo.

Above are a selection of the more graphic route map and time table covers. They're all really fantastic, but my favourites are the ones using the Reudi Bircher designed plane graphic logo of the 50's and 60's.

Huge thanks to Darren for sending me a link to Wanken, which led me to this great site.
Images copyright SR692.