In the views of many, the mid 20th century years were the pinnacle of American dominance in consumer culture. The Post World War II atmosphere in the US was nothing if not buyer-friendly, with a marked push towards the merchandising we associate with the 20th century more generally. The 1950s, the dawn of this new era, witnessed extraordinary growth among those manufacturers responsible for all the bottles, aerosols, bubble-packs, cartons and boxes. By 1959, packaging stood alongside print advertising as a significant industry in its own right, consuming prodigious quantities of raw materials to create ways of making products more marketable.
Pixie X-Ray Round-Up Advertising Sign, circa 1950
Food features zip-lock bags or pressurized cans, with eye-catching slogans such as “quick ‘n’ easy,” “heat ‘n’ serve,” “bound to please,” and “ready in no time!” Hand lotion flowed from dispensers with labeled pumps, thumb tacks were displayed in fancy blister packs, drugs arrived in brightly labeled plastic vials, liquor sparkled in decanters with ornamental decals, hosiery and underwear came wrapped in cellophane packs of three.
Exquisite Form’s Brassieres Print Advertisement , 1954
Currently available in our shop: Original Best Made Hosiery Plate Glass Advertisement Negative, 1952
Because many contemporary items exhibited little outward difference, it became imperative that the ads promoting the product or the package holding it bring recognition and a positive, almost nostalgic, emotional response, thereby justifying an increasingly costly design process. Both must speak to the consumer. Customers had to be persuaded that the product was now “more convenient,” “easier to use,” “stronger,” “neater,” “cleaner,” “fresher,” “extra dry” (or “extra moist”), or was used by a celebrity or well-admired occupational group - i.e. Western "Cowboys & Indians".
Currently available in our shop: Original Pixie Bubble Gum Plate Glass Advertisement Negative, 1950s
Self-service increasingly emerged as the way consumers purchased goods in the store; the once-knowledgeable and friendly store clerk or shop owner ready to help the shopper disappeared into history, replaced by people responsible for many things, but not trained to assist customers directly or with the same level of detail. Consumers therefore relied on advertising for both information and the impulse to buy; packaging at times assumed greater significance to the product itself. The product package had to attract the eye, relay some information succinctly, and convince the would-be buyer that it was superior to the competition.
Currently available in our shop: Original Pixie Bubble Gum Plate Glass Advertisement Negative, 1950s