Drink That Which You Like Best!

In a time when algorithms track our search history and directly advertise goods and services to us we may not appreciate that retail advertising at point-of-sale and upon packaging has a long history. Advertising mirrors, such as the one shown here, replaced tin and enamel signs, were produced for pubs, shops and milk bars and […]

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Hidden at the Back of the Fridge

A 2015 image created by designer Miranda Heckenberg, with staff and volunteers at the Tamworth Powerstation Museum, this pastiche mimics 1950s and 60s advertising. Using the colour palette, fonts and text to recreate the post-war period this fun image has multiple elements revealing so much about the period if we look.  The model, Kathryn Armstrong, […]

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Sign of the Times

The professional signwriter who painted this window used valuable gold paint and three-dimensional lettering, to be sure that his sign would be seen. Probably installed about 1890, this shop window from 148 Swan Street, Morpeth, boldly pronounced the name of T. Maynard to customers and passers-by for over 40 years. The proprietor, Thomas Maynard (1863–1939), […]

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Advertise Here

Along with ice-cream, advertising has been a mainstay of the cinema experience in Australia. Indeed, as soon as the large movie screen appeared it was used for promotion, and cinema advertising quickly became an important revenue stream for operators. In the 1950s, and before the main feature movie, these colourful, or ‘talkie’, slides were shown […]

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Fanning the Retail Flames

The retailers of Broken Hill embraced advertising fans whole-heartedly during the 1920-30s. It was before the invention of air conditioning and the economies of scale associated with the mass production of printed goods meant that advertising fans were a cheap, cheerful and functional way for retailers to make their businesses known. The rigid screen fans […]

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