Jigsaw thoughts

I’ve just completed another jigsaw. It’s entitled “Nostalgic Brands: The design of time”. It is a collection of ads from what I would say was late Victorian times, around the turn of the 19-20^th century. I’m guessing this from a combination of the ladies’ fashions & an advert for Monopole Cycles which contains the date 1899.

A few things struck me doing the jigsaw. I thought I’d share my observations & musings with you.

The first is that I was relieved to see some of the brands still exist. There is Brown & Polson’s cornflour. And how about Jeyes? Admittedly I’m not aware of them making dog soap, but I certainly remember Jeyes’ cleaning fluids & those hard sheets of toilet paper so ubiquitous in school.

Above all I’m struck by just how much of the advertising is tied up with the concept of empire. So, for example, there is Empress Brand condensed milk, featuring Queen Victoria. As for the Monopole cycles ad it features Britannia surrounded by various shields & flags of Britain, topped by a crown. I can’t help remembering the Buy British campaign in the 1960s. Was there a similar promotion at the time of these ads?

Along with empire comes a strong emphasis on royalty. Queen Victoria is not the only royal image being used. There is The Alexandra Dentifrice, featuring a lady dressed in a style reminiscent of Princess Alexandra. Then, too, the Jeyes’ Dog Soap makes the most of its royal warrant, with its crown, British shield & Prince of Wales shield, including mottoes.

I’m struck, too, by the fact this is the changeover period with the advent of industrialisation. So we have on the one side, ads for bikes & on the other the milkman still milking by hand.

It has never before struck me before that I have no idea when chocolate as bars first came into being. Although chocolate for drinking was known, I think, from when chocolate first was brought back from Central America. Chocolate as bars is a different matter. I’m aware the big names in this country – Cadbury’s, Terry’s – were definitely Victorian. Are chocolate bars an outcome of the industrial revolution? Do chocolate bars go along with "patent auto-cured" Wiltshire bacon? All a part of post-industrialisation Britain?

In one ad a child is blacking a boot. The child is so young, the boot is almost bigger than her. She looks healthy, clean & fresh. I can’t help thinking this was a prettying up for the ad. I can well believe a child so young could be in service in those days. I can’t help thinking that half the polish would have been on her & she would not have been so smartly attired in her position in society.

I’m also bemused by one advert. It is for Prosser & Sons Lawn Tennis Racket & Ball. A couple of things amaze me. First the game being played is a mixed doubles. How those ladies could hope to play in their tight whalebones & long skirts is beyond me. The other thing is that Prosser & Sons proudly announces the company was established in 1356. What were they producing then? I appreciate real tennis dates from Tudor times & involves rackets & balls, but 1356?

Another ad made me smile. It featured a young lady sitting on a low wall against which two bicycles are leaning. She is dressed in a divided skirt of mid-calf length, very daring for the times I would have thought. She is looking over what a young man is doing. At first glance I thought he was looking at an e-pad. It was only on the second glance did I realise it was a portable paint box with a painting propped up on the lid that he was working on.

Some things stay the same. All the people shown are idealised, beautiful, in rather sentimental poses. That must have been easier when you did not have to worry about air-brushing out any blemishes or the need to slim down people by manipulating digital images. The countryside is a pleasant place for ladies with their perfect children to stroll. All servants are pretty, clean, healthy & well-dressed. It’s that world where everything is perfect, just as it tends to be in today's advertisements. The fashions & products may have changed but that is about it.