Blog: Ephemera

From the reference box #134


#134 - Russian (?) Concert/Circus Programme, 1971. I love the illustrations on this cover with the lovely contrast between the intricate black lettering and the simple colourful figures, but I have no idea what any of this says!

I think it's Russian and it is definitely a programme of events for a show of some kind, I'm guessing a circus or music concert purely from the illustrations so please correct me if I'm way off!

Thu 17 Jan 2013

Posted under: Design , Ephemera , Reference box

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From the reference box #133

Right, we're back in the zone, our poor blog has been the victim of our super busy December!

#133 - Monotype Newsletter 90, November 1971. I completely forgot buying a few 70's copies of the Monotype Newsletter last Summer, so it was a pleasant surprise to find them hidden away in the reference box.

Here's No. 90, the first of the new format newsletters which includes a selection of pangrams on the inside covers, a list of London Monotype machine typesetters, an article on Michelin Guides, some metric conversions and a little history of Times Condensed...








The Brighton Cats

Courtesy of Philippe Garner




Sticking with the cat theme today. I saw a link to 'nineteenth century cat photography' whilst reading about the For the LOL of cats exhibition yesterday and it took me to this fantastic collection of cat carte-de-visite.

Harry Pointer was a 19th century photographer who worked from a studio in Bloomsbury Place, Brighton. In the early 1870's he produced a series of approximately 200 carte-de-visite called 'The Brighton Cats' that featured his own cats in various poses from eating & sleeping to riding bikes and roller skating!

I can't believe I haven't read about Harry Pointer and his wonderful cat photography before or seen any of his cards. I collect vintage cat photographs, carte-de-visite and I'm based in Brighton - it's like my dream collection.

I'm yet to find a Harry Pointer cat carte-de-visite, but the search is on! You can see my carte-de-visite collection here.

It's not clear who owns the copyright to these images, but they're taken from Sussex PhotoHistory.

From the reference box #131

#131 - P&O's 'Chusan' Tourist Class, General Entertainments, 1958. A new addition to the reference box, bought purely for it's wonderful Daphne Padden cover.

Daphne Padden (1927 - 2009) was a freelance designer who throughout her career created gorgeously illustrated posters, marketing material, packaging and menus for the British Transport Commission, the Post Office Savings Bank, the British Diabetic Society, P&O and BEA.

See more posts about Daphne Padden here and here.

Arkiva Tropika











These fabulous vintage menu covers are from Arkiva Tropika - the personal tropical/ tropical themed ephemera collection of Mimi Payne; "From Florida to Fiji, from Haiti to Hawaii, from Seattle to Samoa, Arkiva Tropika is about the classic island imagery of tourism".

Her vast collection consists of mainly 50s/ 60s examples. The menus covers above are only the tip of the iceberg and every one is fantastic. 


Now go, make a cup of tea and grab the biscuits, you'll be there a while! 

All images copyright Mimi Payne/ Arkiva Tropika

From the reference box #129


#129 - Canadian travel booklet circa late 50's early 60's, from The Canadian Government Travel Bureau. I bought this at the weekend with loads of other travel information and maps from the 50's and 60's. They had belonged to a very well travelled gentleman who had kept everything from each trip (maps, tickets, travel documents, guides, menus). Unfortunately I was beaten to the stack of plane and cruise ship menus and I fought my urge to snatch them and run!

I'll post them all over the next few weeks, but for starters here are some of the gorgeous illustrations throughout this guide. There's no illustration or design credit which is a shame and an internet search has drawn a blank, so if you do know who the illustrator is, please let me know.



There are lots more vintage goodies in our reference box, have a rifle though them here.

Vintage Racing Posters


It's all about the posters today! This little bunch are my personal favourites from Historic Car Art's massive selection of original, vintage racing posters.

The bold colours and simple designs do it for me, now if only I had more wall space...
Images copyright Historic Car Art.

From the reference box #128


#128 - Vintage bulb packaging. I just saw that the lovely Maraid was selling some vintage bulb packaging on Ebay (can't believe I missed them!), anyway it reminded me that I had a few somewhere and here they are.

A DR. G. Fischer Autolicht car bulb for a Helphos spotlight (left), a British Electric Lamps Ltd. decorative bulb and a neon crucifix light bulb. Maybe I'll start collecting these too!

From the reference box #127



#127 - Post Office Telegram, 14 November 1946. I picked this up at a car boot sale last summer. The envelope is only slightly bigger than a business card and made from extremely thin paper (as is the telegram).

I bought it because the simplicity of the type on the envelope attracted my attention- clear and functional, with no hint at the message inside. In this case a happy one ' [to] Brown 9 Watsons Walk St-Albans= Congratulations on your 21 st birthday love= Jean D+'.

If you like this, check out more of our reference material here.

Mon 16 Jul 2012

Posted under: Design , Ephemera , Reference box

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From the reference box #126


#126 - Disque de controle do stationnement (a vintage French parking control). Another dial for my collection, and a variation of one I already have. The only difference is that this one advertises 'Vittel' water, and my other is advertises Citreon cars.

Have a look at my other dials here, or have a look through our ever-growing reference box here.

Wed 11 Jul 2012

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From the reference box # 123


#123 - Two new Carte-de-visite. Two additions to my Carte-de-visite collection; a large Scottish one from Marshall Wane, Edinburgh that has lovely gold edges and a much smaller example (bottom) from G Willis, Scarborough which isn't as elaborate as others in my collection but lovely all the same.

See the rest of my collection here and for more information about Carte-de-visite read this post.

Wed 14 Mar 2012

Posted under: Design , Ephemera , Reference box

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Happy birthday to us!

 
The Delicious blog is 4 today and this is just some of the fabulous design, ephemera, photography and packaging we've posted about over the last year.

Huge thanks to all of you for dropping by and showing your support - it's very much appreciated smile

Here's to another design packed year!

Nuclear slide rules and dials






I love slide rules and dial calculators, there are so many you rarely see the same one twice. These complex beauties are from a collection of Nuclear slide rules and dials gathered together by ORAU (Oak Ridge Associated Universities).

They've got dials to calculate radiation dosage, Nuclear bomb effects, Nuclear weapon effects, x-ray exposure, decay rates, treatment times and Radium exposure. A much more useful collection than mine, which mainly consists of vintage promotional pieces!

See the full collection of Nuclear slide rules here and see some of mine here.

Images copyright ORAU.
VIa Notcot.

Sun 12 Feb 2012

Posted under: Design , Ephemera , collections

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From the reference box # 121







#121 - Vintage Tourist Map of Greece.

I love the contrast of the traditional style cover against the gorgeous graphic maps inside - they're so bright and colourful with a very modern feel.

It was designed in March 1967 for The National Tourist Organization of Greece by M Katzourakis.

Shrug off those January blues with some tea, a slice of cake and a dig around in our reference box!

Mon 23 Jan 2012

Posted under: Design , Ephemera , Reference box , Map

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From the reference box # 120






#120 - 1950/60's Christmas cards. A festive offering as we sign-off for the holidays.

Hope you all have a fabulous Christmas and a very merry New Year - see you on the other side!

And if you do find yourself browsing the internet on your new ipad, or pretending to work on your laptop to escape from the relatives, have a look through the rest of our reference box - it'll keep you 'busy' for hours.

Fri 23 Dec 2011

Posted under: Ephemera , Reference box

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Welcome to the Delicious Industries blog. We're an independent design studio based in Brighton, UK and this is our scrapbook packed full of design, illustration, photography & typography inspiration. Check out our work here.

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