British post war posters and graphics.
Santa is in a bit of a pickle today. In our first poster (by Mawtus, 1963) he’s got stuck in his own bag of gifts.
While in this one – by an unknown artist in 1965 – he’s getting very confused between calendars and houses.
The mishaps don’t reassure me that the Post Office are going to do much better with my parcels and letters, if I’m honest. But don’t worry, Santa’s back on his usual form tomorrow so all shall be well.
We’re still travelling early, we’re still shopping early. And, above all, we’re definitely posting early.
This is by Harry Stevens from 1960. Very good it is too, but I would just like to raise one point of order. The pipe. This isn’t a P.C. objection to the glamourisation of smoking, but a serious technical question. How on earth would a snowman smoke a pipe without melting? Answers on a postcard please.
A more serious question is why Harry Stevens isn’t more highly thought of these days. He did a lot of stuff for both the GPO and London Transport, and he appears as often as Games or Eckersley in the annuals of the time. But he’s not much collected now. I’ll have answers to that conundrum too,while I’m at it. If anyone has an idea.
As promised, a chicken. It’s not often you come across a Christmas Chicken, but that’s definitely what we’ve got here.
Every time I look at it, my brain says Easter, but the words very definitely say Christmas. Most peculiar.
Anyway, it’s another design by Pieter Huveneers, it’s from 1956 and it’s inexplicable. Unless you know different.
The GPO kept Hans Unger busy in the 1960s, and here are a couple more of his designs for them. I particularly like this psychedelic Christmas Tree from 1967.
Although I also slightly fear the determined gleam in its eye. Where is it going? And is it after me for not posting my cards yet?
This rather gentler image is from 1962.
Unger did seem to like fluorescent inks on his posters – there’s another one coming up later in the calendar too. He used them for London Transport as well in 1956, and I’m sure for others as well.
Tomorrow, a chicken. Very Christmassy, I’m sure.
It’s nearly time to get the mistletoe out, isn’t it.
Today’s poster is from 1961, and is by Robert Scanlan, who I’ve never come across before. Although he’s not helping himself by not signing this poster.
But the London Transport archive tells me that he not only did this rather appealing pair poster in 1949.
But also this in 1960. Which is, as the phrase goes, iconic.
So I should have heard of him. Silly me. But if anyone knows more, or has an idea of what he did between 1949 and 1960, do let us know.
We’re still posting early, oh yes we are, but this week it’s all a bit more modern. Today, for example, we’ll be doing it in 1966.
This is by Hans Unger; it’s rather different to most of his work that I’ve seen, but it’s still good. And you can buy this one as a Christmas card too. More of Unger’s work to come later this week, as well.