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‘The Pot of Gold at the end of the Rainbow’, c.1970s.
Colman’s has been based in Norfolk since the company was founded in 1814. The company was once of the first to build schools and medical facilities into their factory setup.
Colman’s English Mustard packaging has changed very little for decades. The bull’s head logo was invented in 1855, and the iconic yellow packaging with red text dates from 1866.
This tiny booklet titled ‘The Pot of Gold at the End of The Rainbow’ cleverly advertises Colman’s products. It is an illustrated short-story about a princess from ‘Folmania’, who must restore peace to her country by recovering the Colman’s products that were lost after a spell was cast. The back of the booklet advertises Colman’s products alongside an illustration of the cast of the story.
Rowntree sweet tin for the coronation fete of King George V at Crystal Palace in 1911.
Henry Rowntree founded Rowntree’s in 1862 as a confectionary company, but the company did not develop their famous Fruit Pastilles until 1881. This flat tin shows how the company marketed special packaging to commemorate King George V’s Coronation Fete at the Crystal Palace in 1911. The tin contained chocolate, and the lid has inset portraits of King George V and Queen Mary with the Royal Standard, sceptre and orb. The King’s Coronation Fete, Crystal Palace 1911.
Cadbury had been producing cocoa and drinking chocolate since 1824 in Birmingham, and by the 1860s, Cadbury was selling expensive boxes of luxury chocolates.
The Cadbury brand was revolutionised by the launch of Dairy Milk in 1905 and Bourneville in 1908. New marketing campaigns that helped to sell Cadbury’s products were also started in the early 20th Century. The tin below is from 1953, and shows how the brand used Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation to sell a collectible product that had more value to the consumer, which the company could make more money from.
Pictured to the right of the Cadbury’s tin below is an Oxo tin from 1953. This demonstrates how the brand, just like Cadbury’s, also used Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation to sell a collectible tin that had more value to the consumer.
Cadbury Bournville selection chocolate box tin, issued to commemorate the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II on 2nd June 1953.
Souvenir Oxo tin made to celebrate the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, 2nd June, 1953.
The topic of liquid meat is not the most appetising when it comes to food, but specially marketed meat products have gained popularity with consumers over the last two centuries.
Bovril was first introduced to the market in 1886. This ‘fluid beef’ drink had been used to feed Napoleon’s army in 1871, and it quickly became popular in Britain as a drink that could provide strength. The bottle displayed on the right here shows the old style of packaging; the modern bottles are similar in shape to Marmite jars.
Oxo was created in 1840 when a German chemist invented meat extract. It was originally sold in bottles, like the one on the left in the picture opposite. It was not until 1910 that the packaging was changed and Oxo was marketed in cubes to make it more accessible to the masses.
Box for 4 Corona bottles, with ‘Corona’ and “Fruit Drinks” written on the sides.
The drinks bottles here show how branding and advertising on bottles has developed. Bottles were made of stoneware and then glass in the first part of the twentieth century with the maker’s names imprinted, so that bottles could be reused. The bottle designs were simple and marketing was kept minimal.
This wooden crate holds four Corona bottles. Corona was a brand of soft, carbonated drink available from Thomas & Evans from the 1920s in flavours such as orangeade, dandelion and burdock, raspberryade and lemonade.
The wire-hinged, china and rubber stopper at the top of the bottle was designed to hold the cap on and keep the drink fizzy. Each bottle has ‘This bottle must only be used for Corona’ printed on it.
Tin of Lyons Pure Ground Coffee.
Evolving tea, coffee and cocoa tins often illustrate how products have changed since the early twentieth century.
The green tin of Lyons coffee is vacuum packed to keep the coffee fresh, and has never been opened! The lid is impressed with the words ‘Lyons Coffee’ and ‘Vacuum packed’.
The product is marketed with the fact it is ‘Fresh as the Dawn’.
Sainsbury’s Potted Meat jars in white earthenware.
John Sainsbury started his business in a small grocer’s shop in Drury Lane, London, in about 1869. From here, the business grew and expanded throughout the country.
In the late nineteenth century, packaging was simple and used the materials available. The ceramic potted meat jar displayed here is printed with an elaborate ‘S’ and banners reading ‘J Sainsbury’s’ and ‘Potted Meats’. The words ‘Superior’ and ‘Homemade’ make the product appeal to those cooking at home.
In the 1960s, Sainsbury’s expanded its own-brand range, and by the later part of the 20th Century simply designed disposable packaging as we would recognise today had become the norm.
