Vintage Packaging
Jul 20, 2016 | by Becky Oeltjenbruns
Made in France, circa 1948
As all of my Instagram friends know, I recently got back from a trip to my grandparent’s house. (I am completely obsessed with that house. From the noble bricks to the inviting woodwork details – it has my heart.) But today I’d like to talk about the little treasures we found inside the house and, more specifically, the boxes they came in.
Vintage packaging has always intrigued me and I’ve never been able to quite identify why that is, but I know I’m not alone. A quick trip to the grocery store reveals a variety of items proudly showing off their “throw-back” designs. (Mountain Dew, Reese’s Pieces – the list goes on.) So what is it about vintage packaging that has inspired the modern consumer?
In one word: novelty. I think there’s a degree of whimsy in old designs that you just don’t see nowadays. In the digital world we’re conditioned to understand quick information – clean, clear, crisp. Everything needs to be easy to digest in ten seconds or less. That often translates to an abundance of white space, big letters, and a very decisive use of color. It’s a bit of a dumbed down experience when you really think about it. The “hey look over here” approach. But for the vintage consumer, who didn’t rely on a quick google search, the information on the outside had to inform them. This was the one shot for companies to get someone to buy their product. The key to this quest: trust.
A modern spin from the grocery store
The true test is when someone trusts enough and decides a purchase is a good use of their hard-earned cash. But the average Joe (or Jane) won’t just fork over their money without being well-informed. So what’s the novel thing to do? Why cleverly display information of course – make it fun. Vintage graphic designers did this by including text boxes to tout the product’s high quality, durability, or features. A catchy color scheme with a variety of fonts was then introduced to draw the eye, encouraging someone to pick it up off the shelf. Lastly, some artistic license must be employed – that could range from a drawing of the item (or what you could make with it) to a cartoon character. As long as it was something to make you smile or imagine yourself with the product – that was the goal. Putting all these elements together lends vintage packaging a whimsy. It’s a personal approach that just isn’t seen anymore. (Kind of like our debate on manners, but I’ll digress.)
Consider the feature image of the Mouli grater. My great-grandfather purchased three of these graters, two for his daughters and one for his wife at a Nebraska State Fair. Why? Look no further then the box’s catch phrases: “A must for every kitchen”, “sturdily made of high grade steel”, “great for grating”, “specifically plated to prevent rust.” The list goes on, but you get the picture (and probably want to run out and get one for yourself). It’s like a well-tuned Facebook ad without the annoying pop-up. The cake decorator box shows off the same recipe of glorious advertisement. I mean, what cake artist doesn’t want to be as glamorous and happy as the woman on the box??
A good investment for fifty cents!
When you examine vintage packaging it’s not that different from a visit to an art gallery in this sense: every time you pick it up you notice something new. For as iconic as Apple’s packaging is, you’d be hard-pressed to come to a similar conclusion.
There’s just something comforting in all the fun factoids, little diagrams, and instructions. It’s a level of caring that we don’t get to experience often when we shop. That nostalgic charm is probably why we’re seeing the vintage trend come back, but do you think there’s something more to the story? Let me know in the comments!