2020 might be a big pile of poo, but I've still had tremendous luck this year finding some real gems. This week it was a Famous Products Co. Lucky Spirit Brand Black Incense Powder tin from the 30's / 40's. Immaculate condition, with a brilliantly colorful, wonderfully witchy design scheme highlighting both beautiful sides. The topper seems to be welded on tight, though you can still smell the subtly sweet, flowery incense emanating from within. Okay, so I was in the midst of researching and creating a much more involved post about this tin, but two online links I found seem to sum up the fascinating story of the product company and the incredible graphic design team that made this brand's style so visually (and racially) amazing. CLICK HERE and HERE for the links. (Also, check out the original old catalog page featuring this tin at the very bottom of the post!)
Very neat, very stylish artwork. They really went all out, even framing the instructions in some nice border work.
ReplyDeleteI like the "witch" side better, it's a bit more busy but I love the framing with the lucky charms marshmallows. I even love all the odd fonts (I was always told to keep the differences in fonts down but this artist didn't heed that advice!)
The back side is also universally good. I like the smoke escaping the heart panel.
This is awesome. I really dig the design on this can, and would love to see more of these things. I like the general "magic tricks product ads meets tarot deck" groove here. Also love the witchy bible girl's peacock hat. But what excited me the most is the dream book, since I just learned about the history of policy number games last weekend. So it's neat, and serendipitous, to come across a real-world example of lucky numbers divination as a sales promotion for this catalogue.
ReplyDeleteA great find. This kind of stuff from the old occult catalogs is hard to come by.
ReplyDeleteAnd here I thought burning incense was revived practice during the sixties. I didn't know it was popular in the twenties and thirties.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the history lesson, Karswell.
Hoping to maybe have a line on an actual dream book, which I will of course post as soon as it becomes a reality. Thanks for the comments-- more magic and occult stuff coming up later this month too!
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