Unearthed a super cute and very old Tess and Ted School Shoes promotional pinback today-- and ain't they just about the cutest, most unjustly forgotten mascot team ever? Aka "The Star Brand Kids," Tess and Ted were characters created in the early 1900s to be featured in advertising materials for children's shoes manufactured by the Roberts, Johnson, and Rand Shoe Company in St. Louis, Missouri. According to the Button Museum website, this darling young duo apparently became quite famous at the time for their popular "rhyming adventures" as featured in trade catalog books and other advertising materials. They even became an actual real live song and dance act that performed for children in St. Louis. But back to the sweetly illustrated button, which is, like most things from the ever amazing Victorian era, just absolutely, beautifully rendered. From their fresh lil faces to their high falootin' fashion sense, I do believe it's time for Tess and Ted to make their long awaited comeback...
Agreed, the art is really lovely. I feel like I've said this before, but it always really surprises me when brand mascots like this feel so divorced from the product they are selling, as happened quite a lot in Victorian ads. I mean, at the turn of the nineteenth century, this art might be about hats or ice or powdered tar ear gum or something. Who knows? I mean, they really are wearing shoes, sure, but that detail is like an infinitesimal squiggle in this drawing. This art is not really about the shoes--and most certainly not about "school shoes". Well, maybe dance school I guess.
ReplyDeleteTess and Ted are the kind of people that makes bully salivate and scream "fresh meat!"
ReplyDeleteThat's pretty amazing printing for the size!