In a recent post to his always interesting column, J.J. Sedelmaier has written an article for Imprint on a fascinating promotional poster series in Chicago in the early 20th century: A True Visionary Gives Chicago A Landmark Branding Campaign Circa 1920-30.
With the help of Dave at Poster Plus, Sedelmaier has accompanied the article with numerous examples of these beautiful posters, most of which are linked to much larger versions.
In sharp contrast to many articles you might see on the web about older posters, these are not only credited to the artists who designed them, but arranged by artist within the context of the article.
Wonderful.
Also reprinted on Salon.com as Posters that rival the London Underground.
(Images above, pairs are by the same artist: Willard Frederic Elmes, Otto Brennemann, Hazel B. Urgelles, Norman Erickson, Oscar Rabe Hanson, Robert Beebe, Arthur A. Johnson, Willard Frederic Elmes)
Thank you for the article Charley. Early 19th century posters, Another artistic genre that I really enjoy. cheers, Mike.
Awesome! I’m writing an illustrated novel set in the 20s and needed some references for creating authentic looking posters as chapter dividers. This has been added to my reference file. Thanks!
I saw these (not here) awhile back. Of course advertising art like this is right up my Eye Candy Alley.
Charley -
Thanks for spreading this around ! Thanks too, for your kind words !
Cheers, J.J.
My pleasure. Thanks for the great column.
These posters are spectacular! Posters from this period were truly an art form unto themselves.
Melissa
As all of the above Charley – great art, wonderful imagery.There is a huge quantity of amazing poster art out there, covering just about every conceivable subject, fantastic !
Thanks for posting this selection.
This post was a treat! Thank you so much for calling our attention to this column. I just about fell out of my chair when I saw that Lord’s Park poster. I grew up in Elgin and spent many days at that very site, feeding the ducks and geese, looking for frogs, etc. I didn’t even know that poster existed.