From Modernism to Shirt-Sleevism
Advertisements of the Thirties, by Steven Heller. Excerpt from the book 'All-American Ads of the 30s', edited by Jim Heimann
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In Paris Calkins witnessed an approach to illustration - at that time the primary means of creating and disseminating images - that was not sentimentally representational but used symbols and metaphors to create a "magical" atmosphere for consumables. Boxes and bottles were not mere utilitarian vessels, but rather signifiers of the essence of a product. Calkins wrote: "Modernism offered the opportunity of expressing the inexpressible, of suggesting not so much a motor car as speed, not so much a gown as style, not so much a compact as beauty." And if this had a similar ring to one of F. T. Marinetti's futurist manifestoes, it was because Calkins borrowed his language from the European avant-garde, while at the same time he eschewed ist radicalism.
No other advertising man was more responsible for the American consumerist revolution than Calkins, who looked more like a Mid-western preacher than a New York huckster. Yet he was instrumental in such progressive modern marketing concepts as "consumption engineering," "forced obsolescence," and "styling the goods". And these buzzwords were the core of an advertising strategy that insinuated modern art and graphic design into a heretofore copyruled, devoutly conservative profession whose primary service was purchasing ad space from magazines and newspapers.
It was no longer possible "to make an advertisement striking, conspicuous and attractive by still pictures and realistic groups," asserted Calkins, who sought to take advantage of new color printing technologies, photographic effects, and aesthetic trends to make "art" that was memorable and monumental. By integrating modern art into stodgy mainstream commercial culture, Calkins revived interest in old products and also forced consumers to anticipate a bright future filled with consumables. Nonetheless, his so-called radical ideas met with opposition from those who wanted to sell in a less artsy manner. His ideas were indeed making headway, but the vast majority of advertisements were copy-laden tracts designed to avoid misperception and ambiguity of any kind.
Conservative ad men argued that fancy advertising images were elitist distractions, unresponsive to the tastes of ordinary consumers, and therefore doomed to fail. Calkins, they said, had a conflated sense of his own class values as opposed to a reflection of the whole society. To the contrary, Calkins felt that "artistic advertising" could be a democratizing force in terms of the middle classes. Indeed, he targeted solely an economic class that he called "people of taste," rather than inducing unattainable longings in the so-called have-nots.
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6
In Paris Calkins witnessed an approach to illustration - at that time the primary means of creating and disseminating images - that was not sentimentally representational but used symbols and metaphors to create a "magical" atmosphere for consumables. Boxes and bottles were not mere utilitarian vessels, but rather signifiers of the essence of a product. Calkins wrote: "Modernism offered the opportunity of expressing the inexpressible, of suggesting not so much a motor car as speed, not so much a gown as style, not so much a compact as beauty." And if this had a similar ring to one of F. T. Marinetti's futurist manifestoes, it was because Calkins borrowed his language from the European avant-garde, while at the same time he eschewed ist radicalism.
No other advertising man was more responsible for the American consumerist revolution than Calkins, who looked more like a Mid-western preacher than a New York huckster. Yet he was instrumental in such progressive modern marketing concepts as "consumption engineering," "forced obsolescence," and "styling the goods". And these buzzwords were the core of an advertising strategy that insinuated modern art and graphic design into a heretofore copyruled, devoutly conservative profession whose primary service was purchasing ad space from magazines and newspapers.
It was no longer possible "to make an advertisement striking, conspicuous and attractive by still pictures and realistic groups," asserted Calkins, who sought to take advantage of new color printing technologies, photographic effects, and aesthetic trends to make "art" that was memorable and monumental. By integrating modern art into stodgy mainstream commercial culture, Calkins revived interest in old products and also forced consumers to anticipate a bright future filled with consumables. Nonetheless, his so-called radical ideas met with opposition from those who wanted to sell in a less artsy manner. His ideas were indeed making headway, but the vast majority of advertisements were copy-laden tracts designed to avoid misperception and ambiguity of any kind.
Conservative ad men argued that fancy advertising images were elitist distractions, unresponsive to the tastes of ordinary consumers, and therefore doomed to fail. Calkins, they said, had a conflated sense of his own class values as opposed to a reflection of the whole society. To the contrary, Calkins felt that "artistic advertising" could be a democratizing force in terms of the middle classes. Indeed, he targeted solely an economic class that he called "people of taste," rather than inducing unattainable longings in the so-called have-nots.
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