Brand name

History

A new culture of brand names pervaded the last decades of the 19th century: the trademark appeared on all forms of packaging; the trademark was the subject of the first color lithograph advertisements; and the trademark was emblazoned on the promotional objects which, on the example of the great Parisian department stores, a good number of firms bestowed upon dealers and customers.

Around the 1880’s there appeared a new genre of advertisement which, by comparison to its counterpart in paper, was much heavier and sturdier, able to last over time.

The support was in cast iron (later to become iron and laminated steel); the process of forming an image required the application in successive phases (followed by kiln firing) of vitreous silica in a semi-liquid state.

Invented in central Europe in the early 19th century, perfected and fine-tuned over time, the baked enamel sign entered the world of advertising and remained there at least fifty years.

Ideally suited for outdoor display (even in bad weather) and prized for its sparkling modernity, these signs were used for railroad stations, for trams and steamships, but above all for the exterior walls of retail stores.

The message, in this case, was twofold: while it presented in positive terms the idea of a product, it also indicated the place where it could be acquired.