Sifting through my late Grandmother’s scrap-books, I found this set of Pharmaceutical envelopes from the Victorian/Edwardian era. They were collected by her uncle (so that’s my Great-great Uncle) Thomas Lewis, who was a Chemist in Pembrokeshire, Edinburgh, and London.
The two things I enjoy about these designs are the innocent and polite text, and the use of typography. One would think that employing several different typefaces would look odd and discordant, but the combination of stencil, gothic, serif and sans-serif faces somehow seems to work. I’m reminded of the illustrator Kevin Cornell’s work, which is unsurprising really – He has an obvious affinity with this era.
I’ve added these images to Flickr with a ‘Public Domain’ creative commons license.
Later, I’ll add some more from Thomas Lewis’ scrap-book, including some early attempts at advertising copy.
Update
A colleague, too busy or cowardly to post in the comments, thinks I may be viewing these items with rose-tinted goggles. What holds the designs together, he suggests, is the old, textured paper behind the typography, rather than a balance in the type itself.
Lovely pics, Rob.
I didn’t know she had scrap-books. Will I get to see them?
Very interesting Rob. As you say the different type faces don’t look at all odd, just charming.
These are delightful, thank you for sharing them!