Wunderkammer or Replica of Poppi’s Basement?

After walking past a sign for the Museum of Brands, Packaging & Advertising twice a day, everyday on my walk to work, I decided I needed to give in and see what this was all about. In a very uncharacteristic Bailey-move, I decided to wander on in without doing any preliminary research on what I was getting myself into. This worked well for our expedition to the Barbie museum in Prague (see pictures below) - the boys in my study abroad crew have yet to forgive us for that one - but since I was calling the shots today I figured, why not! 

Laid out in such a way that it takes you on a journey through time with all the BRITISH brands you know and love, I was off through the twisting tunnels of this dungeon-like cabinet of curiosities. What popular British brands did I see, you ask? Well, see that’s just the thing. As an ex-pat who still has trouble buying groceries, always unsure of what the packages are trying to sell me, I should have known I was getting in over my head, submerging myself in more and more of these “popular labels” that have yet to mean anything to my American-trained mind. They say though, the only way to learn is through complete immersion, right? Well, then, let’s file this in the education bucket, as I certainly dove head first into the world of British advertising.

I started in the Victorian era, learning a lot about Marmite, a sticky, dark brown paste with a distinctive, powerful flavour, which is extremely salty and savoury – whose slogan for years has been, very appropriately I must say, “Love it or hate it.” Based on the description, my allegiance falls with the latter. Moving on from the Victorian to the Edwardian era I found products like Keen’s Mustard, a byproduct of the first mustard factory in London, and Hornby Trains, the early, unsuccessful version of the do-it-yourself train models and tracks, which failed because young boys were lazier than Hornby anticipated and wanted the pre-assembled versions popular at the time. It wasn’t until the later decades when I was actually able to recognize some of the products and games being marketed, i.e. Rubik’s Cube (with a special Charles and Diana commemorative wedding-day design), Fanta, Monopoly (British version which replaces Boardwalk with Mayfair, Park Ave with Regent’s Street, Reading Railroad with King’s Cross Station), Cadbury, and others.  

My personal favorite, and just to bring the post full circle, was the British Barbie doll Sindy, whose “girl next door” look made her much more popular in Britain than Barbie (apparently Brits think Barbie’s a slut). Surprisingly, Sindy’s “wholesome look” was never able to cross the pond and make a dent in American consumerism, so after a few futile attempts in advertising her in the states, they gave up and returned her to the homeland.

I guess I should have read the description before entering, could have given me more of the British clue…

“The Museum of Brands, Packaging & Advertising spans a 120-year period in the history of consumerism, culture, design, domestic life, fashion, folly and fate. It is presented as a magnificently cluttered time tunnel of cartons and bottles, toys and advertising displays, and is a small part of the collection amassed by Robert Opie - son of the celebrated collectors of children's lore and literature Iona and Peter Opie - since the day in 1963 when the 16-year-old arrived home with a Munchies wrapper and declared his intention never to throw away anything ever again. The emphasis is on British consumerism through the last century, though there are items as old as an ancient Egyptian doll. One for Brit-brand nostalgists.”

Takeaway lesson – I will look into creating the American Museum of Brands, Packaging & Advertising right next door to this one for us ethnocentric ex-pats who assumed all British museums would feature pertinent American memorabilia. I’ll start by going through Poppi’s 98-year old basement collection.

English word of the day: Today I highlight the LONG E, prevalent in words pronounced lee-verage, a-meen-able, har-eem. This were all words I heard recently in conversation around the office which gave me pause to think, ok what words are they trying to use here – and yea, don’t ask why these were the three words I picked out, I assure you they weren’t used in one sentence :) The use of the long E vs. our staccato “eh” sound often causes confusion for the American tongue in England, and definitely was something I felt worth noting.