Huntley & Palmers Biscuits
Poster
1891 (made)
1891 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Design & Designing
Biscuit manufacturers were among the first to introduce branding to distinguish grocery products. At this time most biscuits were supplied to retailers in large tins and then sold loose. The branding was therefore for display in the shop, identifying the goods. Huntley & Palmers used a distinctive ‘girdle and buckle’ trademark, which was soon imitated by other companies.
Subjects Depicted
By 1900 Huntley & Palmers was the largest biscuit manufacturer in the world selling their products in 172 countries. This international reach was exploited in series of advertising leaflets featuring scenes from around the world. This poster shows a scene in India and the end of a tiger hunt, in which the European participants have stopped to take refreshments.
People
Thomas Huntley, who had previously helped his father Joseph run a confectionary shop in Reading, founded Huntley & Palmers in 1822 with his cousin engineer George Palmer. The company pioneered the use of the biscuit tin in the 1830s, manufactured by tinsmith and ironmonger brother Joseph (whose firm became Huntley, Boorne and Stephens). Tins allowed their products safe transport initially to supply stage coach travellers staying at the Crown Inn in Reading but also enabling transport further affield.
Biscuit manufacturers were among the first to introduce branding to distinguish grocery products. At this time most biscuits were supplied to retailers in large tins and then sold loose. The branding was therefore for display in the shop, identifying the goods. Huntley & Palmers used a distinctive ‘girdle and buckle’ trademark, which was soon imitated by other companies.
Subjects Depicted
By 1900 Huntley & Palmers was the largest biscuit manufacturer in the world selling their products in 172 countries. This international reach was exploited in series of advertising leaflets featuring scenes from around the world. This poster shows a scene in India and the end of a tiger hunt, in which the European participants have stopped to take refreshments.
People
Thomas Huntley, who had previously helped his father Joseph run a confectionary shop in Reading, founded Huntley & Palmers in 1822 with his cousin engineer George Palmer. The company pioneered the use of the biscuit tin in the 1830s, manufactured by tinsmith and ironmonger brother Joseph (whose firm became Huntley, Boorne and Stephens). Tins allowed their products safe transport initially to supply stage coach travellers staying at the Crown Inn in Reading but also enabling transport further affield.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Huntley & Palmers Biscuits (assigned by artist) |
| Materials and techniques | Colour lithograph on paper. |
| Brief description | Poster for Huntley & Palmers biscuits, colour lithograph, printed by W.H. Smith, 1891. |
| Physical description | Poster for Huntley & Palmers biscuits representing India, showing men riding and guiding elephants after hunting tigers. A group of men rest on boxes eating biscuits with the Huntley & Palmers biscuit tins and an open hamper in the foreground, left. |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions |
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| Gallery label | British Galleries:
HUNTLEY & PALMERS BISCUITS
1891
Biscuit manufacturers were among the first to introduce product branding. This poster makes a feature of the Huntley & Palmers tins with their recognisable ‘girdle and buckle’ trademark. Huntley & Palmers pioneered the biscuit tin which enabled their products to travel all over the world. The colonial imagery of this poster suggests the brand’s wide geographic reach.
Colour lithograph, inks on paper
Printed by W.H. Smith and Son, London
Given by Ogilvy Benson & Mather Ltd
Museum no. E.906-1973(12/2012) |
| Credit line | Given by Ogilvy Benson & Mather Ltd. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Place depicted | |
| Summary | Design & Designing Biscuit manufacturers were among the first to introduce branding to distinguish grocery products. At this time most biscuits were supplied to retailers in large tins and then sold loose. The branding was therefore for display in the shop, identifying the goods. Huntley & Palmers used a distinctive ‘girdle and buckle’ trademark, which was soon imitated by other companies. Subjects Depicted By 1900 Huntley & Palmers was the largest biscuit manufacturer in the world selling their products in 172 countries. This international reach was exploited in series of advertising leaflets featuring scenes from around the world. This poster shows a scene in India and the end of a tiger hunt, in which the European participants have stopped to take refreshments. People Thomas Huntley, who had previously helped his father Joseph run a confectionary shop in Reading, founded Huntley & Palmers in 1822 with his cousin engineer George Palmer. The company pioneered the use of the biscuit tin in the 1830s, manufactured by tinsmith and ironmonger brother Joseph (whose firm became Huntley, Boorne and Stephens). Tins allowed their products safe transport initially to supply stage coach travellers staying at the Crown Inn in Reading but also enabling transport further affield. |
| Bibliographic reference | Dimensions taken from: Summary Catalogue of British Posters to 1988 in the Victoria & Albert Museum in the Department of Design, Prints & Drawing. Emmett Publishing, 1990. 129 p. ISBN: 1 869934 12 1 |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | E.906-1973 |
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| Record created | June 30, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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