With a relatively brief heyday from 1880 to flame out in 1950, the art of enamel signage blazed a trail not unlike the rarest meteor shower, drawing attention with its highly visible, breathtaking flash of brilliance to leave its avid admirers wishing for more. An advertising visionary, vintage porcelain signs were once pronounced 'shouts on walls.' Ingeniously ahead of its time, graphic, distinctively beautiful and uncommonly durable, enamel advertising signage was the glamorous big sister to today's comparatively, plain Jane billboard.
The inception of the art form began in Europe at the tail of the nineteenth century and made its mark in the States ten-years later via Enameled Iron Company of Pennsylvania. At a period in history ripe with innovation, progress was rampant with new advances in science, technology, inventions and industry. The entrepreneurial spirit fueled the competitive field of promotional advertising.
Porcelain-enamel is a product of powdered glass, melted in a firing process at 1,382 and 1,562 degree F heat. Once liquified, the glass flows directly onto iron, where it solidifies. The final product is a slick, impenetrable, indestructible composite. Recognized as resistant to scratches, chips and fire, enamel became an incomparable surface for household appliances.
The fusion that produces enameled signage results in a colorless or translucent product. Color is introduced through select minerals. The hard nature of enamel requires more than the ease of mixing used for creating variant color hues in liquid paint. Pulverization to the consistency of flour allows enamel to incorporate the colorization of minerals. Optical illusions trick color perception with processing.
Porcelain advertising signs were designed to survive extraordinary challenges in a lifetime exposed to the elements. Enamel, being glass instead of paint, resists fading with UV exposure. Inherently fireproof and chemically resistant, the strength to resist chips, scratches and impact damage was attenuated by firing thick layers of colors. Stenciling amidst the layers of color, gave the signs a definitive 3D appearance.
In it's heyday, enameled advertisements spoke with a purpose and carried the impact of a big stick. Like a visionary, advertising knew 'desirable' and finessed a product indelibly into the desires of the masses. Impossible to ignore, advertisement signage decorated the exteriors of stores, offices, transportation hubs. The spirit of consumerism grew and economy thrived.
As our mobile society picked up speed, the desire for social status fueled the dreams for faster vehicles and premiere petrol. Society longed for celebrity-endorsed cigarettes and beverages, branded in arresting detail on porcelain signage.
Argentina's notable history for enameled sign-work correlated specifically with their industry. The monumental ad campaign for a beverage named Hesperidina, began an evolution in the ad industry, and the 1876 establishment of the Patents and Trademarks Registry. Argentina founded Piccardo in 1898, the oldest remaining tobacco company and fostered a lucrative promotional cigarette campaign via enameled ads.
Though vintage porcelain signs had a relatively brief lifespan, the influence exerted in the prominently displayed artwork was no flash in the pan. As technology progressed, neon became the shining star in advertising ventures. Many relics of porcelain signage were lost, forgotten in abandoned warehouses, or scrapped for metal during World War II. The survivors reside in the posterity of collectible history.
The inception of the art form began in Europe at the tail of the nineteenth century and made its mark in the States ten-years later via Enameled Iron Company of Pennsylvania. At a period in history ripe with innovation, progress was rampant with new advances in science, technology, inventions and industry. The entrepreneurial spirit fueled the competitive field of promotional advertising.
Porcelain-enamel is a product of powdered glass, melted in a firing process at 1,382 and 1,562 degree F heat. Once liquified, the glass flows directly onto iron, where it solidifies. The final product is a slick, impenetrable, indestructible composite. Recognized as resistant to scratches, chips and fire, enamel became an incomparable surface for household appliances.
The fusion that produces enameled signage results in a colorless or translucent product. Color is introduced through select minerals. The hard nature of enamel requires more than the ease of mixing used for creating variant color hues in liquid paint. Pulverization to the consistency of flour allows enamel to incorporate the colorization of minerals. Optical illusions trick color perception with processing.
Porcelain advertising signs were designed to survive extraordinary challenges in a lifetime exposed to the elements. Enamel, being glass instead of paint, resists fading with UV exposure. Inherently fireproof and chemically resistant, the strength to resist chips, scratches and impact damage was attenuated by firing thick layers of colors. Stenciling amidst the layers of color, gave the signs a definitive 3D appearance.
In it's heyday, enameled advertisements spoke with a purpose and carried the impact of a big stick. Like a visionary, advertising knew 'desirable' and finessed a product indelibly into the desires of the masses. Impossible to ignore, advertisement signage decorated the exteriors of stores, offices, transportation hubs. The spirit of consumerism grew and economy thrived.
As our mobile society picked up speed, the desire for social status fueled the dreams for faster vehicles and premiere petrol. Society longed for celebrity-endorsed cigarettes and beverages, branded in arresting detail on porcelain signage.
Argentina's notable history for enameled sign-work correlated specifically with their industry. The monumental ad campaign for a beverage named Hesperidina, began an evolution in the ad industry, and the 1876 establishment of the Patents and Trademarks Registry. Argentina founded Piccardo in 1898, the oldest remaining tobacco company and fostered a lucrative promotional cigarette campaign via enameled ads.
Though vintage porcelain signs had a relatively brief lifespan, the influence exerted in the prominently displayed artwork was no flash in the pan. As technology progressed, neon became the shining star in advertising ventures. Many relics of porcelain signage were lost, forgotten in abandoned warehouses, or scrapped for metal during World War II. The survivors reside in the posterity of collectible history.
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