Stunning collection of ca. 180 pictorial cigarette packs mainly of Soviet origin, [1950s-1960s]

Beschreibung

[THE SOVIET CIGARETTE PACKS ARCHIVE]. Private collection of ca. 180 excerpts of pictorial cigarette packs and bandeoles of various shapes and sizes, mainly of Soviet or Eastern European origin. [1950s-1960s].

28,7:20,3 (cardboards). Relief printing, halftone, colour offset and letterpress on different papers and cardboards, mounted on 49 loose creme cardboards with threefold perforation.

Outstanding private collection of ca. 180 pictorial cigarette packs and banderoles from the 1950s and 60s, mainly of Soviet or Eastern European origin.

Content: Present collection resembles specimen of various shapes and sizes, of stunningly diverse design throughout as well as elaborately printed (i.e. with relief printing, often gold heightened, halftone and offset of intensive colouring).

It contains packs mainly from the Soviet Union, particularly from Russian production, but also from the Socialist Republics of Azerbaijan, Estonia, Georgia, Latvia, Mongolia, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. Furthermore included are cigarette packs from different states politically and economically affiliated to the USSR, mainly from Eastern Europe: Albania, Bulgaria, Poland and Romania, as well as from China and Cuba. Finally specimen from Algeria, Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, India and Venezuela are also part of this impressive collection.

Condition: The 49 cardboards were taken from an album, as their perforation suggests; some of them are numbered with pencil. Cardboards parts dog-eared. Most of the ca. 180 specimen are in splendid condition, no wear, no tear, no spot. Overall a very representative example of industrial design in the Communist Sphere and a rich source for studies of social, cultural and marketing history.