Cigarettes, Alcohol and Chocolates: Commercial Culture in the early Twentieth Century

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Date:1906

Description:The Sutherland Papers Collection is packed with intriguing documents from the early twentieth century, providing an insight into life in England before the First World War. Amongst these is a wonderful collection of printed circulars, advertisements and leaflets for products including wine and confectionary dating back to 1906.

One colourful leaflet advertises ‘California Wines’ of the ‘Big Tree Brand’. This wine was ‘shipped and bottled’ by a London based company Crierson, Oldham & Co. at their ‘Big Tree Wine Store’ at Waterloo Bridge. Alongside this ‘guaranteed natural pure wine’, the company sold Blackberry Brandy which was ‘largely used in America for the cure of sore throats and colds’. It was also possible to purchase ‘Real American Cocktails’ in cases of thirteen bottles. The cocktails included the Manhattan, and a case came with a bottle of cherries and four cocktail glasses.

Click on the images on the left to see more contemporary advertisements.