THE MUSEUM OF BRANDS, PACKAGING AND ADVERTISING
A MUSEUM OF SOCIAL HISTORY, DESIGN, REMINISCENCE & CHANGING LIFE IN BRITAIN
100 YEARS OF CULTURE & LIFESTYLE REVEALED THROUGH HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTS, TOYS, FOOD, POSTERS, BOOKS, CONTAINERS, POSTCARDS AND MANY MORE
THE ARTEFACTS OF DOMESTIC LIFE - AN EVER-EVOLVING COLLECTION OF ½ MILLION OBJECTS
The world famous Robert Opie Collection – an ever-evolving and unrivalled collection of seemingly everyday objects amassed over 45 years, is revealed in the Museum of Brands, Packaging and Advertising. The vibrant collection tells the story of over 150 years of British consumer society and numbers over 500,000 original items; some are obviously significant in their own right, but many, including sweets, washing powder boxes, posters, toys, household appliances, food packaging and fashions, only reveal their significance when seen as part of a body of objects unfolding as visitors progress through the Museum’s time tunnel.
Decade by decade, the Museum identifies objects which have the power to unlock memories; products long since consigned to history, design classics, or long- forgotten childhood toys. But beyond the ability to inspire fond memories, the Museum traces changes in social trends, style, design, fashion, entertainment, communications, travel, transport and behaviour that have transformed life in Britain. Even a short time among the 10,000 items in the Museum galleries can reveal hidden meaning and significance behind seemingly one-dimensional objects.
The Museum also presents the great inventions of the past – among them the radio, television, computer, vacuum cleaner – with some well-loved examples, the 1895 Gower-Bell telephone, the 1911 Star Vacuum Cleaner, the 1890 Rippingille oil warming stove and the world’s first portable gramophone, the 1909 Pigmy Grand.
Robert Opie said: ‘On 8 September 1963, at the age of sixteen, I bought a packet of Munchies at Inverness Railway Station. While eating them I was struck by the idea that I should save the packaging and start collecting the designed and branded packages which would otherwise surely disappear forever. Forty years later, I am still collecting and have a list of about 1000 items which need to be collected. The Museum houses the highlights of my collection – evidence of a dynamic commercial system that delivers thousands of desirable items from all corners of the world, a feat arguably more complex than sending man to the Moon, but one still taken for granted. The collection has the power to stop visitors in their tracks as they reach a certain part of the Museum’s time tunnel and the era which contains their first memories. This could be provoked by a can of Quattro, Texan bar, Kodak camera, children’s comic, 1950s jukebox, baked bean tin, packet of tea or bar of soap. Each object has its own significance for every person who enters the Museum.’
VISITOR INFORMATION
Museum of Brands, Packaging and Advertising
2 Colville Mews, off Lonsdale Road, Notting Hill, London, W11 2AR
Opening Hours: Tuesday-Saturday 10am-6pm; Sunday 11am-4pm
Closed on Mondays – except Bank Holidays
Admission prices: Adults £5.80; Children (7-16) £2; Concessions £3.50; Family £14
Groups: 10% discount on groups of 10 or more. Pre-booking on 020 7908 0880. School groups welcome. Full disabled access, café and Museum shop.
Travel/directions:
On foot: The Museum is two minutes from Portobello Road and Market
By tube: Nearest stations are Notting Hill Gate, Westbourne Park and Ladbroke Grove. Also nearby are Bayswater, Queensway and Paddington
By train: Paddington station
By bus: Closest stop number 23. Also stopping nearby: 7, 28, 31, 36, 52, 70 and 328
By car: Metered street parking. NCP car park 20-minute walk from the Museum
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Notes to editors:
‘Consumer historian’ Robert Opie began collecting in 1963 with a single packet of Munchies. His collection now numbers over 500,000 items and extends to all aspects of daily life – toys, comics, magazines, newspapers, technology, travel, royal souvenirs, fashion and design. In 1975, part of The Robert Opie Collection was displayed in the successful exhibition The Pack Age – A Century of Wrapping It Up at the V&A Museum, London. In 1984, Robert Opie opened the Museum of Advertising and Packaging in Gloucester. In 1985 he mounted an exhibition That British Feeling at the Trocadero in Piccadilly Circus, London. This was followed by the touring exhibition The Treasure and Pleasure of Childhood, which opened in Japan in 1993, and the opening of the Museum of Memories in Wigan in 1999. The Museum of Brands, Packaging and Advertising opened in Notting Hill in December 2005. Books by Robert Opie include Rule Britannia (1985), The Art of the Label (1987), Sweet Memories (1988) and The Packaging Source Book (1989).
The Museum’s major sponsors are: Kellogg’s, Cadbury Trebor Bassett, Twinings, pi global, Vodafone and McVitie’s.
For further information or pictures, please contact Anna Mellows,
Museum Manager, on 020 7908 0881
or email anna@museumofbrands.com
