Life Savers™️ have originally showed up in our Vintagativy section. Its Blog also includes a couple articles related to leadership, the Valutivity side of our company (see 2012 and 2011_01_16 in the aforementioned blog). So I guess it shouldn't be surprising that this century-plus product has generated some exceptional art, worthy of our The Consulting Arts section, from the likes of Walt Disney, Andy Warhol, and beyond. See also: our Life Savers Virtual Museum.
Life Savers were made for art--especially the crystal clear boiled candy versions, with colors that truly pop. But their advertising art has always followed the times--from impressionistic, art nouveau type art, through Modern Art, to even Pixar animation in the 20th century.
There seem to be 2 types of artwork used for the Crane years. One is monochromatic, on the cardboard tubes of Crane's Life Savers. The second is an art nouveau rendering of an immersed maiden in need of lifesaving.
1930, Ruth Barnhard "Life Savers," from the portfolio Ten Photographs: 1930–1976, 1905–2006; Gelatin silver print; 1991-3.1. Retrieved from https://artmuseum.princeton.edu/collections/objects/17969
1930 also brought the Salvador Dali-esque LifeSaversFruitDrops1930A. With melting juice falling down, it was also published in the June 1930 issue of PHOTOPLAY. https://archive.org/details/LifeSaversFruitDrops1930A
The artwork above (at the top) is quite obviously the work of Andy Warhol. The simplicity of this Pop Art artwork and the odd balance is paired with a repeated product--not cans of Campbell's soup, or copies of Marilyn Monroe's face--Life Savers 5 Flavor. This is a psychedelic rendering--no fluorescent pink shows up in the Five Flavor line.
What's fascinating about this artwork (below, left), is that the odd coloration, blended colors and speckling is very similar to what you see in Life Savers Fruit Tarts (below, right).
Another Pop Art piece was used in 1943 advertising--and I would love to know where the original is!--of Walt Disney's "Gremlin Chasers".
NOTE: The Gremlins, based on a book by Ronald Dahl, apparently cause issues in airports, during World War. What is most interesting, however, is that this artwork came from advance advertisements; the Walt Disney film was never completed. Wint⭕Green, Spear⭕Mint, and Pep⭕Mint are featured in these ads.
The sculptures at Life Savers Port Chester, New York, were works of art, as well. Who created these works seems to be lost to the hands of time, but to me, they are reminiscent of Claes Oldenburg. While all of these sculptures originally were at the Port Chester offices, this one is at the Gouverneur Museum, the source of this photo (and blessedly, a lot of excellent primary documents for Life Savers research). They also have a maquette (a smaller model).
Finally, that brings us to Pixar. Talk about being ahead of the curve--Life Savers got Pixar™️ to do their commercials before Toy Story's introduction in Thanksgiving 1995!
1990, Beach -https://youtu.be/Fe6FfROGwqk?si=AIOGqU96E7nmJDQw
1990, Baby - https://youtu.be/D7O_ptQZTms?si=9_ZXcA0Idw4JDLc4
1992, beach extended - https://youtu.be/JKfy5vseUCI?feature=shared
1994, Dance - https://youtu.be/jucyx54RkTM?si=u1XjcsKr08U9qDGb
2018, Paul Rousso, "Five More Flavors of Life Savers," has made me very happy: It details the flavors in Assort⭕Mint. Retrieved from https://www.1stdibs.com/art/sculptures/figurative-sculptures/paul-rousso-five-more-flavors-life-savers/id-a_9335852/
I'm curious to see what Mars will do with Life Savers art.
Sources:
Andy Warhol https://uploads.wikiart.org/Content/wiki/img/fair-use.svg") left center / 18px 18px no-repeat; display: inline-block; width: 20px; height: 1em; vertical-align: middle; margin-top: -3px;">, Fair Use, last edit: 2 Sep, 2012 by yigruzeltimax resolution: 569x564px. Date: c.1985.
Picture of the Life Savers Fruit Tarts and of Walt Disney's Gremlins: ©️2024, Karen Smith-Will; the items pictured are part of our personal collection.
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#vintagativity #life #savers #vintage #candy #collecting #collection #Christmas #graphic #design # manufacturing #sugar #Mars #Wrigley #Beech-nut #Kraft
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Life Savers™️ is a trademarked name currently owned in the US by Mars Wrigley Confectionery, having been owned and/or licensed by many previous companies, varying by country.