Rainy bank holiday in Notting Hill
May
After a weekend of drinking, celebrating and recovering from the United Kingdoms tragic fail at the Eurovision Song contest, I faced yet another day indoors when the heavens opened and didn’t stop.
Thankfully, after a bit of googling for stuff to do in London on a rainy day, I stumbled across a small and somewhat different museum dedicated to the products and branding of the past 100+ years. A quick cab and a shake of a wet umbrella later, we bundled into the aptly named “Museum of Brands, Packaging and Advertising” - an awesome collection of real product packaging spanning from 1890 to the present day.
What fascinated me was the evolution of the packaging and branding as the times changed - from the unique hand-crafted tins of the pre-war times, to the disposable, brightly coloured card packaging of the modern day.
Of course, the trip wasn’t entirely without a hint of nostalgia - as I passed from the 70’s to the 80’s, memories of “Fiendish Feet” yogurts and “Space Raiders” crisps were dredged up from my childhood, and I was transported to a world more innocent and full of luminous plastic…
For just over a fiver, and with a warm welcome from the owner (and collector of the products from the past 30 years), it’s well worth a visit.
