Images of Egypt: Palmolive

One of the brands that consistently used Egypt in its advertising was Palmolive. Palmolive was developed in 1898 by the B.J Johnson Company and by 1900 was the worlds best selling soap. It was named after its two principle ingredients Palm and Olive Oil.

By 1902 they had started developing the stylish advertising they became well known for and always emphasized ingredient purity and product benefits.

During the period after 1910 they ran a series of wonderfully designed advertisements using Egyptian iconography. This national campaign was designed by the Lord & Thomas advertising agency and helped to re position the brand into a luxury one that would enhance the beauty of women.

Coles Phillips (1880-1927)

Via Etsy

Egypt in C20: At the Movies

The second of this series focusing on actresses who played Cleopatra in the twentieth century (see the first here) focuses on the film starring the marvellous Theda Bara.

The director was J. Gordon Edwards and it also featured Fritz Leiber and Thurston Hall. It was filmed in the Summer of 1917 and was released in October of the same year.

Both publicity, sets and costumes were lavish.30,000 people were employed in the making of the film as well as 2,000 horses in total Fox spent $50,000 on sets.

 Publicity stated that ancient prophecies had predicted that Theda would play Cleopatra.

She makes a wonderful, exotic and mysterious Cleopatra, if the surviving footage and publicity materials are anything to go by.

Carlton Cinema, Essex Road, London

Designed by architect George Coles the Carlton Cinema opened in 1930 and was still being used as a cinema into the 1970s, since 1962 as part of the ABC chain. It’s history has been less illustrious since with a stint as a bingo hall and then its subsequent abandonment in 2007. The building is currently boarded up and vacant.

The 1930s structure was built on a site that had previously been occupied, since the 1800s, by terraced houses.  C&R Theatres Ltd, owners of the Carlton Cinema chain, purchased the land and got planning permission to build the venue in 1929.

The cinema was opened on 1^st September 1930 by Prince Arthur of Connaught and other audience members, in its 2,266 seater capacity, were the Mayor of Islington. The opening film was “Welcome Danger” staring Harold Lloyd.

From my collection: Luggage Labels

Egypt in the C20: At the Movies

The first of this sequence of  'Egypt at the Movies' focuses on the  feature 'Cleopatra' starring Helen Gardner.

Released on the 13th November 1912 it was the first production of the independent production company 'Helen Gardner Productions'. Helen Gardner was the first actress to establish her own production company as well, mainly though her role as Cleopatra, as being the first film "Vamp".

As an actress Helen Gardner appeared in 62 films between 1910 and 1924 and out of these around 18 are known to still survive, at least in part.

Luckily one of these is Cleopatra and you can really get a sense of her appeal.

Her style is the very epitome of late 'Edwardian' glamour with its heady exoticism and sexuality.

Death on the Nile: Images of Egypt

Death on the Nile is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on November 1, 1937 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company the following year. The UK edition retailed at seven shillings and sixpence and the US edition at $2.00.

With the novel being set in Egypt the front covers can give us plenty of insight into images of Egypt in the twentieth century. Some of the covers, of course, are nothing to do with Egypt - instead focusing on the glamorous woman or the image of Poirot himself. The cover from 1978 is a tie in to the movie starting Peter Ustinov as Hercule and the gorgeous David Niven as Colonel Race. 

1937

1949

1958

1960

1963

1978

1986

2004

2007