That time Norman Rockwell did a series of paintings for a tea company based here in Saint John NB...

[chromedome]

Red Rose is a well-known Canadian tea brand, once headquartered in uptown Saint John (but now owned by Unilever). In the 1950s the company commissioned Norman Rockwell to create a series of paintings for its print ads, which were recently rediscovered by a local graphic designer.

 

Story is here.

[haresfur]

12 hours ago, chromedome said:

Red Rose is a well-known Canadian tea brand, once headquartered in uptown Saint John (but now owned by Unilever). In the 1950s the company commissioned Norman Rockwell to create a series of paintings for its print ads, which were recently rediscovered by a local graphic designer.

 

Story is here.

 

Cool story.

 

"It wouldn't have been the same blend sold by the label today, however. The Atlantic version was discontinued in the early 2000s"

 

Now that's a shame. The Red Rose Orange Pekoe was distinct and really good. Like the English gentleman in the old ads said, "Only in Canada? Pity"

 

And I actually had my Mom bring some Red Rose from Nova Scotia for a coworker who had talked about how good it was. 

[heidih]

Interesting and lovely images. I swear I got Red Rose here in US long ago, before the Lipton warehouse dust took over 

[chromedome]

One of the ads mentions a set of collectible images of songbirds inside the boxes. When I was a kid, Red Rose always came with a little incentive inside the box in the form of pictures or small ceramic figurines. Most of my relatives had dozens of those little figurines around the house. They were made in England, and are now mildly collectible.

We have two other iconic regional tea brands. King Cole also originated here in Saint John with the G E Barbour company, now headquartered in nearby Sussex. The other is Morse's, originally blended and sold in Halifax but now also owned by Barbour. Both are perfectly decent, full-flavored orange pekoes (I'm drinking King Cole as I write this).

[gfweb]

6 hours ago, heidih said:

Interesting and lovely images. I swear I got Red Rose here in US long ago, before the Lipton warehouse dust took over 

 

6 hours ago, heidih said:

Interesting and lovely images. I swear I got Red Rose here in US long ago, before the Lipton warehouse dust took over 

I recall commercials on TV

[Anna N]

10 hours ago, gfweb said:

 

I recall commercials on TV

Yup.
Only in Canada you say? Pity. 

[Kim Shook]

Thank you for posting this @chromedome!  I love illustration art - books, ads, etc.  And I grew up on Red Rose.  It was the only tea available in the US that my English stepdad and stepsisters thought drinkable.  By the time PG Tips became common, they had gotten used to Red Rose completely.  I remember the little pottery figures, too.  My stepsister's mom collected them and I'm betting they are still somewhere in her things (she's not much for clearing out 😉).  

[gfweb]

1 hour ago, Anna N said:

Yup.
Only in Canada you say? Pity. 

No we had it in the US in the 60s anyway.

 

Not that I'd drink hot tea.

[Anna N]

20 minutes ago, gfweb said:

No we had it in the US in the 60s anyway.

 

Not that I'd drink hot tea.

I was not arguing. I was merely quoting the ad jingle that became a very Canadian idiom as it were. 

[gfweb]

The ad from my childhood

 

 

[haresfur]

23 hours ago, heidih said:

Interesting and lovely images. I swear I got Red Rose here in US long ago, before the Lipton warehouse dust took over 

 

American Red Rose was inferior to the Canadian product and barely a step above Lipton's imo

[heidih]

37 minutes ago, haresfur said:

 

American Red Rose was inferior to the Canadian product and barely a step above Lipton's imo

What they knew they could pass off crud to us? Kidding - we are not a nation of tea drinkers. Possibly because we had the tasteless warm water version. We have access on internet now to good teas but the local grocery is horrid on selection. 

[Anna N]

13 hours ago, gfweb said:

The ad from my childhood

If you do a search on the quotation I gave, you will find the TV ads that ran in Canada using it. They were a little more subdued than the American take.