Jump to content
  • Welcome to the eG Forums, a service of the eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters. The Society is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of the culinary arts. These advertising-free forums are provided free of charge through donations from Society members. Anyone may read the forums, but to post you must create a free account.

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


chromedome

Recommended Posts

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.

  • Like 6
  • Thanks 3

“Who loves a garden, loves a greenhouse too.” - William Cowper, The Task, Book Three

 

"Not knowing the scope of your own ignorance is part of the human condition...The first rule of the Dunning-Kruger club is you don’t know you’re a member of the Dunning-Kruger club.” - psychologist David Dunning

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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. 

It's almost never bad to feed someone.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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).

  • Like 1

“Who loves a garden, loves a greenhouse too.” - William Cowper, The Task, Book Three

 

"Not knowing the scope of your own ignorance is part of the human condition...The first rule of the Dunning-Kruger club is you don’t know you’re a member of the Dunning-Kruger club.” - psychologist David Dunning

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, gfweb said:

 

I recall commercials on TV

Yup.
Only in Canada you say? Pity. 

  • Like 2

Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

My 2004 eG Blog

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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 😉).  

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

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. 

  • Haha 1

Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

My 2004 eG Blog

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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

It's almost never bad to feed someone.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

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.

  • Like 2

Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

My 2004 eG Blog

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...