Vintage Posters
As a culture, we are so bored by advertisements that it is difficult to see any beauty in them. In reality, a great deal of work goes into them. They are made to be beautiful. They are made to catch the eye. We miss all of it because we get sick of people always trying to sell us things. I think this is why so many people are fascinated by vintage posters. Through antique posters, we are able to see the beauty in contemporary American commercial life.
I first got into vintage posters while I was in high school. Back then, I loved the retro posters. I couldn't actually afford the real antique vintage posters, but I could get some pretty stunning reproductions. I had a Led Zeppelin poster on my wall, as well as a poster advertising the movie Easy Rider. I loved music from the 60's and 70's, and I loved my 70's posters most of all. One time, I actually found a real vintage poster in a shop. I don't know if the proprietor knew what it was, but it was so damaged that he was selling it for reasonably cheap. That is when I started my vintage poster collection.
Of course, since then my taste in music has changed, and my taste in vintage posters has changed along with it. I don't like vintage concert posters anymore. It's not that I don't listen to music, but the music that I listen to is much more contemporary. Instead, I like vintage posters advertising alcohol. You know what I'm talking about ñ the art nouveau posters that are so popular nowadays. They advertise things like what gin, vermouth, and absinthe. Everyone collects the reproductions, but I go after the real antique posters. It is amazing how much more vivid colors are on the original. I don't know if it is just my imagination, but in my eye there is no comparison. The vintage posters always superior to the reproductions.
Once I started looking at vintage posters, I realized something interesting. Retro advertisements are much more prevalent than I had thought before. I think all of the advertisers have their own collections of vintage posters that they refer to from time to time. The modern world is so colorless. Everything is artificial. Everything is hyper real. Looking at vintage posters really is an inspiration. Even advertising can be beautiful. I think that some of the better advertising firms try to recapture this feeling.