The first Advertising Poster we purchased for our home was from “Librairie Elbe” on the Boulevard Saint-Germain in Paris. On every trip to Paris, we walked by to see what they were selling. The photo above is Marla in front of the gallery.

This was our first advertising poster. It was apropos because we were in the wholesale decorative fabric business. From the late 1800’s through the twentieth century, Europe and America were in a frenzy over a new form of advertising…the illustrated color advertising poster. The streets of Paris, Belgium, Holland, and the squares of London were plastered with colorful posters created by talented artists of the times.

My passion for collecting graphic art was kindled many years ago in a small gallery in Florence. I found a 1910 work by the French artist, Gamy, of a skier using a single pole. The work was a type of stencil lithography called “pochoir.” It hit me like a “lightning bolt!” The artist Gamy (Her real name was Marguerite Montaut) and her husband Eric Montaut created fascinating stencil graphics from 1909 until 1914. I nearly became obsessed with the medium and collected “pochoir” prints whenever I could find them, mostly in Paris galleries, auctions, and even one in Denver.

This poster from 1886 was used to advertise an auction for properties in Tring, England. It is the oldest poster in our collection and was a gift from a friend who was an executive for Brown & Merry, the company W. Brown eventually became. He was involved with managing a number of National Trust properties. Marla and I stayed at the old Rose & Crown Hotel in the seventies. We were given hot water bottles for our bed when the furnace went out that cold January.

From the 1880’s to the 1930’s Paris was plastered with posters advertising everything from nightclubs, famous performers, railway travel to places around France, food and wine. The writing carved above says, “It is forbidden to display affiche (posters), from the law of July 1881.

Marla and I traveled to Paris every January after the Heimtextil trade fair in Frankfurt, Germany. We always headed to the Marché aux Puces de Saint-Ouen to shop for vintage posters to sell in our Denver decorative showroom. You might ask, “Why would a decorative fabric and window covering showroom want vintage posters?” Marla and I worked hard to differentiate ourselves from other showrooms in the Denver Design Center. We carried custom furniture, decorative accessories, jewelry, art glass, lighting, pottery, antique furniture from Japan, China, France, Germany, and Holland, as well as uniquely styled furniture from Thailand, Bali, petrified wood from Indonesia...AND, oodles of vintage posters. Interior designers loved the uniqueness of our showroom.

This was a postcard for one of our showroom vignettes. The poster was a favorite of mine; “Cremant du Roi, Veuve Amiot, Grand vins Mousseux.” The poster advertised a sparkling wine. It was created by the artist Leonetto Cappiello in 1922. We really couldn’t keep these in stock as they became scarce and expensive.

An early photo of Marla and me in the showroom.

This was a postcard of our showroom that featured another of my very favorite posters, “Cognac Jacquet” by Buchet in 1910. Our clients loved this poster and gobbled it up whenever we had stock.

This is a “Fap‘Anis” vintage poster by Delval in 1920.

I loved the hunt for beautiful posters. Bargaining on the price was imperative as a wholesale showroom giving a discount of 40% to the trade. Early posters were made by a stone lithographic method in which an artist or an assistant drew an image directly to a slab of limestone using a grease crayon. Ink was later applied before transferring to paper. Artist, Jules Cheret (1836-1932), revolutionized the poster printing process with chromolithography using a three stone process. Eventually the technique evolved to zinc plates.

A cover of a catalog we printed to advertise our extensive inventory of advertising posters.

I admire the beauty of this 1895 railway travel poster by Gustave Fraipont every morning before going downstairs.

We framed this poster for our home as we spent so much of our life in decorative fabrics and window coverings. I learned to sew. Marla never mastered the old pedal machines, much less the electric!

As a passionate cyclist I loved searching for cycling posters. This is by Martin Dupin in 1920.

This 1935 poster by E. Paul Chamseix won the Gold Medal at the 1935 International Congress of Tourism Posters in Krakow, Poland.

A 1908 poster for “Cycles Desaix”.

A 1937 poster by Bellenger.

A 1910 poster for Griffon cycles by J. Matet.

Our daughter and her husband love posters as much as Marla and I do! This is a unique poster by G. Faure in 1930. It’s very dramatic in this room of their home.

This 1937 poster by Robys is very large at 51″ wide by 78″ long. They placed it high on a wall.

This 1945 Art Deco styled poster is in an upstairs hallway.

I purchased this 1927 Roger Perot poster in auction.

Travel posters are one of the most popular categories. “PLM” stands for Paris-Lyon- Mediterranee.” This is by Robert Falcucci in 1932.

Our daughter fell in love with these two 1952 posters as they uniquely picture a view from a train window.

We gave this beautiful poster to our son-in-law who loves golf. It is by Geo Francois in 1926.

I need to have a few posters framed. Wall space is precious in our home, but we will find a spot. This is a 1950 movie poster by Roger Soubie.

Marla and I loved visiting the island of Corsica. This is by Arthur Fages in 1955.

In the weeks ahead I’ll post on posters from the modern age of Rock and Roll, Concerts, perfume, and film.

Photos: Dick Gentry. Not to be used without permission.