pop! design, culture, fashion 1956 -1976

GGEEOOFFFFRREEYY RRAAYYNNEERR RRIICCHHAARRDD CCHHAAMMBBEERRLLAAIINN AANNNNAAMMAARRIIEE SSTTAAPPLLEETTOONN

DDEESSIIGGNN CCUULLTTUURREE FFAASSHHIIOONN 11995566 ––11997766

Pop design 13:Layout 1 01/05/2012 09:57 Page 1

PPOOPP!!© 2012 Geoffrey Rayner, Richard Chamberlain, Annamarie Stapleton

World copyright reserved

ISBN 978‐1‐85149‐690‐7

The rights of Geoffrey Rayner, Richard Chamberlain and Annamarie Stapleton to be identified as authorsof this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher

Every effort has been made to secure permission to reproduce the images contained within this book, and we are grateful to the individuals and institutions who have assisted in this task. Any errors are entirely unintentional, and the details should be addressed to the publisher.

British Library Cataloguing‐in‐Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Designed and typeset by John and Orna Designs, London

Printed in China

Published in England by ACC Editions, an imprint of Antique Collectors’ Club, Woodbridge, Suffolk


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2222 TTHHEE PPOOPP IINN PPOOPPUULLAARR 11994455 ––11995566

2266 RROOCCKK ‘‘NN’’ RROOLLLL 11995566––11995599

5500 ‘‘MMAADD MMEENN’’:: MMOODDEERRNNIISSTTSS IINNTTOO MMOODDSS 11996600 ––11996633

7722 SSWWIINNGGIINNGG SSIIXXTTIIEESS 11996644––11996677

114422 PPSSYYCCHHEEDDEELLIIAA 11996677––11997700

116666 UUNNDDEERRGGRROOUUNNDD PPOOSSTTEERRSS && GGRRAAPPHHIICCSS 11996666 ––11997733

220022 TTHHEE FFUUNN PPAALLAACCEE 11996699––11997733

223344 ‘‘TTHHEEMM’’ 11997700 ––11997766

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PPOOSSTTEERR,, ‘‘BBLLAACCKK EEYYEESS AANNDD LLEEMMOONNAADDEE’’DDEESSIIGGNNEERR BBAARRBBAARRAA JJOONNEESSBBRRIITTIISSHH,, 11995511The artist Barbara Jones designed this poster for an exhibition of the popular arts she curated and organised with Tom Ingram at the Whitechapel Art Gallery in London’s east end, as part of the1951 Festival of Britain. The exhibition’s title was adapted from a poem by the Irish poet ThomasMoore to read ‘A Persian heaven is easily made, ‘tis but Black eyes and Lemonade’. A pioneer in thefield of popular culture, Jones later taught the Pop artist Peter Blake, who described her as ‘A treasure trove of information about Popular Culture.’

2244 TTHHEE PPOOPP IINN PPOOPPUULLAARR 11994455––11995566


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TTEEXXTTIILLEE,, ‘‘CCIIRRCCUUSS SSTTRRIIPPEE’’,, DDEESSIIGGNNEEDD BBYY SSUUSSAANN WWIILLLLIIAAMMSS--EELLLLIISS FFOORR BBEERRNNAARRDD WWAARRDDLLEE LLTTDD,, BBRRIITTIISSHH,, EEAARRLLYY 11995500SS..IINNSSEETT:: BBOOOOKK CCOOVVEERR,, PPOOPPUULLAARR EENNGGLLIISSHH AARRTT,, WWIITTHH AA DDEESSIIGGNN OOFF MMEERRRRYY--GGOO--RROOUUNNDD HHOORRSSEESS.. NNOOEELLCCAARRRRIINNGGTTOONN FFOORR KKIINNGG PPEENNGGUUIINN BBOOOOKKSS,, 11994455.. CCOOVVEERR DDEESSIIGGNN AANNDD IILLLLUUSSTTRRAATTIIOONNSS BBYY CCLLAARRKKEE HHUUTTTTOONNThis textile and book epitomise the growing interest in popular culture in Britain during the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, which eventually led to Pop.


RROOCCKK ‘‘NN’’ RROOLLLL11995566 ––11995599


2288 RROOCCKK ‘‘NN’’ RROOLLLL 11995566 ––11995599

BBOOOOKK CCOOVVEERR FFOORR TTHHEE BBRRIITTIISSHH PPAAPPEERRBBAACCKK EEDDIITTIIOONN OOFFTTHHEE BBLLAACCKKBBOOAARRDD JJUUNNGGLLEE,, PPAANNTTHHEERR BBOOOOKKSS,, LLOONNDDOONN,,11995577.. AAUUTTHHOORR,, EEVVAANN HHUUNNTTEERR,, AAMMEERRIICCAANN,, 11995544This story of teenage rebellion and delinquency in the American public school system was made into a ground breaking film in 1955, which isoften credited with providing the launch pad for youth culture in the 1950s and 1960s.


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LLPP RREECCOORRDD SSLLEEEEVVEE,, RROOCCKK AARROOUUNNDD TTHHEE CCLLOOCCKK,, BBIILLLL HHAALLEEYY AANNDD TTHHEE CCOOMMEETTSS,, AAMMEERRIICCAANN,, 11995566The film, and its soundtrack, which featured Bill Haley’s iconic rock ‘n’ roll single, ‘Rock Around the Clock’, notoriouslyprovoked scenes of wild and destructive behaviour from teen audiences, when first released.


FFIILLMM PPOOSSTTEERRLLOOVVEE MMEE TTEENNDDEERRBBRRIITTIISSHH,, 11995566Elvis Presley, the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll, burst onto the world in 1956with a string of extraordinary Rock ‘n’ Roll hits, amongst whichwere ‘Heartbreak Hotel’, ‘Blue Suede Shoes’ and ‘Hound Dog’.Elvis’s rapidly growing fame and status was further cemented thatyear with the world wide release of his first film, Love Me Tender.This poster for the film’s British release is remarkable forsuccessfully conveying, at that early date, both the energy anddynamism of Elvis’s music and the power of his sexuality.

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LLPP RREECCOORRDD SSLLEEEEVVEE,, EELLVVIISS PPRREESSLLEEYYAAMMEERRIICCAANN,, 11995566The 1956 sleeve of Elvis’s first LP, its image equally as powerful as the preceding filmposter, set a standard for Pop record sleeves, such as the homage version for the sleeveof the 1979 album London Calling, by the British Punk band, the Clash.


AA CCOOTTTTOONN ‘‘BBOORRDDEERR PPRRIINNTT’’ TTEEXXTTIILLEE IINNTTEENNDDEEDD FFOORRSSKKIIRRTTSS FFOORR EELLVVIISS FFAANNSS AANNDD OOTTHHEERR RROOCCKK ‘‘NN’’ RROOLLLLEERRSSAAMMEERRIICCAANN,, cc11995566



AA SSHHOORRTT FFEELLTT SSKKIIRRTT IINNTTEENNDDEEDD FFOORR RROOCCKK ‘‘NN’’ RROOLLLLDDAANNCCIINNGG,, AAPPPPLLIIQQUUÉÉDD WWIITTHH AA DDEESSIIGGNN OOFF RREECCOORRDDSSAANNDD MMUUSSIICCAALL NNOOTTEESS,, AAMMEERRIICCAANN,, cc11995577

‘‘TTEEDDDDYY BBOOYY’’ DDRRAAPPEE JJAACCKKEETT,, BBRRIITTIISSHH,, LLAATTEE 11995500SSThe ‘Teddy Boys’ were the first ‘teenage tribe’ in post‐war Britain. Mainly working class blue‐collar youths, they were identifiable by theiroutfits derived from Edwardian dandy fashions and American Western styles, worn with heavily greased ‘Pompadour’ or ‘Tony Curtis’ inspiredhair styles. From about 1954, they dominated headlines in the media for a few years with much‐exaggerated stories of violence anddelinquency, which culminated in 1955 and 1956 with the somewhat mythic trashing of cinemas during showings of the films, The BlackboardJungle and Rock Around the Clock. The high point of their notoriety coincided with the Rock ‘n’ Roll era between 1956 and 1959.


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‘‘MMAARRTTIINNII LLAABBEELL’’ PPRRIINNTTEEDD CCOOTTTTOONN SSKKIIRRTT BBRRIITTIISSHH,, cc11995566This textile is a particularly early example of Pop’s use of commercial advertising for decorativepurposes. Whilst a successful marketing tool for Martini, it also expressed the sophisticated taste ofthe wearer for glamorous and sexy Italian drinks, and by association, exciting foreign travel. It wasparticularly popular between 1956 and 1957 with Rock ‘n’ Roll fans for full circle skirts worn with layerupon layer of stiffened petticoats.



MMAANNSS SSLLIICCKKEERR JJAACCKKEETTPPRRIINNTTEEDD CCOOTTTTOONNBBRRIITTIISSHH,, cc11995577The early use of photographic images of film stars for the design of thetextile used for this slicker jacket is remarkably prescient of Pop textiles inthe later 1960s and early 1970s, many of which were inspired by late 1950stextiles such as this.


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TTEEXXTTIILLEE,, PPRRIINNTTEEDD WWIITTHH TTHHEE NNAAMMEESS OOFF PPOOPP SSTTAARRSSBBRRIITTIISSHH,, cc11995577A cotton textile printed with the names of Pop stars, intended for the skirts of Rock ‘n’ Roll fans.


pop! design, culture, fashion 1956 -1976

Documents

suolkpop design

richard chamberlain

rights of georey rayner

theeld of popular culture

pop artist peter blake

popular arts

tthhee ffuunn ppaallaaccee

artist barbara jones