BEACH

Branding & Package Design

Al Roberts (the “Staten Island Adonis”) slept here

Al Roberts lived hereLeft: our house, circa 1890s (photo via Collection of Historic Richmond Town); right: boxer Al Roberts in 1919

The Staten Island Adonis

I’m no heavyweight, but this month (and last month) I’ve been pondering a formerly famous local boxer. This all started for me the morning I woke up with the idea that I should search for our address on Newspapers.com.

I’d noticed that, in turn-of-the-century social columns (and obituaries and crime reports), they were not shy about publishing a person’s address. At BEACH we live and work in a house that was built in 1890. Had anything newsworthy ever happened here?

Later that morning I learned that Al Roberts, “The Staten Island Adonis” once lived in our house. And the reason that newspapers were publishing his address (in December of 1920) was because he’d been arrested and charged with manslaughter. More on that part, later on… [Read more…]

3 videos about boxes boxing

Sponge Bob: boxes boxingPugilistic Packaging Revisited

As a package designer, I know something about boxes, but next to nothing about boxing. So really I have no business writing anything on the subject of prize-fighting. (Although, I did once post this vintage advertising postcard under the headline: Pugilistic Packaging.)

Recently, however, I’ve become obsessed with a not-so-famous boxer from the 1920s. So, despite my complete lack of knowledge, next month I’ll be writing something about about him and his career.

Usually, when I stray too far from boxvox’s primary bailiwick, I try to cover my tracks with some paper-thin, package-related rationale.

With that in mind, I’ve been checking into the etymology of “box” & “boxing.”

Unfortunately, “boxing” the sport doesn’t seem to derive from the same word as “box” the container. (Despite Dan Piraro‘s historically-correct-ish 2011 cartoon!)

box (n.1.) Old English box “a wooden container,” also the name of a type of shrub, from Late Latin buxis, from Greek pyxis “boxwood box,” from pyxos “box tree,” of uncertain origin.

box (n.2.) “a blow,” c.1300, of uncertain origin, possibly related to Middle Dutch boke, Middle High German buc, and Danish bask, all meaning “a blow,” perhaps imitative.

I won’t, therefore, have any etymological excuse when I post my 1920s fistic research next month. Still, even though the container and the sport are not related, Dan Piraro and I are not the only ones who thought they should be.

Boxes Boxing

Lots of people have envisioned boxes boxing. Similar to that vintage advertising postcard with patent medicines in a prize-fight. Only here it’s all about the homonyms.

1. Sponge Bob: “Idiot Box” episode

This episode was mainly about boxes as packaging, although it takes its title from a television set that was delivered in a box.

The episode starts with SpongeBob and Patrick waiting for the mail. Squidward sees a large box being delivered to SpongeBob and Patrick. They open the box, which contains a giant flat-screen television, and this heavily surprises Squidward. Patrick and SpongeBob throw the television away but keep the box to play in it. Squidward asks why they threw the television away, and SpongeBob explains that “We don’t need television, as long as we have our… imagination.”

The gag about boxes boxing in a boxing match was the punchline and the last straw for Squidward, after all the packaging shenanigans.

(More videos of boxes boxing, after the fold…)

[Read more…]

Twin Pack Milk Cartons

Twin Pack Milk CartonsSome (non-intersecting) “twin packs”

In our previous post we showed you a hypothetical structure for a pair of intersecting milk cartons.

Today we bring you a similar (albeit non-intersecting) idea: “twin pack milk cartons.”

Culled from American grocery store ads, I found these images in newspapers published between 1952 and 1976. I’ve also seen some more recent examples. (This “unitary” twin pack on Polypack’s website, for example.)

Some dairies sold quart size milk cartons paired together in “half gallon twin packs.” Mostly what you find, however, are half gallon size cartons paired together as “gallon twin packs.”

Benefits of “Twin Pack Cartons”

When first introduced, a dairy would often advertise the benefits of the new packaging. For example:

  • Saves Money
  • Easier to Carry
  • Keeps Milk Fresher

Some dairies would include instructions about separating the two containers. (See also: this 1952 ad for Farm Fresh milk and this 1966 ad for Beechmont milk.)

Twin Packs & Contents Declaration

Labeling these cartons posed some communication problems for their designers. Since the twin packs are separable, each carton must show its correct individual volume. But, the dairy would also want to highlight the twin pack’s combined total volume.

Sometimes they solved this by printing the total volume in words (“HALF GALLON” or “ONE GALLON”) spanning across both cartons. Other times the cartons are just the same as the ones sold individually, and it’s only the handle that shows the total combined volume.

Regulations & Prohibited Twin Packs

As popular as these were with consumers, they were surprisingly controversial in Pennsylvania.

From the articles I’ve skimmed, I gather that, in the early 1960s, Country Belle Cooperative Farmers tried to introduce the twin pack (already in use in many other states) to Pennsylvania.

The State Milk Commission opposed the new packaging. There were hearings. And decisions. And appeals, etc. Meanwhile, consumers appeared to be fully in favor of the new twin pack. Read-all-about-it, after the fold…

[Read more…]

Intersecting Milk Cartons

Intersecting Milk Cartons

I was hoping that “intersecting milk cartons” were already a thing. But, alas, no example seemed to exist online. So, for the 5th and final day of “Polyhedral Milk Carton Week,” I had to make it myself.

What are we looking at? My 3D animation showing the intersection of two gable-top milk cartons. They intersect in (more or less) the same manner as a polyhedral compound of two cubes.

Of course, milk cartons are not cubes. They’re more like rectangular prisms. And it wasn’t at all obvious (to me) what the intersection would look like with taller shapes.

So prior to making the animation above, I made this “maquette” using two actual gable top cartons. (You can see the evidence of my trial-and-error geometry on the left hand carton.)

Clearly my maquette was not ready for prime time. I figured a 3D rendering would be a better way of presenting my hypothetical dual container. 3D rending, however, is outside of my usual wheelhouse. What software could I download and quickly learn just enough to do this one thing? [Read more…]

The Space-Pak collapsible milk carton

Space-Pak collapsible milk cartons trademark specimen

Space-Pak “specimen”

For day 4 of “Polyhedral Milk Carton Week” we promised to bring you evidence of International Paper‘s collapsible milk carton.

I was hoping to find some decent photos of their Space-Pak™ carton showing its side panel score lines. But the best I’ve been able to come up with is the magenta “specimen” (above) from their 1995 trademark filing.

The company touted its collapsible design as a way of making milk cartons more practical to recycle.

Because environmental concerns are critical to our customers, our liquid packaging division has responded with creative solutions. One example is Space-Pak, a half-pint milk carton used widely in schools. It flattens when pressed along scores on two sides, reducing volume and taking less space in landfills.

from International Paper’s 1994 Annual Report

Is it true what they wrote? (“used widely in schools”?) I’ve looked for evidence of this and found hardly any.

Space-Pak™ did, however, make a brief splash in 1993 when some public schools in Connecticut tried it out…

[Read more…]