Mid-Century Merchandising – Shop Windows on the World.

Window display for ladies’ hosiery
One of a series of abstract designs, newspaper on the table is ‘The Look’
Design by Ernst Berger
Gebrauchsgraphik No. 11 1955

Fashion display for the Jelmoli department store, Zurich
Metal sculpture continues the theme in the background
Painting and sheet-metal sculpture by J.H. Engesser, Design by Hans Erhardt
Graphis 94 1961

City of Cologne traffic advertising program
Design by Rolf Lederbogen
Gebrauchsgraphik No. 10 1960

Window display for Hermes, Paris
Figure of Don Quixote dressed in black leather, based on a picture by Salvador Dali
Design by Annie Beaumel
Graphis 94 1961

Christmas window for the Design Centre, London
Design by George Him
Graphis 94 1961

Window display for the Wako department store, Tokyo (composite + detail)
Theme is ‘Summer’, blue and pink silk-screened panels against a silver background
Design by Kenji Itoh
Graphis 94, 1961

Window display for Hermes, Paris
For leather coats and luggage, using decorative metal spirals
Design by Annie Beaumel
Graphis 94 1961

Window display for Hermes, Paris
Design by Annie Beaumel
Gebrauchsgraphik No. 10 1961

Christmas window display for the department store De Bijendorf, Rotterdam
Design by W. Smits
Graphis 94, 1961

City of Cologne traffic advertising program
Design by Herbert Lemkes
Gebrauchsgraphik No. 10 1960

[ All images © ]
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Once upon a time, I worked in a bookstore and was fortunate enough to have a manager indulgent enough to put me in charge of staging the window displays. While others toiled behind the cash registers and restocked shelves, lucky me alighted to art supply stores and fabric emporiums in search of the proper trappings to accent our stock. Ah memories.

A visit to my vintage magazine collection reminds me that to tell an engaging story from behind the glass requires a rare combination of talents. I bow to those extraordinary mid-century artist/designer/storytellers who created the worlds within a window shared here.

>> Mid-Century Shop Windows flickr set
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Sandi Vincent grew up in the bay area of California surrounded by mid-century modern architecture and other influences responsible for her affinity for the period and its pop style, including her early exposure to The Monkees, The Avengers and Gerald McBoing-Boing. Sandi now resides in Portland and is a board member of a local nonprofit preservation group, the Mid-Century Modern League. In her day job at a community foundation, she sports the web/social media/print materials coordinator title.

Follow Sandi on Twitter > @SandiV

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