Museum of brands, packaging and advertising – Notting Hill

All self respecting marketing folk should make the time to get down to this hidden gem. But I was surprised at how child friendly it was and therefore well worth a visit with the small people in tow.

Take the tube to Notting Hill Gate and follow the crowds towards Portabello Market (something that the older kids will appreciate with all its vintage clothes and rock tee shirts). You pass Gelato Mio (ice cream!) and a pizza shop in which resides a small orange car. It’s about a 15 minute walk from the station – but the route is pleasant, taking in some of London’s finest houses. You cross Westbourne Grove – with all of its shops and restaurants – until you get to Lonsdale Road. You have to watch out in case you miss the tiny entrance to Colville Mews. Then, amongst the lovely mews cottages and discrete designer shops, you see the multicolour signage of the museum.

On a rainy Saturday afternoon the place was comfortably busy – students, parents and couples amongst the mix. The entrance area is a visual assault – you don’t quite know where to put your eyes first – there are colours, products and messages coming at you from all directions – demanding your attention. You can see the area behind which has a few tables and chairs for when you have finished your visit. The staff are lovely.

Entrance is £6.50 for adults and £2.25 for kids. You enter the time tunnel and start with the Victorian era. As well as all the products there are occasional displays with costumes and settings to give you a feel for the context. In each segment there is an area devoted to toys and games. It’s a bit dark here too – which adds to the atmosphere. The Edwardian era has a mass of British lions which is very patriotic – and I was delighted to see Fry’s and Rowntrees make an early entry – as well as the first vacuum cleaners and some World War One themed material.

Not surprisingly, the 1920s section has lots of mannequins in flapper outfits. The 1924 Wembley exhibition sees those British lions looking a bit more neo-classical. I spied an early Felix the Cat here and some Blue Birds, Gordon’s Gin and “the new game from America” Monopoly, cigarettes (love the red packaging on Black Cat) and sweets. More subtle history lessons with a Coronation display and a large Disney case – lots of dwarves and, of course, Mickey Mouse.

1940s – Products such as Bourneville chocolate and Camp Coffee, Nescafe and Brown & Polson corn flour caught my eye – and all the custard powders - although there really are thousands and thousands on which to feast your eyes. There was an interesting section on how the war shortages encouraged manufacturers to minimise their use of packaging. Gas masks featured and the toys took on an ominous soldier and war theme before an array of victory (V Day) books.

The Festival of Britain – at Battersea Park – was a main theme of the 1950s displays as well as the Coronation. As a marketer, I smiled at the display of washing powders (arguably the origin of modern brands) – Persil, Daz and Omo included. Beauty products too – I remember my mother using Astral cream and the adverts for Ponds made me laugh. The toy section here showed the impact of films and television – a focus on Westerns and space adventures and, happily, Andy Pandy and Sooty. The household section contained some flying ducks, cocktails and a glass fish – just like the one we had at home when I was a kid. Heinz features strongly here. And I adored the huge jukebox and other music scene references.

The 1960s section made me laugh again with an interesting collection of coffee pots – why were they all in orange, cream and brown? The scooter had passengers and music memorabilia all around. The toys focused on Thunderbirds, Barbie and Sindy.

Robots featured big in the 1970s section. And the games had a TV theme – On the buses, Jim’ll Fix it and yes, Star Trek. Fun seeing Buzby (a BT character) toys too. In the 1980s there were space hoppers, Emu, Basil Brush and an excellent arrangement of Muppets. Diana and Charles stuff too. The 1990s and 2000s were pretty small but I guess we are all less excited by stuff that we see in our daily lives anyway.

Then its takes a slightly different twist and we enter the branding section. Interesting to read about the use of colour (apparently, black was never very popular – except for men’s products) and it was interesting to read how many products just added an O to the end of their descriptive names. What was fascinating was the way that a number of very well known products were arranged so that you could see how see how their packaging and brand evolved over time – like Johnson’s Baby Powder, Cadbury’s Milk Tray and Cadbury’s Drinking Chocolate (which evolved from dark red to purple packaging). There was a major display of Bovril and cases dedicated to whisky and beer. Pepsi has a small display – but no Coca Cola that I could spy.

The penultimate section is on packaging and there’s an interesting display by IPO (International Patent Office) showing some of the lookalike and copy brands that were prosecuted. The final sections are on sweets – making me feel rather peckish – and old fashioned shops.

Feeling totally “branded up” I decided to take the bus from Notting Hill on the 10 minute journey down to Shepherd’s Bush and Westfield shopping centre where I did some more contemporary brand spotting. And, I admit, shopping.

The Museum of Brands is compact but intense. The way it is organised – as a walk through a time tunnel with large class cases crammed with all manner of colourful things ensures that there’s something for everyone at each turn. It’s a great subtle way to learn some history too. And the regular displays of toys and all manner of things of interest to small people – makes it an ideal outing for the kids. Especially with what the nearby area has to offer.