Environment

A new exhibition at the Museum of Brands, Packaging and Advertising will showcase the similarities between the economical era of the 1940s and today.

The exhibition will include propaganda posters, paraphernalia and packaging to illustrate the thrifty message that was spread by the government during the war.

Packaging examples include packs of Colgate toothpaste with reduced packaging and a raised awareness of materials as some packs moved into new materials.

Messages asking customers to reuse or recycle the pack, such as those printed on packaging today, were often found on the front or side flap of packs in the 1940s.

Curator of the museum Robert Opie has been working on the exhibit for the past five years, since the museum opened in its new location in Notting Hill.

Opie recognised the similarities between the 1940s message and today's environmental agenda and hopes the museum will help show people it is possible to make a difference.

He concluded: "Lessons need to be learnt from them."

The exhibition will run at the museum from 22 January 2009 until 31 November 2009.

* See the December issues of Packaging News for more on the Museum of Brands - out NOW!