Designer Desire: John Hanna

We mentioned John Hanna in a previous post a few years ago, but haven’t actually featured him as an artist in his own right before.

A native of Australia, John Hanna (1919-1992) was an illustrator and cartoonist; his professional career began with him drawing cartoons for newspapers in Sydney. We were introduced to his work through the cover artwork that he created for Country Fair Journal during the 1940s.

Apparently, he also worked under the names Jack Hanna, J. Hanna, Wiz, J. C. Hanna and John Charles Hanna. His cartoons featured annually in Australia: Week-end Book between 1943 and 1946, where he signed his work as ‘Wiz’.

Some of his Country Fair designs have recently been reproduced by designer-maker, Jenny Duff gracing coasters and table mats. Original copies of Country Fair are available to buy on Amazon and eBay.

In a comment on the Asbury & Asbury website, Hanna’s son, helpfully shared some insight into his father’s work history:

My father started as a cartoonist, mainly with the Argus in Melbourne, until he emigrated to England in 1947. He got a job in the art department of S. H. Benson, the first advertising agency to be registered as a limited liability company, famous for it’s Guinness advertising and for employing Dorothy Sayers in the “literary” department. About 1950 he went freelance and mainly designed posters and other ad material for a variety of brands such as Walls ice cream, Sugar Puffs and Peak Frean biscuits. His Walls ice cream “deckchair” poster is visible on Walls ice cream UK 1950 Prints All Posters.co.UK. He was a member of the Society of Industrial Artists, now renamed the Society of Chartered Designers, and some of his work is featured in their 1951 publication Designers in Britain 3. Worried about the increasing use of photography on advertising he accepted the offer of a job as art director of an ad agency in Sydney in 1961. After a few years he went freelance again which enabled to extend his work to book illustrations etc. One of these books was about folk dancing written by his daughter Nicky Lo Bianco. He lived in Avalon Beach, near Sydney, until he died in 1992.

Additional image credits:
Fulltable | Muybridge’s Horse

Vintage Tour de France magazines

One of last week’s main purchases combined two areas of interest – namely, vintage ephemera and cycling. This huge quantity of 1950s cycling memorabilia appeared at a local auction and we couldn’t resist.

We haven’t done much cycling ourselves in recent years as our big dog provides all the exercise we need, but we still follow it keenly – particularly the Tour De France at this time of year. We’re often distracted from our work when it appears on TV. We love to follow the riders on their journey, both in terms of taking in the stunning French scenery and the sporting competition itself.

We went to watch Le Tour when it passed through Yorkshire (and previously Brighton when we lived there) – and we’re determined to follow the race in our camper van when we eventually get one (we’re still saving up!

Back to the ephemera though. It’s mainly in the form of French magazines and brochures – many relating to the Tour de France.

The vintage Tour de France magazines are packed full of interesting historical photographs, artwork, advertisements and features on riders from the era – famous names such as Louison Bobet, Fausto Coppi and Jacques Anquetil.

Quite a treat for both cyclists and cycling fans!

Some of the magazines even have their original route maps intact which is very rare to find…

…unused and neatly folded inside.

They’re perfect for framing and very sought after in themselves – a fabulous find!

We’ll be sorting through them in the coming weeks, having a good browse and then listing them for sale. We might allow ourselves to keep a few pieces, but the majority will be available to buy – watch this space if you’re interested.

Charity Vintage: Astounding Science Fiction magazines

'Charity Vintage' blog post banner

(ends 6 Dec, 2014 10:59:18 GMT)

This week the world saw the space probe Philae land on a comet after a 10-year, 4-billion mile journey. To a person living in the 1950s this story would feel like utter science fiction. Back then there’d have been no astronauts, no moon landing, no space shuttles. The first living being in orbit didn’t happen until 1957.

This set of Astounding Science Fiction magazines from 1955 is being sold by & in support of CLIC Sargent*. The cover artwork is sensational I bet the stories are too! They have other sets of this title currently for sale alongside sets of Thrilling Wonder Stories, Fantastic Adventures, Space Science Fiction and if Worlds of Science Fiction. If you’re a sci-fi or pulp fiction buff – these would be fantastic additions to your collection.

*CLIC Sargent is the UK’s leading cancer charity for children and young people, and their families. We provide clinical, practical and emotional support to help them cope with cancer and get the most out of life.

Country Fair

We bought a small pile of vintage Country Fair magazines last week.

It was their covers that caught our eye. They feature wonderful illustrations of birds, animals, insects etc representing the particular month of publication.