Posted by westernthunderer
The top sign, amongst Portland’s Signs of Yesteryear is really one of Australia’s iconic products. I am sure there is not a person in Australia who has not eaten during their lifetime many of Arnott’s very famous lines of biscuits and who today, unless health issues prevented would dare to refuse a Tim Tam.
When in the late 1980’s as part of my then management duties we introduced Quality Management systems to the workplace and provided staff the training behind the theory, I would often wax lyrical about Arnott’s who even then and well before used this line “There is no substitute for quality” and which we would see running around the suburbs on their fleet of beautiful red delivery trucks on which no bird would dare to …well, you know. And I never came across a bad Arnott’s biscuit, which when dunked in tea or coffee made them even better, unless you were just a touch slow……
And at Christmas, another icon of the era, the Australian Women’s Weekly magazine would publish a beautiful painting of “Santa and the Drover” by Jack Waugh on the back page. The drover was sitting on a log with Santa beside the camp fire (with horse and reindeer getting acquainted too) with billy boiling ready to share a cup of tea and an Arnott’s biscuit. If you didn’t believe in Santa after looking and thinking about that amazing painting, then you never would! It sends shivers down my spine remembering the painting and ad for the simple and powerful messages it delivered. It always made me proud to be an Aussie. There are two links below – the Arnott’s story ( and it is no longer and has not been for many years in Australian ownership) and the Christmas ad.
Enjoy your Tim Tams.
And of course, I cannot overlook the delightful His Master’s Voice ad below. Nipper, the dog was born in Bristol, UK in 1884 and died in 1895. Here is the link en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nipper
These signs of yesteryear have been meticulously recreated by professional sign writers. Portland, NSW, Australia.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnott’s_Biscuits
Here is a link to the ad
bytesdaily.blogspot.com/2013/12/christmas-message.html
Tags: