Printing Popular Culture

This print commemorates the 3,600-mile Transatlantic flight of Charles Lindbergh from New York to Paris in May 1927. For this completing this perilous feat (six aviators had died attempting it), Lindbergh earned $25,000 and a place in aviation history. The name for his plane, "Spirit of St. Louis," acknowledges the source of financing: two St. Louis businessmen. During the interwar years Lindbergh had presumed associations with Nazi Germany, thereby sullying his reputation. The integrity of Lindbergh’s character continues to be explored by biographers.

Why the cat? Lindbergh had a kitten, named Patsy, who is said to have accompanied him on test flights of the Spirit of St. Louis. It is purported that prior to the Trans-Atlantic flight a mechanic handed him a kitten, not Patsy, suggesting it would be a good companion on his long flight. The kitten did not join him as Lindbergh thought it would be too cold for the kitten to survive.

The comic strip "Blondie" has run continuously since 1930. Dagwood and Blondie Bumstead and their dog Daisy still entertain readers in 2,000 newspapers in 47 countries. Created by Chic Young, the cartoon focuses on the antics of Dagwood, often shown making an impossibly-huge sandwich known as ‘the Dagwood’.

Tea towels, often associated with England, have popped up in cities all over the world depicting maps, cuisine, and tidbits of regional culture. The pomp and circumstance surrounding the 1981 wedding of Diana Spencer and Prince Charles of England was prime fodder for kitschy commemorative pieces like this. When Prince William, son of Charles and Diana, wed Kate Middleton in 2011, Buckingham Palace forbade the production of similar memorabilia, calling it "undignified."

Small ornamental objects, such as scarves and neckties, often experiment with quirky design themes. They provide a somewhat cautious approach to dressing boldly, giving people a way to add surprise to an otherwise standard outfit.

Lucilla de Vescovi Whitman, founder of Countess Mara neckwear, was ahead of her time when she opened shop in 1935. Her New York City shop featured idiosyncratic high-end ties with a range of subjects including sports, animals, and musical instruments.

Political campaign t-shirts, buttons, hats, and bumper stickers are pervasive in the here and now. However, we are less likely to see formal blouses constructed from printed silk yardage, such as this 1968 design bearing the “H” logo of Hubert Horatio Humphrey. Humphrey (1911-1978) was a multi-term US senator from Minnesota and a leading author of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. He served as the 38th vice-president under Lyndon Johnson from 1965 to 1969 and ran for the Presidency in 1968. In addition to the blouse, HHH merchandise included scarves, dresses, skirts, and hats.

Playboy magazine, one of the most recognizable brands in the world, marked a change in sexual mores when it was first published in 1953. Renowned for photos of nudes, Playboy also features fiction, cartoons, and interviews with notable public figures. This shirt uses digital printing to reproduce historic covers from the popular magazine. The miniature gridded pattern that this creates calls out bystanders who dare to move in closely for a better look.

The Pop Art movement of the 1960’s celebrated the mass culture and the variability of contemporary life. It was strongly characterized by irony and irreverence and challenged the distinctions between high and low art and promoted the “popular” experience.

Designer and artist Stephen Sprouse, whose graffiti prints and neon colors became a defining aesthetic of the early 1980s, mixed uptown sophistication with street-wise style. Personal affiliations with avant-garde artists like Andy Warhol gave Sprouse’s work additional cachet. In 2002, he created a collection of apparel, home accessories, and sports gear for Target called “AmericaLand”. Rendered in a patriotic graffiti motif, the uncompromising head-to-toe Sprouse line was fresh, brash, and edgy.

Andy Warhol's 1962 screen-print of Marilyn Monroe has been copied and recreated so many times that some may not know its origins; her lips, eyelids, and hair are cannily separated and printed in brash colors to exaggerate the strange commodification of celebrity life. Warhol’s commentary is either swept under the rug or consciously exploited for this relatively affordable version of Monroe’s portrait; a shiny synthetic handbag.