Ted Eron Designed That by ACC Art Books

Ted Eron Designed That

Joseph B. Eron and Elizabeth Eron Roth

C O N T E N T S

Dedication 7

Preface 9

Chapter 1:

Ted Eron: The Man Behind the Images 15

Chapter 2:

The Cooper Union Years

Chapter 3:

Eron & Eron Get Started

Chapter 4:

The War Years

Chapter 5:

Supermarket Art

47 57

The Eron & Eron Story ”, Schrafft’ s’

Borden, Inc. Redesign

101

Borden Chemical Co. Bristol-Myers Co.

103

121

Eron & Eron Rescue a Business Ballantine & Sons

155

General Foods Corp.

159

American Tobacco Company American Cigar Company Sealtest Dairy

145

171

185

199

’, Ted & Abbot s European Adventure

Afterword 214

Index 223

About the Authors 226

Acknowledgements 227

211

C O N T E N T S

Dedication 7

Preface 9

Chapter 1:

Ted Eron: The Man Behind the Images 15

Chapter 2:

The Cooper Union Years

Chapter 3:

Eron & Eron Get Started

Chapter 4:

The War Years

Chapter 5:

Supermarket Art

47 57

The Eron & Eron Story ”, Schrafft’ s’

Borden, Inc. Redesign

101

Borden Chemical Co. Bristol-Myers Co.

103

121

Eron & Eron Rescue a Business Ballantine & Sons

155

General Foods Corp.

159

American Tobacco Company American Cigar Company Sealtest Dairy

145

171

185

199

’, Ted & Abbot s European Adventure

Afterword 214

Index 223

About the Authors 226

Acknowledgements 227

211

TED ERON: THE MAN BEHIND THE IMAGES

You know Ted Eron, although you may not know his name. The packages he designed were fixtures in the households of the 1950s and 1960s and many are still used today. Picture a pantry filled with Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, Sunshine Cookies, Flav-R Straws, and Fischer’s Coffee Cake; a freezer full of Bird’s Eye Tater Tots, Bird’s Eye Vegetables, and Sealtest and Breyer’s Ice Cream; a medicine cabinet containing Silence Is Golden Cough Syrup, Excedrin, and Congespirin; and a bathroom with Ammen’s Foot Powder, Body On Tap Shampoo, and Ban and Mum Deodorants, Score and Vitalis Hair Groomers. Ted was a revolutionary graphic designer and these package designs were a large part of the twentieth century as we remember it. We know Ted Eron as our father. He was a special father—kind, loving, funny, and eternally supportive. He led a happy creative life; his work never separate from his family and the people he loved, and his family and friends never separate from his work. In fact, the creative partnership that produced much of the work shown in this book was a brother team. Ted and Abbot, Abbot and Ted, were Eron and Eron Industrial Design. Their love and respect for each other were the glue that bound together the iconic images you’ll see in this book; including, of course, that quintessential glue product, Elmer’s. We have strong memories of the two brothers working at their Eron & Eron offices in Englewood and Cresskill, New Jersey. It was a warm and welcoming family business. Ted and Abbot shared a large office, their rosewood desks on opposite

TED ERON: THE MAN BEHIND THE IMAGES

“I was a Lucky Guy” sides of each other, our mother and our Aunt Adele helping with the secretarial and

We begin our journey with two portraits that are bookends to a creative life. Ted’s first

bookkeeping duties. We remember dining at Eron & Eron, Inc., waltzing into their

work was a portrait of his father, Joseph, which he drew at age 10.

offices and eating the food inside the packages they designed. (Ted) Ever since I was 10 years old or maybe even before that, I knew that I wanted to be an artist. I was encouraged in this endeavor by my

We often think of great artists and creative geniuses as inaccessible. However, Ted never locked the door to his studio and he always could be disturbed. He never

family. I will never forget how much my

separated his creative process from his life. To Ted, the creative process was what

parents and older brother, Abbot, sacrificed

life was all about. It was something to be shared, given of freely, and generously

to let me pursue my dreams. I was a lucky guy

celebrated.

in that my whole family supported me into becoming an artist.

We also cannot separate the man he was from the images he created. His vast body of work will take you on a nostalgic tour of the twentieth century—beginning before

Ted’s final work was a portrait of his friend and

WWII, through the war years and beyond, into the “supermarket art” that the Eron

nurse, Josephine, who cared for him over the last

brothers innovated in the 1950s, and onto the “Mad Men” advertising era of the

few months of his life. Frail and barely able to walk,

1960s and the early 1970s. In Ted’s eye-popping images lay the roots of Pop Art; the

he gave it to her as a Christmas present five days

art that Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Claes Oldenburg, Ed Ruscha, and others

before his death.

turned into a movement. These two portraits say a lot about our father Ted. They speak to qualities that are core to who he was and how he approached every creative endeavor he ever engaged in. In one of those dusty attic drawers Ted’s first portrait was of his father, Joseph, completed when he was 10 years old.

Ted Eron: The Man Behind the Images’

we found a piece Ted wrote called the Expressive Form in Painting. He said:

Ted Eron: The Man Behind the Images

’17

“I was a Lucky Guy” sides of each other, our mother and our Aunt Adele helping with the secretarial and

We begin our journey with two portraits that are bookends to a creative life. Ted’s first

bookkeeping duties. We remember dining at Eron & Eron, Inc., waltzing into their

work was a portrait of his father, Joseph, which he drew at age 10.

We often think of great artists and creative geniuses as inaccessible. However, Ted never locked the door to his studio and he always could be disturbed. He never

family. I will never forget how much my

separated his creative process from his life. To Ted, the creative process was what

parents and older brother, Abbot, sacrificed

life was all about. It was something to be shared, given of freely, and generously

to let me pursue my dreams. I was a lucky guy

celebrated.

in that my whole family supported me into becoming an artist.

We also cannot separate the man he was from the images he created. His vast body of work will take you on a nostalgic tour of the twentieth century—beginning before

Ted’s final work was a portrait of his friend and

WWII, through the war years and beyond, into the “supermarket art” that the Eron

nurse, Josephine, who cared for him over the last

brothers innovated in the 1950s, and onto the “Mad Men” advertising era of the

few months of his life. Frail and barely able to walk,

1960s and the early 1970s. In Ted’s eye-popping images lay the roots of Pop Art; the

he gave it to her as a Christmas present five days

art that Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Claes Oldenburg, Ed Ruscha, and others

before his death.

Ted Eron: The Man Behind the Images’

we found a piece Ted wrote called the Expressive Form in Painting. He said:

Ted Eron: The Man Behind the Images

’17

ERON & ERON GET STARTED Letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s take a peek into the magical world two brothers created as they launched a business amid a world in which jobs were hard to come by and the drum beat to war was building far away from home. Good steady jobs with a future in the commercial art field were impossible to land when I graduated Cooper Union (said Ted) so by doing freelance work for small agencies, tiny circulation magazines, and fly-by-night art services, I was able to get by. My older brother, Abbot, four years my senior, had a fine education, and a highly developed sensitivity toward art and design with some marketing experience. Encouraged by our mother, we decided to pool our resources and go into business together. We were a perfect team. I thought he was the smartest guy in the world and he thought I was, by far, the greatest artist on earth. It was a union blessed in heaven (and in no small way by my Mom who contributed $500 to our enterprise). My brother took over the selling of our services and almost immediately things started progressing.

DRA M AT I C

SY M B OL S

In tackling a new job of creating a window display for a shoe, Eron thinks of it in terms of symbols that can be dramatized. For example, a heavy type shoe featuring long wear was renamed “Huskie” when tackled by Eron. A plaster cast of a strong man wearing a leopard skin became the window symbol for these shoes. A “young executive’s” shoe promotion was pepped up through the use of greatly enlarged pen and pencil desk sets around which the shoes were trimmed. Head and shoulders of military officers were adroitly used to add to the interest of military shoes. One clever display took “that extra something” a shoe was supposed to have and dramatized it with a football gridiron and goal post through which a football was being kicked for the winning point by a plaster cast player. Sport shoes were dramatized for A.S. Beck with a reproduced racetrack scene, the horses and spectators all plaster cast for three-dimensional effect. Examples of some of these are shown in the group below.

P LAS T ER

C AS T

T EC HNIQUE

HIGHLY

D EVELOPED

The plaster cast technique for handling window figures has been developed to a high standard by Eron and his associates and has brought a refreshing new look to the shoe display. When the building of a display is undertaken, it passes through a drafting and blueprint stage which determine how its theme will be handled for maximum effectiveness and individuality, the latter a “must” in Eron’s estimation. Planning completed, the figures for the display are expertly carved from wood by woodworkers who specialize in this type of sculpting. When these are approved they become master models from which are made molds. In turn, the casts are made in these molds, baked to hardness, burnished and then spray-painted. Final touching up is tedious handwork that gives the plaster caricatures its final fillip of individuality.

Eron & Eron Get Started

’37

DRA M AT I C

SY M B OL S

P LAS T ER

C AS T

T EC HNIQUE

HIGHLY

D EVELOPED

Eron & Eron Get Started

’37

When I relax I will write a more coherent letter. It’s Victory Day and who else but the pied piper of cheer would be painting a fifteenfoot victory sign and exuberantly tacking it up in front of the I & E building—from somewhere in the Philippines? On the next day, postmarked August 16, 1945, Ted sent Sel a copy of a Victory Day cartoon he rendered “8:15 A.M. President Truman has just announced that the Japanese

for the Daily I & E News. This was the last work of art Ted did for the army.

government has accepted the allied terms of unconditional surrender.”

When Ted and Abbot returned from the war, they started up their business again in

Englewood, New Jersey. A few years later, they designed an ultra-modern building in Cresskill, New Jersey, which became their permanent base in the U.S. until they retired.

SUPERMARKET ART “The supermarket was his gallery and its shelves were his showcase.” Ted Eron’s “supermarket art” developed during a prosperous period in America, following World War II. It was a time brimming with hope and an expansive creative energy, when we flew to the moon and the skies were the limit in American commerce. Thanks to the popularity of a TV series, some now refer to this time as the “Mad Men” era. Working behind the scenes of that era were two modest “mad men,” Ted and Abbot Eron, who brought that expansive, postwar creative spirit to the supermarket. Ted said: After working on an interior design problem for a large supermarket chain, Abbot and I realized how important packaging had become in the marketing of consumer products. It wasn’t long before we were deeply immersed in the design and marketing of packaged consumer products that were on the shelves in supermarkets.

The term “supermarket art” emphasizes the commercial underpinnings of a major movement in American art called Pop Art, which found its way into the permanent collections of major museums. The path to the art museum, however, began with a stroll down the aisle of a supermarket. It was there that you’d find the original package designs (of Brillo boxes, Campbell Soup cans, and the like) that are now magnified and portrayed boldly on museum walls. The supermarket aisle was Ted Eron’s museum. We present Ted Eron’s prodigious contribution to supermarket art by featuring some of the companies with whom he worked. We begin with excerpts from a promotional piece the Eron brothers wrote called The Eron & Eron Story which features a few of their major clients and offers a glimpse into their unique, creative process.

The War Years

Schrafft ’s ’57

for the Daily I & E News. This was the last work of art Ted did for the army.

government has accepted the allied terms of unconditional surrender.”

When Ted and Abbot returned from the war, they started up their business again in

Englewood, New Jersey. A few years later, they designed an ultra-modern building in Cresskill, New Jersey, which became their permanent base in the U.S. until they retired.

The War Years

Schrafft ’s ’57

SCHRAFFT’S W.F. Schrafft’s Corp. was a company with a long and distinguished history. It was founded in Boston in 1861 as a candy company by William F. Schrafft. Frank Shattuck took over in 1898 and expanded the company to include restaurants. In July of 1959 Schrafft’s retained Eron & Eron Inc. of Englewood, NJ to redesign its line of Schrafft’s candies and to serve as merchandising consultants to the firm. (Reported in Herald Tribune, 1959) As The Eron & Eron Story conveys, “their success was in large part, attributable to a subtle mixture of product individuality and strong family identity.” In addition to designing award winning individual candy packages for Schrafft’s, the Eron brothers envisioned a marketing trend that they shared with Schrafft’s executives and converted into a new adventure. Their concept was of a store within a store that they called Schrafft’s “Quality Isle.” Eron & Eron literally brought Schrafft’s to the supermarket, blending Schrafft’s identity as a quality candy store and restaurant chain into a new entity. They advised Schrafft’s to capitalize on an emerging trend toward frozen foods while Schrafft’s Summermints was a classic Ted Eron package design. It captured the product’s identity, evoking the feeling of summertime and cool refreshment. His pink lemonade and mint

also capturing what would become a future trend—foods pre-prepared at the supermarket and then taken home ready to eat.

julep motif communicated “mintiness,” drawing the customer to the irresistible product inside the package. Illustrations of the actual product were integrated into the design pattern. (Featured in Food Engineering, August, 1960.)

Schrafft ’s ’63

also capturing what would become a future trend—foods pre-prepared at the supermarket and then taken home ready to eat.

Schrafft ’s ’63

BORDEN, INC. Borden, Inc. was an American producer of food and beverage, consumer, and industrial products. The company was founded by Gail Borden, Jr. in 1857 in Connecticut. It was originally called “Gail Borden, Jr., and Company.” At the time, the company’s primary product was condensed milk. The company changed its name to the Borden Condensed Milk Company in 1899 and became the Borden Company in 1919. During WWII, Borden pioneered the American manufacture of non-dairy creamers, instant coffee, and powdered foods. No doubt, the Eron brothers were consumers of these products during their time as solders in WWII. In the 1950s, Borden Foods began purchasing other companies, and expanding their line of products. During the period from 1962–1964 the creative partnership between Borden Foods Inc. and Eron & Eron Inc. launched an unprecedented total of 72 new food products. Also unprecedented was the rate of success of these products in the market place. 83% of the new products thrived in a frenetic food industry with a standard of 20% record survival. The secrets to Borden’s success were unveiled in an article published in trade magazine Modern Packaging, February 1965. The cover of the magazine that month featured the image of a tree with branches spreading outward (left). Hanging from the branches were an array of packages all designed by one man. It was the same man whose artistry brought Schrafft’s to the supermarket. His name was Ted Eron.

Schrafft ’s ’79

These Coffee Break and Candy Cow design samples are intended to show the breadth of graphic choices that Ted provided to the Borden Company at the conceptual stage of new product development. In The

Eron & Eron Story, the brothers stated: New products are highly susceptible to rejection at this vulnerable conceptual stage because of lack of definition. It is at this point that Eron & Eron operates most effectively. We do not allow unique marketing concepts to dangle in space. Before an idea can attain relevance, it has to be brought down to ground level, concretized, and graphically presented to the client. Judgment can then be brought to bear on a reality rather than a word image. A more accurate appraisal is possible when the product can be seen in a form that will appear on the shelf. The Borden Company marketing executives had many striking images to choose from as they pictured how Coffee Break and Candy Cow might appear in the supermarket.

Borden, Inc.

Kava was yet another new successful product introduced by the Borden Food Company in the 1960s. Kava harkened back to Borden’s early days as producers of instant coffee. Eron & Eron came up with the slogan “Kava passes the acid test” for the cover of their own promotional brochure to introduce the product and package design. In their brochure, they announced that Kava began testing in Michigan and Arizona in April 1967, and then moved into New England, New York, and Detroit in October before going national.

Borden, Inc.

’93

These Coffee Break and Candy Cow design samples are intended to show the breadth of graphic choices that Ted provided to the Borden Company at the conceptual stage of new product development. In The

Borden, Inc.

’93

Redesign

Here is a checklist that Ted created and used as a blueprint for his redesign projects. It’s titled Redesign, and it consisted of ten questions that a designer should consider when working on a redesign project. The list was used as a personal guide. As with Elmer’s Glue-All (pages 102-107) and many of his redesign projects, when Ted’s response to the questions in his redesign formula was affirmative the inevitable result was product growth and abundance— much like the image of Borden’s tree-full of products.

The answe rs to the fo llowing qu package r estions wil edesign pr l serve as ogram. an objectiv e brief for a 1. Does th e package clearly ide ntify the b 2. Can th rand? e consume r relate th is brand to different s other prod ections of ucts in the the store? line sold in 3. Does th e package clearly ide ntify the p 4. Does th roduct for e package the consum communic er? a te the produ 5. Is the c t’ s a d vantages? package u nique eno ugh to avo id “me-too 6. Conve ism?” rsely, is th e package s o u n confuses th ique that it e consume obscures th r? e product category a 7. Does th nd e package do well in mass disp 8. Does th lay? e package create a fa vorable siz 9. Does th e impressio e quality im n? pression c reated by of the prod the packag uct—is the e relate to re either o the actual verpackag 10. Does th quality in g o r underpa e package ckaging? contain en during ele styles, wh ments or d ich are equ oes it rely ally availa entirely on ble to com fashion? art petitors an d eventuall y go out o f To answer these ques tions requ ires the ex skillful us ercise of ju e of resear ch and an dgment an alysis, and d talent, th the guidan e ce of expe rience.

Redesign

The new products atmosphere created by Eron & Eron stimulated a proliferation of further ideas. For example, they talked with Borden’s about the need for a glue product that could be used by young children. The only advantage of the traditionally used, poor quality, school paste was the washability. The brothers suggested that if Elmer’s were to develop a glue which would wash off easily, it could make a significant dent in the market. In 1968, Borden’s introduced Elmer’s School Glue, the first white glue that washed out of clothes. The product remains successful. Eron & Eron’s contribution to Borden’s Chemical

106

Borden Chemical Co.

As with Borden Food Company, Eron & Eron

Company went beyond the redesign of Elmer’s

worked in close collaboration with the Borden

Glue-All. As was often the case, the Eron brothers

Chemical Company in the development of new

envisioned how a successful individual product,

products. Once having succeeded in solidifying

Elmer’s Glue-All, which now had a strong visual

Elmer’s existing appeal, the brothers felt that this

identity, could become the basis for a family of

image should be extended to include an array

products. Their teamwork with each other—

of specialized glue products. They suggested to

the blending of individual talents—along with

the company’s marketing executives that Elmer’s

their teamwork with the Borden’s Company—

Glue-All become the umbrella image for an entire

resulted in a magical success formula. Borden’s

family of glue products. Their idea was that a

executives turned ideas that were shared in creative

consumer who had associated glue in some

conversations into new products, and brought them

fashion with Elmer’s would select the particular

to the supermarket. Eron & Eron gave each of these

Elmer’s adhesive that suited his/her particular

products an identifiable image. Each product became

purpose. Sold on this “family of products” idea,

recognizable according to its individual function and

the Borden Chemical Company created a host

its membership in the Elmer’s family. The creative

of glue products, each with a specific function.

result of their conjoined efforts mirrored the creative

Among the types of glues were clear cement,

process—individuals combining their talents into a

contact cement, epoxy, and heavy-grip cement.

collective force. Borden Chemical Co.

’107

106

Borden Chemical Co.

As with Borden Food Company, Eron & Eron

Company went beyond the redesign of Elmer’s

worked in close collaboration with the Borden

Glue-All. As was often the case, the Eron brothers

Chemical Company in the development of new

envisioned how a successful individual product,

products. Once having succeeded in solidifying

Elmer’s Glue-All, which now had a strong visual

Elmer’s existing appeal, the brothers felt that this

identity, could become the basis for a family of

image should be extended to include an array

products. Their teamwork with each other—

of specialized glue products. They suggested to

the blending of individual talents—along with

the company’s marketing executives that Elmer’s

their teamwork with the Borden’s Company—

Glue-All become the umbrella image for an entire

resulted in a magical success formula. Borden’s

family of glue products. Their idea was that a

executives turned ideas that were shared in creative

consumer who had associated glue in some

conversations into new products, and brought them

fashion with Elmer’s would select the particular

to the supermarket. Eron & Eron gave each of these

Elmer’s adhesive that suited his/her particular

products an identifiable image. Each product became

purpose. Sold on this “family of products” idea,

recognizable according to its individual function and

the Borden Chemical Company created a host

its membership in the Elmer’s family. The creative

of glue products, each with a specific function.

result of their conjoined efforts mirrored the creative

Among the types of glues were clear cement,

process—individuals combining their talents into a

contact cement, epoxy, and heavy-grip cement.

collective force. Borden Chemical Co.

’107

“A Space Age Anti-perspirant,” set the tone for a futuristic type of packaging. The design strategy for Ultra Ban 5000 was to come up with something eye-popping and innovative to capture the identity of the product. Transparent inks on foil suggested the brilliance, precision, and power of space age technology. The domed plastic cap, the first such shape in aerosol packaging, was a major departure from the standard over-cap. Ted designed the pliable snap-on cap to simulate the appearance of a space helmet. The effect was a dramatic bullet-like shape in gleaming silver or gold. The exciting Ultra Ban 5000 assignment was one of Eron & Eron summarized their work on Ultra Ban 5000 with a six point bulleted document. The brothers began by stating, “The Bristol-Myers Company’s briefing was exciting and challenging. A powerful new product with the potential for taking a strong position in the growing antiperspirant market had been developed.” Everything about the product at this early stage suggested breakthroughs, new achievements, a step forward, and a truly distinctive product. The product of the future was to be called “Ultra Ban 5000.” Ted Eron’s challenge was to turn an aerosol canister into the vehicle for the image of an innovative, unique and personal product with cosmetic overtones, and to do so within the economic framework imposed by the mass market. Eron & Eron’s promotional brochure (above and right) for Ultra Ban 5000 conveyed the starry eyed enthusiasm for this project. The copy on the cover,

many that led to a Ted Eron invention. He invented the domed plastic cap because it fit with the design image he had in mind for the product. The result as envisioned in the original Bristol-Myers’ briefing was a “new achievement, a step forward, and a truly distinctive product of the future.”

Reese’s is a classic example of Ted Eron’s use of bold colors with a pragmatic purpose in mind. Reese’s also may be one of the most classic examples in package design history of a package redesign making a product successful, and of the redesign making that success endure. At the time of Ted Eron’s redesign of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups packaging in the late 1960s, Reese’s was beginning to show an outstanding growth potential in the supermarket. The challenge for Eron & Eron was quite different from their FLAV-R STRAWS redesign program. The task was not to bail out a failing product or company with a revitalized package and design, but to bolster and grow further an already successful product. At the time of the redesign, Reese’s produced a popular candy packaged in a variety of sizes, shapes, and pack types. The problem was that the individual items represented a diversity of designs and package images and they were not identified in any coherent way as members of the Reese’s family. Reese’s was a scattered array of pack types without a unifying or centralizing image to define a line (see images to the left). In the initial discussions with the Hershey Foods Company, Abbot Eron (Eron & Eron’s marketing expert), strongly recommended that the orientation of the redesign project be confined to a reemphasis of Reese’s existing appeal rather than a drastic alteration. He emphasized that they were working with a highly successful product. Design elements that did not contribute to the image should be eliminated or replaced while the positive factors should be further strengthened as the central identifying elements of the line. The revamped Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups packaging design retained the existing Reese’s logotype, but it improved its visibility.

148

Eron & Eron Rescue a Business

148

Eron & Eron Rescue a Business

“ The idea seems simple enough, putting text and images on a page or screen in an aesthetically pleasing and informative way. But, in comparison to other areas of design, Graphic Design is a fairly new profession, one that only gained real professional status in the 1950s and 60s.” –Complex

What do Elmer’s Glue, Krylon Spray Paint, and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups have in common? The designer Ted Eron, of course. You may not know his name, but you know Ted Eron. Although he remains largely unknown in the public consciousness, Eron played an integral role in defining the aesthetics of everyday goods and household staples in the 1950s and 60s. From the kitchen pantry to the work desk and the medicine cabinet, past and present, his packaging designs continue to resonate and to inhabit households across America. In Ted Eron Designed That, Joseph Eron and Elizabeth Eron Roth— Ted’s children—chronicle the life and art of their father through a nostalgic tour of the iconic graphic designs that have shaped and revolutionized twentieth-century visual culture. From his humble beginnings painting signs in the basement of a market while attending Cooper Union to the Eron & Eron Industrial Design years before World War II and beyond, Ted Eron Designed That pays a long overdue tribute to the man behind the iconic designs. Flipping through this book, every reader will be astounded to realize that there’s always a good chance that Ted Eron did indeed design that.

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