The world of Advertising bulldogs and Harry

Hi there readers I hope as always that your all safe and well wherever in the world you maybe, before I start can I say the forum is actually quite easy to use I think you can sign in whilst on or using your social media and then once added you can join in or start topics but bare with me its new and as its only just set up it may take a while to get going due to niche aspect of our particular collecting field.

So I was thinking that we have had a few amazing blogs on people just lately why not bring it back to collectibles and I will do two mini blogs in one the first is the world of bulldog advertising and the other I will pick out a few favourites and have a little chat about why and what makes them such wonderful bulldog collectibles.

Before I start can I just thank JUDI CROWE for her visual content donated to be used in this blog I follow Judi on a few formats and have seen first hand she is way up there when it comes to showing amazing adverts with or about bulldogs.

The bulldog breed is nearly mythical in the world of advertising and can be dated back to earlier than the 1850s and as we are an island of dog lovers dogs have always been used to promote products, this was not until the late 1800s though when the bulldog was recognised as a an actual breed and the stigma of the breeds old fighting past started dissipating there was a massive surge of interest in this friendly, beautiful breed that 20 years or so before was seen as a fighting beast to be wagered on and was now on show at Earl’s Court for judging and winning prospects.

These wins and popularity for this breed continued to grow as the seriousness of the bulldog standard was very much at the for front back then (just as it is now) and the early winners would win endorsements and be lucky enough to have their bulldog as one of your collectors cards if you smoked way back then or hand painted cards etc.

There were literally hundreds or thousands of campaigns using bulldogs through the 19-20c so I will post a few to show the different kinds and what they were advertising that way you get to see nice pics and can judge for yourself if the bulldog plays an effective rule in the advertising to sell the product.

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The Bulldog is popularly used to represent England or the UK, It has been associated with The prime minister Winston Churchill’s defiance of Nazi Germany.

Some think the idea to stick a cigar in the dogs mouth was due to Churchill’s smoking but this is not true many a cigar company were already using this ploy to attract new smokers.

Across the pond in America The Bulldog breed is the official mascot of the USMC, and many bases have their own mascot on base.

Thirty-nine American universities use a Bulldog as their mascot including BRYANT BUTLER CAL STATE DRAKE GEORGE TOWN NORTH CAROLINA and even YALE these are just of the few of Americas educational departments to associate themselves with the bulldog.

There are many companies that thrive off the power of having products that are named as bulldog in their company I.E. bulldog clip bulldog rubber and other housebound or DIY amenities industry parts machines and the list goes on.

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A big part of the bulldogs in advertising was the events of WW2 and before, DOULTON had already made figurines to commemorate the winning of WW1 by making a certain style of figurine to sell to the public but another great ploy or propaganda coo, was the bulldog on postcards and advertisements using this early form of media to keep the people’s spirits high.

The earlier postcards and adverts if your a collector are the better pieces dates from 1914 and onwards, many were either hand drawn hand painted and even hand made from leather wood cross stitch and the stunning silk postcards.

I hope you enjoy the vintage visuals Judi has provided that show a little insight to the use of the breed in advertising from yesteryear to the present day.

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Many industries have used the power of the bulldog image to try and sell their wares in advertising campaigns and adverts, I think even the crest ware China bulldogs was a way of advertising as they have the English towns and city’s upon their backs.

I’m not that hot on the history of advertising but it did come to light to see what I did know when a lady contacted me with a vintage resin/marble copyrighted to STAINMASTER 85, I did some back ground research and came up with the same answers as the owner did so suggested that the owner email the company and see if they have any records on past advertising campaigns, where maybe they were advertising carpet cleaners aimed at pet owners etc.

As curator of such a vast collection I will admit my knowledge in some areas is not the best but as I’ve only been doing this for a few a years I’m sure I will get better the more I soak in and anyone willing to teach this old dog some new tricks feel free to contact me thank you lol…

The Nymphenburg bulldog. (Harry)

As I have not blogged on anything collectible related for a while I went and looked at what pieces folks may think are a bit special and talk about its origins so I turn to this magnificent specimen of an English bulldog.

Konrad Schmid a German porcelain master craftsman studied the characteristics of the species with various English breeders for seven months.

Before he started he had noted several attributes that you can see now in the piece shown, the head should be bulky, moderately large in relation to the body, and have a short snout.

Other striking characteristics include the broad chest, the narrow hindquarters, and the low-set tail.

The ears are set far apart high on the head, high above the eyes, and are small and thin – known as “rose ears”.

Schmid’s extensive studies culminated in 1929 with Harry the Bulldog and other characterful animals he designed for the manufactures master workshops.

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Porcelain and ceramics Manufacture Nymphenburg has been handcrafting finest porcelain for 260 years.

Porcelain services, figures and objects of the greatest quality and purity have been produced at just this one location in the world – the Nördliches Schlossrondell in Nymphenburg – since the 18th century.

From the beginning, Porcelain Manufacture Nymphenburg employed specialists with the aim of progressing production developments. Joseph Jakob Ringler, who had already worked in factories in Vienna and Strasbourg, succeeded in implementing the complicated production of porcelain just a few years after the company had been founded.

Which then permitted Elector Max III. Joseph to be presented with the first family porcelain by Mining Director Sigmund Count von Haimhausen in 1754.

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As one of the last, The Manufacture Nymphenburg factory still produces each individual item by hand.

A fact that is appreciated by experts and collectors alike, but “the amazement of customers who are told that delivery of a four-part service will take two years shows how far removed we have become from the appreciation of artistic work and craftsmanship.

I could not believe this whilst researching a whole two years of waiting patiently while your custom piece is being specially made and gives me a new respect for these artisans that once had these pieces rolling off the finished table at quite an astonishing rate, which would of been much harder than by today’s standards as technology and industry, were just starting out so new tool inventions to making an artists life easier did not come along till much later.

Harry the bulldog as pictured is one of the many prized bulldog ceramics we have here at Collectibulldogs but this is one that really stands out, for some they say the piece has been made with over enthusiasm, making the piece look exaggerated and others say it’s one of the closest depictions ever to of been made re creating the bulldog as it is.

I think the piece is just exquisite the proportion and muscle patina looks spot on right down to the loose fold that often rides toward when a bulldog is wearing a collar,this particular piece was made in the early 1930s measures nearly a foot in length and looks amazing for a piece with considerable age.

Please note you can contact the company still and request custom pieces to be made but expect that long wait and a bill of over 2000 euros and as its one of their earlier examples it becomes a long term investment with a nice little profit should it be sold one day.

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Exquisite is just one word I would use for this piece I love it and can spend ages just looking him over and I think the best part are the ears I think the artist got the small rose bud type spot on in proportion to the figurines head, I’ve left him out just for a little while so I can enjoy looking at him over breakfast.

Lastly I keep talking about getting the website established and asking for shares and likes so I’m happy to announce that I’ve added a share button on the website, so you can just press one button and hey presto instead of finding links and coping and pasting I would love it if you good people could start using this feature and whilst I’m waiting on more members for the Collectibulldogs forum I will be learning how to add like buttons to my website.

Please enjoy Harry the bulldog like I do and even though these are just porcelain figurines respect has to be given to the by gone artists for achieving greatness with the limited tools they had to work with back then where things were basic and very much hands on.

Thank you to anyone willing to share my website I hope you don’t mind and in glad I’m slowly getting there making the site better with every frustrating step lol, take care and happy Collecting…