We know that BAYKO was advertised widely in various parts of the UK press in the 1950s and early 1960s, and possibly pre-war. I also believe there were, probably pre-Christmas, T.V. adverts. I'd even heard apocryphal tales of BAYKO adverts in Cinemas, but have been able to find no evidence - nor does my 'matinee memory' help at all… |
…and that, I thought, was that - until I received an email from Andrew Lance, with the images [below]. |
They were snatched from a well known auction site, sadly just after the auction closed, but thanks to Andrew, for spotting their significance. |
The observant among you will notice that the slides below speak with an Australian accent, but the technology and principals are the same. |
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These slides would normally have been used, either individually, or as part of an advertising slide show, in the run up to the film programme. |
Australian BAYKO Cinema Advert |
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Viewed from the Front |
Viewed from the Rear |
Both the images [above] are taken from ordinary photos, taken from an angle, so have had to be 'distorted' back to their rectangular shape. |
The slide was produced by Gunn's Slides for Cyril F. Noisette, of North Fitzroy, both being Melbourne based companies. Sadly C.F.N., were 'derigistered' as a company [a recognised Australian process] as late as 2015 - if only! |
I've obviously no means of knowing if the slide was ever used in anger, though it's an expensive luxury to have bought if it wasn't! |
The fact that the slide still has its protective, branded, paper surround may mean that this was a spare [again a luxury, perhaps - but it's certainly possible that a spare was a necessary precaution]. The paper surround may even have helped hold the slide more rigidly in the projector. |
I'm afraid I can't tell you anything about the size of the slide, it may well be the same as ordinary photographic slides, but, I honestly don't know why or where from, I have an A5 [paper size] image in mind - I'd love to hear from you if you know better! |
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There's not a lot that I can add about the slide contents that you can't see for yourself - if you slide your mouse over either of the images and left click, you will launch a larger version. However, I must say I love the brief tag line, shown to the right of the main model : - |
“ENGLAND'S LATEST EDUCATIONAL TOY” |
The Model and the BAYKO Logo, on the slide, scream 1950s and that's as near as I can get to an accurate date, though the word “LATEST” [above] draws me very much to the earliest part of the decade, if not even earlier, into the late 1940s - I'm sorry to be so vague. |
Notice that this is yet another example of the inclusive nature of BAYKO advertising, with both a boy and a girl integral to the image. |
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The boy and girl images used in this advert have a familiar look to them, which shouldn't be too surprising as are very clearly inspired by those two images which are integral to the 1950s standard set labels, [right] which seems to leave us with two interesting possibilities : - |
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Were Plimpton directly involved in the production of the artwork for this advert‽ Well, of proof there is none - but it is certainly plausible. |
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If so, can we infer that this was something like Plimpton's standard Cinema Advert‽ Again, of proof there is none, but it seems right for the 1950s, and we can hope! |
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