#brochures

While working at Unimark International in the late 1960s, Lella and Massimo Vignelli designed a number of product packaging for Colton, a subsidiary of Gillette. Take a look at Nuts & Bolts, a line of toiletries aimed at a masculine audience. With a nod to pop art, large scale bright orange plastic nuts and bolts are part packaging and part object.

In the archives, the Vignellis saved an example of a combo pack in its original box which includes after shave lotion, deodorant, and after shave conditioner. This set also has an accordion folded brochure describing all the products.

Scroll through to read the brochure for yourself and its creatively descriptive language!

“A bold new twist in men’s products to prepare you for anything. (After all you never know what you might fall into.)

Nuts & Bolts cologne

A vigorous cologne in a man-sized orange bolt. Twist off the cap and turn on the power. A long-lasting, woodsy fragrance that’s a real confidence builder.

Nuts & Bolts after shave lotion

This bolt makes your shave a lusty one. The same zesty fragrance as the cologne invigorates your skin when it needs bracing up. Make it big with a splash of boldness from this brisk new aftershave. 4-ounces.

Nuts & Bolts after shave conditioner

If your skin reacts to the sting of alcohol after you shave, try working with this bolt. No alcohol bite. A greaseless, non-sticky cream that helps relieve dry and chapped skin conditions. 4-ounces.

Nuts & Bolts deodorant stick

A manly deodorant stick with strong arm ingredients to fight off strong arm bacteria. A bolt that really works as a deodorant. Non-alcoholic, it doesn’t sting or bite. Potent to help give long lasting protection. 3.4-ounces.

Nuts & bolts soap set

Two nut-shaped soaps, each with the same rousing scent. Soap up with either bar. Each contains special ingredients to help prevent bacteria odor.”

From our Unimark International records, we have tons of vintage imagery of the product and a two-sided ad / order form which describes the then new line:

“A New Twist in Men’s grooming

It’s about time someone came up with a line of grooming products for the rugged individualist.

Now there’s “NUTS AND BOLTS”. Five new super-virile products which come in man-sized orange nuts and bolts containers. There’s just about every grooming aid a man needs to make him feel like a man. A vigorous Cologne…a zesty After Shave…a biteless After Shave Conditioner…a strong-arm Deodorant Stick…and a couple of rousing nut shaped soaps that help prevent bacteria odor.”

Mexico The Land of Charm

edited by Mercurio López Casillas

texts by Mercurio López Casillas / James Oles

presentation Steven Heller

Editorial RM, Mexico - Barcelona 2022, 224 pagine, 18x25 pagine, ISBN 9788417975517

euro 35,00

email if you want to buy [email protected]

Mexico: The land of Charm is a beautiful and fascinating visual tour of the popular universe of Mexican Vintage Prints, from the Mexican Revolution to the 1950s. This stunning volume includes over 350 images from the collection of the most important and influential collectors in Mexico. This volume gathers a surprising and engaging sampling of more than five hundred pieces of printed matter: material that circulated between the 1910s and the 1960s, with prints run of anywhere from a thousand to tens of thousands of copies. These ephemeral, utilitarian publications flooded streets, newspaper stands, bookshops, and homes, in the common aim of disseminating an idealized image of what is considered typically Mexican. Drawn from private collections and the holdings of museums, with no claim to completeness, the material in Mexico: The Land of Charm ranges in size from stamps to posters, and includes supports such as books, illustrated magazines, photography magazines, songbooks and musical scores, almanacs and calendars, tourist guides and maps. The result is impressive, in terms of both individual examples and the collection as a whole: these images are now a part of Mexican history.