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The Reilly Archives

 

A pictorial catalogue of how the P-O-P industry developed.

There’s an increasing sense of déjà vu in the world. From fashion and music, to car design and furniture – with so many reissued design ideas, it’s easy to develop a sense that we’ve seen it all before. But in an industry that has progress, innovation and development at its core, the past is often forgotten. This part of the POPAI website tracks the journey of our industry from the 1950s through to the 1990s in a series of pictorial archives.

These archives were instigated by - and named after - one of POPAI's founder members, Carl Reilly, who started his P-O-P career as an apprentice in 1951 at J.E, Slater Graphic & Display Design, working his entire career designing award-winning P-O-P including latterly at his own agency, KORD Design in Leicestershire.

We need your photos! - We want contributions from the industry so please contact us if you have any images to submit to the archive.

Some very early examples of displays in the retail environment from the mid to late 1950s. Including examples from Aristoc, Viyella and Wolsey these displays enable products to be displayed to their full potential. 

A few more household names appear in the 1960s including Corgi Toys, Daz, Fairy Liquid and Pepsi Cola. Displays include those to showcase products in windows and also larger scale in-store displays. 

Retail displays have become more mainstream in the 1970s with examples covering cosmetics, drinks, toys and automotive. Brands include Avon, Babycham, L'Oreal, Mattel, Sharp and VW.

Just a few displays are currently included from the 1980s including for KP Snacks and Le Clic cameras. The displays featured are for the hospitality and in-store environments.

The most recent images in this archive the 1990s includes displays for Coca Cola, Walkers Crisps, KP McVitie's and the National Lottery.