Bologna, October 16 (askanews) – Before television, advertising took place on the streets: on city walls, in shop windows, on vans that toured the squares. And to sell shoe polish or insecticide, the product alone wasn't enough. You needed an idea, a color, the touch of an artist. Deisa Ebano understood this over a hundred years ago, and today, in Bologna, she's transforming that history into a corporate museum.
Maddalena Rossi, sales and marketing director, explains. "What you see here is the birth of the company: you can see how much investment was already being made in art back then, because advertising was also art at the time, and sometimes still is today." A century of images that tell much more than a brand. "It's the story of a family and an extraordinary era," continues Maddalena Rossi.
As can be seen from the sketches and images, everything that was emerging and taking shape in those years emerges, from comics onwards: you can see the artistic styles of one period taking shape and becoming those of the following period”. Over three hundred pieces including sketches, posters, prototypes and vintage machinery, signed by the masters of the twentieth century: from Mingozzi to Dudovich, up to the shots of Franco Fontana and Nino Migliori.
Two years of archive research for curator Francesca Sinigaglia, art historian. "For a hundred years, from 1922 to today, artists have been creating something unique: exceptional testimonials like energetic elephants, little devils, and Sor Ebano, the fantastical shoeshine boy who entertains the public. These are imaginative images that have created an extraordinary imagery and are finally being showcased to the public." At the beginning of the twentieth century, there were more than three hundred brands of shoe polish in Italy. Today, among the Italian brands, almost only Ebano remains. President Luca Rossi emphasizes this. "A century of existence is a significant milestone for any company, and so we are very proud of it." The secret to this longevity? "Probably the quality and craftsmanship of the product, the fact that we are recognized as a quality brand," explains Luca Rossi. "Those who seek quality, and not just savings, are always there and have been choosing us for over a century. We are very happy with this and will continue in this direction."
Askanews