Monday 6 October 2014

Some Companies Have Logos,

that date back over 110 years,


one that seems to keep appearing in a few programs is the Michelin Man, or Bibendum, as he was formally known, a moniker he gained from an appropriated artwork, it’s a Latin word for the act of drinking, which seems weird now, but his creators apparently did not know Latin, Bibendum was quite an odd character 110 years ago, many of the posters from the early 20th-century depict him as a somewhat sinister figure, large and bespectacled and chomping permanently on a cigar, initially he was shown drinking champagne, which linked to the Latinate toast, and this was reinforced by a strangely worded tagline that had been first mentioned in 1893: "À Votre Santé Le Pneu Michelin Boit L’Obstacle!" (The Michelin tire drinks up obstacles!), the poster apparently led to the character being known for a while as the "road drunkard," an image that would be abhorrent to any car-related company today, but the Michelin Man learned to change with the times, not only did he sober up, he became less obviously wealthy, notice the fat cat look in the 1914 poster above, Michelin Man is now 116 years old and is possibly one of the oldest company trademarks,

 we watched a episode of American restoration, where Rick has to renovate a Michelin Man air compressor,

and as normal Rick and the crew turned the non-working pump into a fully operational piece of art, a great show, if you have not watched it before give it a try, we both enjoy seeing the before and after look at pieces that are brought into Rick's workshop for restoration.


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