Campbell's and Cyrtoidea

What's on the outside matters as much as what's on the inside.

Question: What does Ernst Haeckel's influential book Art Forms in Nature (AFIN) and a can of Campbell's Soup have in common?

Answer: They'll always have Paris. Let's go back about 100 years and walk through the connections:

1. In AFIN, open Plate 31 and note the middle row of Cyrtoidea radiolaria engravings. Here's a cropped image:
   
   
   
2. French architect and Art Nouveau designer René Binet was a contemporary of Haeckel's, and greatly admired his AFIN illustrations. Binet used the tiny Cyrtoidea radiolaria in Plate 31 as the design concept for his grand entrance into the Paris 1900 World Exposition.
   
   The Exposition was a celebration of 19th Century industrialization and manufacturing, and the exhibits were arranged around Gustave Eiffel's iron Tower. The entrance's three-cornered dome, over 35 meters tall, was framed by twin minarets and topped off with a woman's statue (the "Parisienne") welcoming visitors into the City of Light.
   
   Note the entrance's similarities to Haeckel's Cyrtoidea illustration above, particularly the two outermost drawings. Dubbed the "Porte Monumentale" (aka "Porte Binet"), walking through the entrance into hall after hall of the world's latest achievements would have been a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
   
   
3. But enough about style: let's go back to the good old USA. The original business behind the Campbell Soup Company was founded in New Jersey in 1869 by Joseph Campbell and Abraham Anderson. Their products sold well in the States, and did even better after they introduced condensed soups in 1897. Wanting to expand their markets, Campbell's had an exhibit at the Paris 1900 World Exposition and won a food industry Gold Medallion for their efforts:
   
   
   There's a larger image of a Medallion (awarded to another participant) here.
   
   In retail, everything is location, location, location, and Paris was a great spot. According to official attendance figures, over 48 million (!) international visitors walked through Binet's gate in less than a year. In the days before radio or television, Campbell's couldn't have asked for a better opportunity to market their soups (and hand out samples, no doubt) to women from around the world.
   
   
4. Since 1900, Campbell's has printed a simplified version of the Exposition's Gold Medallion on their classic canned soup labels. On the "Just Heat & Enjoy" Chicken Noodle Soup shown above — a modern version of Campbell's original uncondensed soups — a small, coin-like Gold Medallion lays over the red and white border, immediately above the words "Chicken Noodle".
   
   The Medallion is also displayed at the bottom of the company's "About Us" web page.
   

It may seem quaint now, but the cachet of the Gold Medallion was something worth advertising, especially when Campbell's was trying to win the pocketbooks of wives and mothers used to cooking home-made soups over a hot stove.

Over 100 years later, the company's concept of fast, cheap, and convenient food — presented to consumers in an appealing way — has worked very well. Campbell's Soups have grown into one of world's best-known brands with over $7 billion in sales.

So, the next time you slurp a hot meal out of a Campbell's can, contemplate that Medallion on the label and recall how much creativity and hard work lies behind it.

A little gratuitous nod in Cyrtoidea's direction wouldn't be out of place, either.

P.S. — Digital Deli (it opens with audio) has a nice history of Campbell's ads from 1869 to 1962 with pictures of their soup can labels. America's Greatest Brands also has a PDF document with more history and images.