Jantzen

Artist Otto Arpke (German, 1886 - 1943)

Publisher Jantzen (American, founded 1910)

Printer Offsetdruk August Scherl (German)

Date1930s

Object number00044251

NamePoster

MediumColour lithograph on paper

DimensionsDisplay dimensions: 2566 x 1187 mm, 1960 g

ClassificationsPosters and postcards

Credit LineANMM Collection

Terms

DescriptionThis three sheet advertising poster was designed by the German graphic artist Otto Arpke. The poster depicts a woman wearing a yellow Jantzen two-piece swimsuit, and a man wearing a one-piece suit with cut-out panels, high waisted shorts and belt. These swimwear styles were fashionable in Europe, Australia and the United States in the 1930s. This version of the distinctive diving girl and Jantzen lettering was used as the company's logo from 1928-1941. HistorySince the 1920s the Jantzen diving girl has been used on swimwear, billboards, catalogues, posters and other advertising media. It has been updated to reflect changes in swimwear fashion, while remaining instantly recognisable as the Jantzen trade mark. The diving girl logo was developed by Russell H Tandy, and first appeared in a Jantzen swimwear catalogue in 1920. The following year Jantzen launched an advertising campaign using the diving girl on adhesive illustrations which became popular as windscreen stickers. The logo was first used on swimwear in 1923 and featured in a national advertising campaign in the United States along with the slogan 'The Suit That Changed Bathing to Swimming'. This campaign saw the first use of the term 'swimming suit’. Modernised by illustrators Frank and Florenz Clark in 1928, the diving girl logo had by 1931become the seventh most recognised logo in the United States. The 1920s Jantzen diving girl wore a red and white striped swimsuit with stockings and a red cap with a white pom-pom. By the 1930s she had become more streamlined and wore a briefer swimsuit and plain red cap. In 1948 she was redrawn wearing a strapless swimsuit and was revised again in 1980.SignificanceThis is a rare example of a large advertising poster marketing an American swimwear label in Europe in the 1930s.