Teeny weeny Vincent's box bikini
Maker
Mrs Val Godbee
Date1960s
Object number00016785
NameSwimsuit
MediumCotton, solvent based dye marker pen
DimensionsOverall: 510 x 210 mm
Display Dimensions: 510 x 210 mm
Display Dimensions: 510 x 210 mm
ClassificationsClothing and personal items
Credit LineANMM Collection
DescriptionThis 'teeny weeny Vincents box bikini' was handmade by Mrs Val Godbee of Tweed Heads, New South Wales for an advertising competition run by the Australian pharmaceutical company that produced the popular analgesic 'Vincent's APC' in the 1960s.
The yellow cotton bikini brief is decorated with a red cotton machine stitched wave trim and a large array of images and slogans inscribed with marker pens in various colours. The bikini brief border features hand-drawn yellow Vincent's headache powder boxes surrounding the slogan `Stop your headache & that pain here's good advice, its brief Take Vincent’s with confidence feel Vincent’s instant ease!’
Other hand drawn slogans covering the bikini include:
`Hip hip hooray For Vincents Get to the seat of your troubles Take Vincents.
' `Over exposed! take Vincents!’
`Under/ the weather? take instant Vincents'
'Why I like Vincents Nothing "Teeny-weeny" About Vincents, excepting price Vincent's instant action is the fastest money can buy'HistoryThe analgesic Bex Powders, pink Vincent's Powders or, generically, 'APC powders' are Australian cultural icons, prominent among this country's repertoire of self-prescribed over-the-counter medications popular in the mid-20th century.
Manufacturers utilised innovative marketing strategies to reach their consumers, including competitions and giveaways. In the 1960s Vincent's regularly used images of women in swimsuits to advertise their products, equating the carefree lifestyle of Australia's beaches with pain relief.
SignificanceThis handmade competition entry is a rare surviving example of a garment produced in response to marketing campaign in Australia in the 1960s. It represents a significant link between marketing and beach culture in Australia during the 1960s. 
