An interesting trend appearing on wallpapers in the 1950s are designs with groups of like objects arranged as if on display. These patterns all seem to contain objects deemed collectible as they include buttons, luggage stickers, or liquor labels, all neatly lined up. And while not a collectible there are also similar designs with produce. Given the great number of wallpaper patterns available at any given time, if someone collected it, there was probably a wallpaper showing a display of said objects.

This design contains liquor labels from a variety of wines and liquors, and each is arranged as if on display. The pattern is a trompe l’oeil design with all the labels appearing as if adhered to a mount and casting a shadow on two sides while the background is printed to suggest cork or possibly fabric. I did a Google search to get a sense of how many collectors of liquor labels there are, and between labels and bottles there is quite a huge following. Someone out there has a collection containing 3,550 different whiskey labels!

And I like the title, Salud, which is Spanish for health and a frequent toast “To your health.” This can be taken quite literally as during Prohibition several whiskey manufacturers were licensed by the Federal government to make and sell medicinal liquor at 100 proof with labels clearly stating “For Medicinal Purpose Only”. These were available in drug stores and required a doctor’s prescription. Salud indeed.

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