Museum of Brands, Packaging and Advertising

Since I live here in London, I like to look for things which are perhaps off the standard tourist trail.  For two reasons really - firstly, because there is so much here to be discovered and secondly because the more obscure, the more I hope it won't be full of people and I'll be able to enjoy it more.

So, after a day of hunting for things I could go and do with a friend in tow, we decided to visit the Museum of Brands, Packaging and Advertising, which is situated within walking distance of Notting Hill.  This museum has been built up over many many years by Robert Opie, who started collecting age 16.

Although the website looks really interesting, I wasn't sure what to expect, or if we'd be in and out of there within half an hour.  One of the important things to note is that if you are a member of the National Trust, they have a promotion at the moment for half price entry, and having visited I thought it was actually worth the full price of £6.50.  Sadly, no photography allowed and so this post can't really show you all the interesting things in there.

The website also seems to be geared a little towards school groups, with a number of worksheets provided.  This being the case, we decided to arrive shortly after opening at 10am, and only came across one smallish school group.

The museum was much larger than I expected, with all the items separated into different rooms from different eras, from Victorian and Edwardian through to present day.  Since we weren't on a time limit, we pottered slowly and took time to talk about how it must have been to live with what people had in the different ages.  In all we were there over 2 hours and had a fascinating time.

I'd have to say my favourite thing in the whole place and one to look out for because it's easy to miss, was in the first room, in a case in the middle of the room - from one side it looked like a concertina box, but from front on there was just a hole.  When you peeked through, there were layers of papercuttings, making up some really wonderful scenes.

I think what also fascinated me was how people managed to entertain themselves before the days of the high tech that we have today.  When we started to reach the things that I recognised and remembered from seeing my parents or grandparents using them (co-op stamps, anyone?) that was wonderful.  It was also interesting to see how brands have changed (or not) through to today.  The things we have now seemed quite tacky and gaudy in comparison to some of the older items.

Although the teenagers on their school trip raced through and looked pretty bored, we found everything in this place truly interesting and thought it was well worth a visit.  I'd like to go again with my parents and to see which things they remember.  I'd say it's definitely aimed at adults and also for schools and learning, and probably more so for the Brits, since they are most likely to recognise the things in there and to know some of the history.