An Illustration of Brownie Advertising Development

The cover of one of Palmer Cox's original Brownie books, found at www.phsc.ca

Palmer Cox began his career as an illustrator, publishing his first illustrated children's book at 34. His illustrations were been used profusely across the American domestic goods market at the turn of the century. The characters that he continually works with are those of a Scottish folklore about a 'Brownie' who lives in the home, helping out and sometimes making mischief. This context, of the 'Brownie' as an unseen force in the domestic world makes the character ideal for advertising household products such as cleaning supplies, something that was present, but not a centrally visible element. Plamer Cox's Brownies were not regulated to the home as the folkloric Brownie was, and as we can see in the cover image, they were a diverse group of engaged characters.

Kodak adopted Cox's version of the Brownie as their namesake and icon for their revolutionary Brownie Camera. This camera was revolutionary in that is was the first to be available to the amateur photographer, and marketed as a domestic commodity rather than a professional tool. This has been given the accreditation of democratizing the image, an overstatement at the least. Possibly the Brownie 'middle classed' the camera, and made authorship accessible, but this does not mean that the authorship was given voice, or that the authors looked to have voice.

Looking at the advertisement, (www.photo.net) with some background information in place, we see the Cox Brownies', mythical creatures representing diversity and exploration for Cox, juxtaposed with Kodak's new $1.00 Brownie Camera. The advertisement states "Any school-boy or girl can make good pictures" and "Take a Brownie Home for Christmas". The Brownie's, a well accepted and child friendly icon, also serve to sell the camera in other ways. First, they help us to forget its history and disregard its technically, as West says in Kodak and the Lens of Nostalgia. The camera becomes a case, we use it, and receive a product, but the process that demonstrates our extreme modern times are hidden with in it and in the factory. The Brownies are exploring the camera out of context in this advertisement, as the used is allow to do also in the domestic sphere without worry of technicalities that previously where predominant in the practice. Furthermore, the brownies help us to see this as a tool of progress. It represents the new, in contrast to the folklore of the Brownie.


The above image is a Christmas window display from 1925 featuring the Brownie camera and its promoters, the Brownie characters. The scene is idealistic, western, and childlike, following the companies advertising history. At this point the Brownie was not used as often within advertising, as the advent of new photo/print technologies made the use of illustrations out of date. www.archives.gon.on.ca