BLACK BAGS, Vol 3. — BLK MKT Vintage | SUPPLEMENTAL

I’ve got over 15 years of education and experience in Advertising.

That makes me Old Head and Baby Girl at the same damn time.

Still, enough that I should have known the name “Charles Dawson” WAY BEFORE this vintage Slick Black Hair Color broadside from @blkmktvintage arrived at my door.

During the Great Depression — nearly 40 years before “Black was Beautiful”— Black designer Charles Dawson created gorgeous packaging targeting Black and Latino consumers for Chicago’s Jewish-owned Valmor Products.

And not just a handful of niche hair pomades.

Valmor’s subsidiaries included Lucky Brown, Peachy Brown, Sweet Georgia Brown, Madam Jones, King Novelty, Famous Products Company, and many, many more.

Hundreds of face creams, hair products, perfumes & body oils, toothpastes, lotions, and home goods spanning global mail-order catalog, direct-to-consumer, and national drugstore distribution.

With people of color front and center on nearly every label.

Headquartered in one of the cities that put advertising on the map.

Charles Dawson was more than a graphic designer.

He was the Black beauty blueprint.

And I had to stumble across an 80-year-old+ rarity to even learn his name.

Yesterday, I dropped a term that might be unfamiliar: SANKOFA.

It’s a Ghanian word whose literal translation is “it is not taboo to fetch what is at risk of being left behind.”

Put simply, “go back and get it.”

Since the day BLK MKT Vintage introduced me to Charles Dawson, I’ve collected several of his originals, each one highlighting his stunning illustrations, signature primary colors, and exceptional talent at balancing bold design and a staggering amount of copy.

Nobody ever taught me about Charles Dawson’s work. Let alone his successor Jay Johnson.

And if I had a dollar… I’d be a billionaire.

Because they’re just a couple among countless legends nearly erased by who gets to tell the story.

And among many reasons I’m thankful to BLK MKT Vintage for helping me go back and get them.

There’s so much more waiting at blkmktvintage.com and more of Charles Dawson at the Made in Chicago Museum.

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