Canned Tobacco Typography – poster, Cooper & Beatty, Jim Donoahue, c1975

Tobacco packaging and advertising left behind a complex legacy – culturally problematic, yet visually rich. During the first half of the 20th century, tobacco companies invested heavily in marketing, often producing some of the most inventive and ornate examples of commercial typography and lettering we have.

In this poster, believed to be the third in the Cooper & Beatty Collection Series, designer Jim Donoahue curated a selection of vintage tobacco tins to showcase the bold, often eccentric typographic styles of the era. While the product messaging was lavish and emotional, the lettering reflected a kind of visual optimism – expressive, patriotic, and frequently charming.

By the mid-1970s, the graphic landscape had shifted. Corporate typefaces like Helvetica were losing ground in advertising. In their place, new designs from companies like the International Typeface Corporation (ITC) in New York – founded in 1970 by Aaron Burns, Herb Lubalin, and Ed Rondthaler – were reshaping typographic tastes. Drawing from historical specimens, ITC reissued older, often obscure, faces with updated proportions and weights suited to contemporary photo-typesetting. One such revival was ITC Korinna, originally released by Berthold in 1904 and updated by Ed Benguiat. It became one of the defining typefaces of the decade – and is used here for the poster’s supporting text.
– Rod McDonald

Artifact Text

Canned Tobacco Typography

In the twenties it came in cans. The Tobacco was mild, smooth, mellow, luxurious.

The typography was inventive, outrageous, delightful, patriotic and always charming.

(C&B mark)

Cooper & Beatty, Limited | 401 Wellington St. West | Toronto, Canada | The always charming typographers | Can collection: John Sebert