Stollwerck's fusion of chocolate and collectibles!
Stollwerck is a legendary chocolate maker established in 1839 in Koln, Germany. With almost two centuries of tradition, it can obviously offer numerous amazing stories. Their collectible cards (not postcards, but we love them so much we just had to include them in our blog) are one of the brightest points in the history of chocolate and collectibles.
When Franz Stollwerck, a master baker from Koln, opened a bakery in 1839, chocolate was not in the first plan. He offered several different products to the market, constantly expanding business and aggressively advertising. For some time he had coffee houses, restaurants, and a wine bar with a ballroom. His big hit became cough drops which made him many enemies among pharmacists but also brought him a medal at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1855.
Stollwerck company seriously started working with cocoa powder and making chocolate only in 1860 but eight years later already had several hundred different chocolate products. Five of his sons were also involved in his father's business but all left it due to rising conflicts. Sons established a competing company which was almost a decade later merged with the original Stollwerck just before Franz died.
When the sons took over, they expanded even further. They increased the number of employees and started setting up vending machines. In 1895 they already had several thousand employees and 15 thousand vending machines for selling chocolate.
Then another idea to increase the popularity of an already superb product came up. In the second half of 1897, they offered collectible cards with their chocolate bars and an album where the cards could be placed. As always, Stollwerck company took the project seriously inviting the best contemporary artists to participate in designs.
At first, artists were not credited. Later they realized, just like the booksellers, that the addition of the name of an established illustrator or designer only helped at selling.
Here are a few examples:
Adolf Luntz (1875-1924) portrayed landscapes in 1898.
Hans Krause (1864-1931) loved to present animals in action in the same year.
Otto Eckmann (1865-1902) painted these black swans just before his death.
Each series was designed by one artist and based on one theme.
Albert Klingner (1869-1912) was chosen for the mythological theme in 1902.
Franz Stassen (1869-1949) loved mythology in 1908 as well.
Sometimes all six cards in the series created a story that was always accompanied by text and sometimes with additional pictures already printed in the album.
This series was made by already mentioned Albert Klingner for Christmas 1910.
Elli Hirsch (1873-1943) humorously portrayed affection for chocolate in 1910.
Franz Juttner (1865-1926) made a series of six illustrations from Thumbling by the Brothers Grimm in 1911. While fairy tales entered the Stollwerck collection relatively late, they soon became one of the most exploited themes. Check for more Grimms' Fairy Tales by Stollwerck.
Ludwig Hohlwein (1874-1949) ends our presentation of collectible cards by the Stollwerck company.
Most of the albums are available online for everybody who finds them interesting. Prices vary from one to several hundred dollars depending on the condition of the product.
Between 1897 and 1918 exactly 18 albums were published with over three thousand pictures altogether.
Stollwerck Company still exists and is today part of the Belgian Baronie Group.