Independence day

Left: Independence day Tashcach (The Jewish calender year), Middle: logo - 20 Israel,
Right: "Revivim" school Kiryat Haim

A napkin from 1968 for Israel's 20 years of independence celebrations. Was printed for Revivim school in Kiryat Haim, where my mom was studying in those days, as a souvenir for the joyous holiday.
I can't imagine there will be any napkins given away on this year's celebrations..

A long distance relationship

He loves me? She loves me? - Hebrew, English, French and Italian

Another sweet illustrated napkin describing a complex romantic situation. 3 colors print that create a lively scene and a skirt I wouldn't mind having for myself.

A post royal wedding post

Gilton halls - were either in Tel Aviv or Ramat-Gan

After the royal wedding frenzy I felt things gotta be back in proportions. Spending 80 million pounds on a family event is something most of us will luckily never have to experience. Back in the 60's those who wanted a big and lavish wedding did it in event-halls. Big halls, usually decorated with tacky wallpapers, where the guests would sit around tables, enjoy the obligatory chicken while watching the young couple go all the way under the Chuppah.
This is one of a few event-halls napkins I have in the collection. Probably were collected at the event itself..

Gilton halls - logo

The randomly spaced typography around the logo indicates that it was probably hand written by someone with a good hand, yet no eraser. The messy logo combines the letters G and Gimel (ג) as for Gilton, plus some elements that are supposed to make it feel more royal (?).
I really wonder if there were any royal wedding napkins served at the table, and if they looked any better than this one.

In the air, in the sea, on the ground

The flowers go to Zahal

A lovely illustrated napkin with a surprisingly accurate 3 color print from the series "Souvenir of Israel". I love the cosmopolitan feeling! And the little dog!

 

Peekaboo, I see you!

Peekaboo - Kikar Malchei Israel 8 Tel-Aviv. Steak-bar Restaurant.

A sweet napkin for Peekaboo - Steak-bar and a restaurant. It was located in Kikar Malchei Israel  no. 8 (Malchei Israel square), now days Rabin square in Tel-Aviv. I couldn't find any information about this place or what's in its spot today. If you have any idea don't be shy and comment :)

Peekaboo - logo

The design is a mess but has it's grace. I really like the unique typography of the logo.
It seems like there was a so-so success with having a continuous visual language in this logo. Letters are also kinda wobbly so I guess it might be hand drawn. Still I really love the innovative design of the letter "Aleph" - א  (third from left).

Harpaz

I found the name Harpaz hiding in the corner. Is it the credit for the print house or the designer? If so, I think it's the first time I noticed a credit for a designer on a napkin.

A souvenir of Mugrabi

A lake, a tower, a colosseum and a cinema (?)

on the back

This napkin from the "Souvenir of Israel" series shows some hot spots to remember.
A rather detailed illustration and a rich 3 color print. It displays the landscape of Tiberias and sea of the Galilee, Jerusalem's "Citradel" (Migdal David), the ancient Roman colosseum in Caeserea and then, a surprise. Mugrabi cinema hall in Tel-Aviv.
Unlike the citradel and colosseum that still remain standing in a very impressive condition after hundreds of years, Mugrabi cinema hall didn't survive a whole century. It was opened to business in 1930 and became an important cultural center and one of the most popular hang-outs in the early days of Tel-Aviv.
Unfortunately it was burned in 1986 and demolished in 1989.. Now days you can find a depressing parking lot where it stood, but probably not for long. Another big luxury residence is planned for this area instead of reviving the cinema hall. I guess the future residents will have a nice home theater system in their luxury apartment to watch films instead.

Got a flight tonight

In the running year I've been finding myself up in the air sipping Bloody Maries and chocking on dust flavored marble cakes more than I could have ever imagined. Today, just recovering from a very long flight back to Tokyo, from the deeps of my jet lag haze,  I found some lovely napkins from the 60's skies.

El Al airlines, Israel's flag carrier's logo in his 60's version (just before it was recreated by the great designer Dan Reisinger in 1971). A simple one color print for this airplane napkin. Simple and elegant!

El Al airplane napkin (plus some Bloody Mary stains)

And a big one

Another napkin from a past El Al flight. This time you can see the logo after (or before?) some changes. The basic structure of the logo was mostly kept, but in this version the logo was built up from star-of-David fractals.. 

On the other side of the napkin you can also find the nicely adapted Hebrew logo.

 El Al star of david logo

We are all made of stars - the Hebrew version

The last flight napkin comes from Arkia - Israel's biggest inner flights company of those days.

The logo has also changed since, but still keeps the orange and blue principle.

Arkia - old logo