Echte Wagner (German for 'Genuine Wagner') was a German brand of margarine, produced by the Wagner company in Elmshorn, Holstein, in the 20th century. The business was opened by Carl Wagner in 1907 and finally closed in 1976. It was known for offering collectible cards and in the 1950s also marbles and plastic figures with purchases. In 1930 it created the series known as Zukunftsfantasien (Imaginings of the Future), which offered glimpses of a future world, including concepts such as personal wireless communication devices and novel modes of transport.
 | |
| Industry | Margarine |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1907 |
| Founder | Carl Wagner |
| Defunct | 1976 |
| Headquarters | Elmshorn, Holstein , Germany |
Company
editHolsteinische Pflanzenbutterfabriken Wagner & Co., G.m.b.H. ('Holstein Margarine Factories Wagner & Company') produced margarine in Elmshorn, Holstein, Germany, using the Echte Wagner brand.[1] The first factory was opened in 1907 at Königstraße 1, Elmshorn, in what is now the town's main shopping street, by Carl Wagner, a ham and sausage wholesaler.[2] The town was chosen for its transport links.[3] In 1913 a larger factory was opened at Gärtnerstraße 10.[2] In 1925, a branch factory was opened in Dommitzsch in the Province of Saxony, but was lost to the company after to the division of Germany in 1945.[4] The company started issuing collectible cards in 1928 and in the 1950s also offered marbles and plastic figures.[1] The main factory was destroyed in World War II, then rebuilt by the founder's son, Heinrich Wagner.[3] In 1960 it had about 250 employees and produced around 15.000 tonnes of margarine each year.[4] In 1976, the company merged with Margarine-Voss from Hamburg and Bavarian Margarine Works from Munich to form "Elite Margarine und Feinkost GmbH" and production moved to Hamburg,[5] but the merged company failed two years later.[6]
Background
editIn the late 19th century collectible cards were distributed with relatively expensive products such as cocoa. After World War I they were also distributed with cigarettes and margarine.[7] At that time, there was a significant audience in Germany for Zukunftsroman and futuristic novels.[8] The advertising imagery during the Weimar era mirrors a profound excitement for technology and a hopeful view of advancement.[9]
Future Fantasies (Zukunftsfantasien)
edit
In 1930, Echte Wagner Margarine introduced a line of card sets labeled 'Zukunftsfantasien' (Imaginings of the Future); the artist or artists involved were not credited. The cards were meant to be collected in an album.[10][11][12] The cards were numbered as Echte Wagner Margarine Album Nr. 3, Serien 12 und 13[13] (Genuine Wagner Margarine Album No. 3, Series 12 and 13).[14] The cards present a vision of the future from a 1930 perspective and include concepts such as a wireless personal phone, novel modes of transportation, the cosmos, and numerous other subjects.[15][11]
Among the illustrations are:
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b "Objekt des Monats August". Industriemuseum Elmshorn (in German). 31 August 2015. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
- ^ a b "1 Die erste Adresse in der Königstraße". 773 Schritte (in German). Industriemuseum Elmshorn. Archived from the original on 16 August 2023. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
- ^ a b Pöhlsen, Thomas (17 May 2016). "Das Vermächtnis des Margarine-Machers". Hamburger Abendblatt (in German). Retrieved 12 August 2023.
- ^ a b Hoff, Hans (1962). Wirtschaftsgeographische Grundlagen, Entwicklung und heutige Standorte der Öl- und Margarine-Industrie in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland. University of Münster. p. 105.
- ^ Freese, Gunhild (30 July 1976). "...wie Butter in der Sonne". Die Zeit (in German). Retrieved 25 August 2023.
- ^ Freese, Gunhild (3 November 1978). "Opfer des Handels". Die Zeit (in German). Retrieved 25 August 2023.
- ^ Koshar, Rudy J. (2000). Germany's Transient Pasts. University of North Carolina Press. p. 66. ISBN 9780807862629.
- ^ "Peter S. Fisher. Fantasy and Politics: Visions of the Future in the Weimar Republic. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press. 1991. Pp. ix, 289. Cloth $40.00, paper $13.25". The American Historical Review. October 1992. doi:10.1086/ahr/97.4.1240.
- ^ Bohnsack, Ralf; Sparschuh, Vera (2022). "Die Entwicklung der dokumentarischen Bildinterpretation". Die Theorie der Praxis und die Praxis der Forschung. Verlag Barbara Budrich. pp. 112–122. doi:10.2307/j.ctv2b07vfn.20. ISBN 978-3-8474-2603-5. JSTOR j.ctv2b07vfn.20. S2CID 246809533.
- ^ zukunftsfantasien (in German). Echte Wagner. 1931. OCLC 1347203254.
- ^ a b Laeng, Hans-Tommy (2017). Blicke in die Zukunft von anno dazumal (in German). LIT Verlag Münster. pp. 111 to 130. ISBN 978-3-643-13512-4.
- ^ Gálová, Simona (4 September 2021). "FOTO: Takto si predstavovali budúcnosť pred sto rokmi. Väčšina z predstáv sa nakoniec stala realitou" [PHOTO: This is how they imagined the future a hundred years ago. Most of the ideas eventually became reality]. Dobré noviny (in Slovak).
- ^ "File:Echte Wagner Margarine 3 12-13 Zukunftsfantasien c1930 cards only.pdf - Monoskop" (PDF). monoskop.org. Retrieved 2023-08-09.
- ^ Mattern, Friedemann (2007-06-13). Die Informatisierung des Alltags: Leben in smarten Umgebungen (in German). Springer-Verlag. p. 362. ISBN 978-3-540-71455-2.
- ^ "The futuristic world as envisioned by Echte Wagner advertising cards, 1930 - Rare Historical Photos". rarehistoricalphotos.com. 2021. Retrieved 2023-08-08.
- ^ a b c "Retro-Futurismus: Sammelalben". www.klausbuergle.de. Retrieved 2023-08-12.
- ^ Orel, Marko (2022-08-09). Collaboration Potential in Virtual Reality (VR) Office Space: Transforming the Workplace of Tomorrow. Springer Nature. pp. 20, 21. ISBN 978-3-031-08180-4.