“The Museum of Brands”

Welcome to Wednesday, futurists.

This week’s installment of The London Brief continues our ongoing series about the intertwining of culture and commerce in the city that was the birthplace of modern consumer culture: London, England. 

Today we’ll examine The Museum of Brands, an outpost in Notting Hill which houses a collection of historical artifacts that articulates the evolution of consumer culture dating back to Victorian England; documenting the modern changes of culture and commerce.

If you missed our prior installments, you can find them here:

• Issue 1: The Haberdashery
• Issue 2: The American Mind Cannot Comprehend UK Retail
• Issue 3: Seeing Double: Why So Many Eyewear Brands in London? 
• Issue 4: Harrods is Bougie Bucc-ee’s

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When you understand the past, the confusion of the present becomes clearer. — English Poet John Betjeman

Mere steps away from the street vendors stationed along the Portobello Road is the Museum of Brands, a literal and figurative time capsule of consumer culture in West London’s Notting Hill; a cornucopia of antiqued tin, weathered cardboard, and eternal plastic that whispers tales of our collective past.

But beyond its nostalgic charm lies a profound truth: commerce isn't just a reflection of culture; it is our culture.

The Tunnel of Time

“The Museum of Brands, Packaging and Advertising” is devoted to the history of consumer culture from Victorian times to the present day. The collection of the museum consists of over 12,000 items, including domestic everyday products, such as packaging, toys, posters, games, and more.

The main attraction of the museum is the “Tunnel of Time,” a winding exhibition that begins with Victorian soap advertisements through to the sleek packaging of the latest smartphone. The collection is what we buy has always been a declaration of who we are—or who we aspire to be. This consumerist ethos, far from being a modern affliction, was intentionally cultivated by none other than Queen Victoria and Prince Albert themselves; polymathic monarchs who saw in commerce a vehicle for progress, identity, and empire.

The Museum’s founder is Robert Opie, an avid collector of vintage memorabilia and renown author on the subject of British consumer culture. Opie's passion extends beyond the museum walls; he operates an online shop where enthusiasts and trade buyers can acquire pieces from his vast collection. Remarkably, it was described to me upon my visit that the museum's extensive displays represent a “mere 5% of Opie's personal collection,” hinting at the staggering breadth of his decades-long dedication to preserving consumer heritage.

The Intentional Shift to Consumerism

The curatorial statement in the main exhibition makes it clear that commercialization wasn’t happenstance; it was an intentional decision that was made at a key point in history when aesthetics, status, culture, and leisure were more important—and more accessible—than in any prior era.

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, far from being mere figureheads, were architects of a new social order. Their polymathic interests in technology, science, exploration, art, and culture laid the groundwork for a society where consumption became a form of cultural expression.

The Great Exhibition of 1851, held in the purpose-built Crystal Palace, was perhaps the most grand manifestation of this vision - a showcase of industrial and cultural achievements that celebrated both production and consumption on an unprecedented scale.

This royal endorsement of commerce as a vehicle for progress and identity set the stage for the consumer culture we know today. It was a deliberate cultivation of an ethos that would reshape society, economy, and individual expression for generations to come.

The Museum deftly displays this shift with Victorian-era origins of packaging and advertisements. The trip through time reveals that many brands borne of this era still exist today, like Cadbury, Heinz, and Pears Soap. These brands not only survived but thrived, evolving their packaging and marketing strategies to stay relevant across cultures.

Integration of branding always aligned with the aggregation of attention. Travel guides, steam ship and train time tables; attention arbitrage has been with us since the beginning. A curious artifact was the advertisement for “All British Shopping Week,” a campaign that took place in 1911 which feels like a distinct precursor to the “Buy American” campaign of the 1980s or the modern “Prime Day.”

We like to believe we’re distinctly original in the modern era. But a trip through the Time Tunnel suggests otherwise.

"What We Buy is Who We Become"

In our modern parlance, we often say "you are what you eat." But perhaps a more accurate adage for our consumer-driven society would be "what we buy is who we become." Brands are in perpetual conversation with the consumer and the culture. The effect is that brands often take part in large societal movements.

The building that houses The Museum of Brands is testament of cultural institutions being a container for commerce pageantry of the future. Erected in 1930 as the final home of Bayswater Jewish School, the building was the center of education to Westbourne Park and Notting Hill Jewish communities for nearly five decades, through the uncertainty of World Wars and the London Blitz.

During the height of the AIDS crisis in the 1980s and 1990s, it became the London Lighthouse. Established in 1988, it was hailed as the world's largest center for people living with HIV at its opening; a pioneer in patient-centered approaches to HIV care visited by the likes of Princess Diana.

Now, as the Museum of Brands, it showcases the evolution of consumer culture.

Within the exhibition is evidence that consumer culture is instrumental within the cultural history that precedes the Museum. From the controversial “white out” Skittles packages in support of Pride month, to Absolut Vodka's long-standing allyship with the LGBTQ+ community, the curation takes care to suggest that brands are often outward reflections of shifting societal values, if not instigators of social change.

These artifacts demonstrate how brands have evolved from mere purveyors of goods to key voices in ongoing cultural dialogues. Brands, according to the Museum curator’s vision, are inextricably linked with social progress. Through this lens, the Museum of Brands offers a unique perspective on how commerce not only reflects culture but actively shapes it, challenging visitors to consider the deeper implications of their consumer choices.

This transformation of the building and its diverse purposes over the course of a century is an allegory of our own cultural evolution—education, compassionate care, and a history of Commerce; it’s quite the metaphor in its own right. It reminds us that the products we consume and the brands we choose are not isolated from the broader story of our social history; it’s a necessary part of our evolution and emergence in the West.

It’s as if Robert Opie, the Museum’s founder, wants us to see through the brands to the social history that belies them. We shape that history with every purchase, every unboxing, every swipe of the credit card.

We’re not just consumers; we're curators of our collective cultural narrative.

— Phillip