Almost 140 years have passed since the first harvest of Carmel Wineries, the oldest winery in Israel, which once employed three future prime ministers in their youth. This one-of-a-kind sign.

Designed in the studio of Zeev Raban and Meir Gur-Arie. Published by Alfred Saltzman, Jerusalem, 1920s  English and Arabic text.
The winery was established in Rishon LeZion by its first settlers, with the financial assistance of Baron de Rothschild. It provided employment for many from the first and second aliyah, including David Ben-Gurion. The story of Carmel Wineries intertwines with the history of settlement in the Land of Israel, reflecting the dreams and efforts of the first aliyah settlers who, driven by an unwavering love for the Land of Israel, to create a thriving Zionist enterprise.

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Ze’ev Raban (1890-1970) and Meir Gur-Arie (1891-1951)

In the 1920s and 1930s, Raban and Gur-Arie were the central figures in the art and graphic design in Israel. Among their personal works, they created famous symbols for many Zionist organizations (such as KKL and the Levant Fair) and commercial “Tozeret Haaretz” companies in various sectors and industries. To this day, they are considered as masters and pioneers of Israeli art and education. Their works are essential parts of the permanent collections in many museums in Israel, such as the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, the Tel Aviv Museum, and many private collections worldwide.

“Carmel Mizrachi”

The winery was established in Rishon LeZion by its first settlers, with the financial assistance of Baron de Rothschild and the guidance of his officials, and began producing wine in 1890. The local wine market in Israel was small, and in 1896 a company was established to export the wines around the world. The first export destination was Warsaw, where a joint-stock company called “Carmel” was founded, branches were also opened in Odessa, Hamburg, and New York, and representations in Berlin, Vienna and London. For kosher reasons, the bottles were sent abroad sealed and sealed, and the distribution companies in the various cities were in contact with local rabbis, who supervised the wine’s kosher.

A few years later, the wines began to be marketed in the Ottoman Empire as well, under the name “Carmel Oriental”, and the wineries in Rishon Lezion and Zichron Ya’akov were called in Hebrew “Carmel Mizrahi”. The company operated branches in major cities in the Ottoman Empire: Jaffa, Jerusalem, Haifa, Beirut, Damascus, Cairo, Alexandria, Port Said, and other cities, and besides producing and distributing kosher wine, it also marketed brandy, various liqueurs, and soft drinks, such as tonic water.

Alfred Salzmann, one of the pioneers of Jewish settlement in the Bekaa neighborhood (“Gaolim”) in Jerusalem, and a teacher at “Bezalel” immigrated to the Land of Israel from Austria in 1921, and established a factory in the Bekaa for the production of various tin products, including charity donations boxes and tin boxes for KKL, sealed boxes for medicines and bandages, boxes for biscuits (for the well-known Fromin and Hadar factories), and advertising signs, such as the sign in front of us.

The post Extremely rare advertising tin sign for “Carmel Mizrahi” designed by Zeev Raban and Meir Gur-Arie, 1920s first appeared on VINTAGE ISRAELI POSTERS.

Rare Poster advertisement for the Palestine Near East Exhibition and Fair which took place in Tel Aviv, in its second year [preceding the Levant Fair by a number of years]. A woman in Oriental dress, somewhat biblical, against a backdrop of a map of the Land of Israel and the emblem of the Levant Fair, the “Flying Camel.” The peddler offers her wares in the form of a basket with fruits which are an agricultural product of the fruits of the Land of Israel. The map in the background includes the Land of Israel, the Arabian Peninsula, part of the Mediterranean Sea and part of the Red Sea.

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The First Levant Fair in “Palestine Near East Exhibition and Fair”. Tel Aviv October 4 – November 7, 1925. Color lithograph print poster designed by artist Meir Gur Aryeh [plate-signed], Industrial Art Studio, Graphica Press, Jerusalem.

Rare Poster advertisement for the Palestine Near East Exhibition and Fair which took place in Tel Aviv, in its second year [preceding the Levant Fair by a number of years]. A woman in Oriental dress, somewhat biblical, against a backdrop of a map of the Land of Israel and the emblem of the Levant Fair, the “Flying Camel.” The peddler offers her wares in the form of a basket with fruits which are an agricultural product of the fruits of the Land of Israel. The map in the background includes the Land of Israel, the Arabian Peninsula, part of the Mediterranean Sea and part of the Red Sea.

The Oriental view is a recurring motif in advertising posters for tourism of the Land of Israel produced by leading designers of the period. The various illustrators depicted the Land as perceived in the glory days of Tanach. Spring and nature represented the romantic longing for the renewal of the youth of the people in Zion, and was one of the most beloved subjects of artists such as Gur-Aryeh and Lilien (for example, in the Mizrach plate he designed, which depicted the Land of Israel as an Oriental land, magical and mythical – a land of sun and palm trees), with the Utopian image of the Land as an Oriental land of legendary wealth was very widespread in their works which were intended to “market” the Land of Israel in the Jewish diaspora and among tourists who visited for a limited time. The ‘Mizrach’ presented not only as the natural and original place of the people, but also as a place, in contrast to the gloomy climate in Europe, with an abundance of sun and agricultural yield. The aim of this type of work was to achieve a purpose beyond the realm of art: to increase interest in the Land of Israel among diaspora Jews and to encourage immigration, while diverting attention from the real difficulties which prevailed in the Land those years: drought, swamps, the Arab enemy, etc. The result was one-time monumental works such as this, which were of higher quality that those that preceded them and those that came after them.

Meir Gur-Aryeh [1891-1951] was a native of Russia, he completed his study of art in Russia, and after immigrating to the Land of Israel in 1913, he continued his studies at Bezalel. He established a studio called “Menorah” for practical art objects, with Ze’ev Raban and Shmuel Persov. In 1923, he opened a course called “Industrial Art Studio” which dealt mainly with graphic design, where this poster was designed. The fair for which this advertising poster was designed was organized by the Trade and Industry Company which was established by Tel Aviv entrepreneurs who saw unprecedented success in the form of tens of thousands then hundreds of thousands of Jews, Arabs, English and tourists visiting each year.

This poster was printed in 3 languages
Hebrew English and Arabic

The post Extremely Rare Vintage Poster “Palestine Near East Exhibition and Fair” eretz Israel Tel Aviv Meir Gur-Aryeh, 1925 first appeared on VINTAGE ISRAELI POSTERS.

The post Agriculture in the Land of Israel – Vintage Advertisement Poster 1920s, Designed by Meir Gur Aryeh first appeared on VINTAGE ISRAELI POSTERS.