Extremely rare advertising tin sign for “Carmel Mizrahi” designed by Zeev Raban and Meir Gur-Arie, 1920s

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Extremely rare one-of-a-kind advertising tin sign designed by Bezalel legends Zeev Raban and Meir Gur-Arie. A printed illustrated tin sign advertisement for the quinine drink Quina Wine of Rishon Le Zion-Ferro, produced by the Rishon LeZion wineries of “Carmel Mizrahi” (“Carmel Oriental”).

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.