Nov 21 at 12:00 PM - Sale 2687 -
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Sale 2687 - Lot 141

Estimate: $ 600 - $ 900
(FOOD & DRINK.) Louis Fancher, artist. Posters for the A&P Supermarket chain from the "Growing with America for 75 Years" series. 5 color posters, each 22 x 33 inches, with a few early repaired tears and other minor wear. No place, [1934]
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Additional Details

These posters were created to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, better known as A&P--for many years the nation's largest supermarket chain, which closed its last store in 2015. The art was by Louis Delton Fancher (1884-1944), a prolific illustrator who did other projects for A&P. The project is mentioned briefly in the Lancaster (PA) Intelligencer Journal of 5 October 1934: "The development of retail food distribution with the growth of America is portrayed in a series of posters by Louis Fancher to be displayed in A. and P. stores during the 75th anniversary celebration." We have traced no other examples of any of these posters, nor do we know if any others were issued. Included are:

"A&P founded in 1859 in response to need for a better food distribution system."

"The 60s. When Stonewall met Barbara Fritchie, A&P was well established." Shows the apocryphal Civil War confrontation between Confederate troops and a Maryland woman waving the American flag.

"Railways in the 70s weld nation, tap new food sources, necessitate system like A&P." A band of American Indian warriors faces off against a railroad crew in battle.

"Frontiers in the 80s build greater nation with need for organized food service." Features a Wild West street scene with a Chinese laborer, an American Indian family, and a gun-toting sheriff.

"Road building in the 1900s made A&P's fresh food service possible." A road crew gazes in wonder at an early airplane overhead.

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