Ante Rodin was a researcher and passionate collector of old and later modern industrial packaging. He systematically collected discarded packaging in Zagreb from 1971 to 2001, gathering items from attics, waste disposal sites, and antique fairs. He amassed over 6,000 various objects, which are an essential part of social and cultural history.
‘I created packaging, and packaging created me; I cannot imagine my life today without it,’
concluded Ante Rodin in his narrative about the Collection in an article for Nacional on 16th August 2005.
The Collection predominantly features glass packaging for various beverages, as glass bottles were often kept and reused in households. Also well-represented are tin boxes for cookies and candies, which still hold various items such as letters, photographs, or sewing supplies. The Collection includes packaging for various food and household products, as well as a range of bottles and boxes for cosmetics, medicines, stationery supplies and photography equipment.
Some examples of preserved packaging from various branches of the interwar Zagreb food industry —such as the Pokorny, Arko, Patria, Union, and Meinl factories—trace the historical development of packaging and graphic design. In the 1920s and 1930s, the first Croatian brands were created, recognised abroad as well. For the first time, labels were designed for packaging. ‘Old packaging, like architecture and art in general, reflects society’s culture and achievements. As for our packaging from the period between the two world wars, I can say that in terms of design and quality, it was at the European level, and in some cases, it was even ahead of its time,’ Ante Rodin noted in an interview for Globus on 21st June 1996.
In Croatia, the 1950s marked the beginning of a period of strong industrial and social modernization. By the 1960s, numerous factories produced various types of packaging—from cardboard and paper to glass, tin, and plastic.
Modern marketing developed, and with the advent of self-service, packaging became an important tool in advertising everyday consumer products.
Major industrial companies such as Franck, Badel, Kraš, Jamnica, Pliva, and Neva created new brands and paid significant attention to their products’ visual presentation marketing. Hiring designers to create visual solutions led to major improvements in the quality of commercial packaging’s graphic design. The visual identities created by designers adapted over the years and remain recognizable to this day. The design of packaging plays a promotional and marketing role, becoming a primary means of visual communication with consumers.
Ante Rodin started working in the Packaging Bureau of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce in 1959. He was one of the first to recognize the importance of packaging and begin researching its development and role. In his book, he views packaging as an integral part of commerce which should attract consumers and encourage purchases. (Ante Rodin, Ambalaža, distribucija i mjesto prodaje, Zagreb, 1984., p. 16)
By diligently collecting various packaging for three decades, he preserved previously overlooked items from everyday life for both current and future generations. His valuable Collection of Old Packaging holds particular significance within the context of industrial history and the history of applied arts and design in the 20th century.