To sort of keep this week’s McDonalds posts going I thought I’d take a minute to share some awesome trading cards from the impressive collection of the one and only Brandon of the Waffle Whiffer Zone. Brandon’s site and Flickr feed have been a constant source of inspiration on Branded for the last four years and change.
Since I haven’t been able to find a physical example of any McDonald’s branded wax packages, I figured the next best thing would be to take a look at some trading cards the company produced in Cleveland, Ohio back in 1974. These promo cards are all themed with specific iconography of the area including the Cleveland Museum of Natural History (behind Grimace), Hale Farm & Western Reserve Village in Bath, Ohio in Summit County (behind Mayor McCheese), the Cleveland Health Museum and Education Center (behind Officer Big Mac), the Great Lakes Historical Society Museum in Vermilion (behind Captain Crook), the Cleveland Zoo in Brookside Park (behind Ronald McDonald), and the Blossom Music Center, located between Cleveland and Akron (behind a very laid back Hamburglar.)
One of the things that I love about these cards is that the art is so simplified and interesting. It’s the same aesthetic that draws me to bubblegum card wax package art. It’s much better than the art in that 1980 Calendar I shared on Monday too.
Heartfelt thanks go out to Brandon for letting me use the images from his Flickr feed. You should definitely take a moment and visit him at his site, Waffle Whiffer Zone for some amazing nostalgic ephemera…
