Hamol ultra | Sunscreen

A cheerful and lively Original Poster by Basel commercial artist Alfred Rudin, which combines the rather sober tradition of the Swiss Sachplakat à la Stoecklin with wit à la Brun or Leupin – and manages to convey the advertising message unmistakably to the audience with radiant colors: For those who go skiing, Hamol ultra sunscreen is at least as important as the skis themselves.

In the 1930s, Hamol was something like the Swiss equivalent of Nivea. Even before World War I, pharmacist Julius Otto Maag in Stein am Rhein in the canton of Schaffhausen was producing a skin cream that utilized the anti-inflammatory and firming properties of the witch hazel plant. After founding a stock corporation, Hamol began industrial production in 1928, including shaving cream and, above all, Hamol ultra (here even presciently named «Hamol ultra 2000»).

The company thus demonstrated good instincts, because the improvement in the living conditions of workers and employees led to something that had never existed before: free time without work. Or as we say today: leisure time. In which men and women could now take care of themselves and their bodies, also in view of falling social barriers and new ideals of beauty.