This museum chronicles the evolution of product packaging from the 1900s. Weave through the mesmerising stories of humble soft drink bottles and wooden radios.
A soft-spoken man of average height and an engaging baritone, Vimal Kedia looks like a regular Marwari businessman. Until you meet him at the imposing Manjushree Heritage Packaging Museum, nestled off Bommasandra in Electronic City. In his element, surrounded by over 200 beloved products in various packages, from Cadbury Fryhocolates to Agfa and Kodak cameras, he turns into a repository of information.
Did you know, for instance, that in the 1950s, Coke bottles were narrow-necked glass items, with a marble in a glass casing within? “When you would tilt the glass bottle to drink, the marble moved up, blocking the gas, thereby retaining the fizz,” he rattles off. “Ceramic bottles were considered a premium and expensive material in the ’50s and ’60s. Ceramic Coca- Cola bottles had a metallic cap, but were heavy and bulky. Later, in 1993, the company began using high-grade plastics that had made an entry into the market. They were lightweight, retained the gas easily and were reusable.”
Nuggets of fascinating information like this emerge from the 1,200 sq ft Museum (launched in 2009), the country’s first and only packaging museum, devoted to the study and showcase of products and their packaging from the 1900s. Kedia, managing director of Manjushree Technopack Ltd, hopes to help FMCG analysts, marketing honchos and brand designers understand how product packaging has evolved over time. To that end, he also published a coffee table book Reflections in January this year, a comprehensive analysis of 50 brands that have evolved over time, and is planning another book in March or April. Dig deeper, though, and you realise that it is a 30-year-old labour of love.
Story of change
It began after Kedia’s tryst with business at the age of 22, that he was forced to pursue due to financial constraints on his family. He discovered the entrepreneur in him and started his career by selling umbrellas. The Northeast, where he lived, was prone to long and hard spells of rain. The 57-year-old’s sharp instincts and ability to find something profitable in what may otherwise seem ordinary, was born out of dire circumstances.
Today, that has translated into a fascinating repository of items from across country — Nestle tin cans, Ponds talcum powder and Khodays’s rum bottles. An impressive showcase at the entrance displays an array of glass products, in which the Coca Cola bottles take pride of place. Kedia says, “I have a huge network. I search for shops that sell packaged items at throwaway prices — they are considered scrap. Who preserves a Ponds talcum powder case or a Nutrine biscuit box?” These items then find their way into the museum shelves.
Admittedly fascinated by soft drink bottles, he rues missing out on procuring a limited edition collection of Coke bottles, preserved by a man who sold the collection to the company before moving abroad. “I wish I had caught hold of him — it would have added value to my collection.” The evolution of the Coca Cola bottle, spread across six decades, highlights how need-based inventions shape a design sensibility, he believes.
Collectibles galore
A variety of other items populate the Museum — Tipu Sultan’s gun case, a hand-painted 1940s Cypress powder box made in clay, miniature glass liquor bottles and Chanel and Estee Lauder perfumes dating back to the ’60s, painstakingly catalogued and labelled by Kedia. There is a definite progression in style, design, packaging and usage of material, as evidenced by a range of vanity cases used by airhostesses of Indian Airlines in the ’60s. While the first few are heavy, made of wood and rexine, and lined with velvet, the later ones are made of lightweight rexine, and then come plastic cases with metal reinforcements.
“Plastic was considered avant-garde — it was not easy to procure and India didn’t possess the technology to make it. Wood was most common as it was cheap and there were a lot of carpenters. Metal was also hard to work with as one needed a blacksmith to bend and mould metal sheets,” explains an enthusiastic Kedia.
As you walk further in, a range of musical instruments catch your eye, mostly made of rexine, silk casing, wood and cardboard. Metal was too heavy. A real gem here is the first radio made by HMV, in wood. “Radio players would come in wood or cardboard cases, never metal as it would vibrate when music played,” we learn.
A rare Ronson cigarette, and cigar boxes made in moisture-proof metal are next. Another favourite case study is liquor bottles, which, says Kedia, have largely retained their design. Even now, premium liquor is sold in glass. “People like the feel of glass. Even now, the VAT 69 bottle looks the same as it did 40 years ago.”
But preserving history is no mean feat. He stores most aluminium and metal chocolate and biscuit boxes, hairdryers and powder cases in well-illuminated almirahs to keep them dust and moisture-free. Items made of wood, metal and glass are kept on open shelves, and cleaned every week. “I will shift the entire museum to a new factory in Bommasandra soon, where I will have air-conditioners,” he says, explaining that air conditioning helps keep dust at bay. He is also planning to rope in a curator.
Kid in a candy store
Kedia cherishes each item in this space. He puts down his knowledge of the subject to his extensive travels over the years and power of observation. His Rs 360-crore business stands strong, and he continues to be the South Asian leader in packaging, %with a dominating presence on the National Stock Exchange and Bombay Stock Exchange.
With a President’s Award for Outstanding Entrepreneur in 1998, Kedia feels instincts have guided him well thus far, and wants his museum to be a harbinger of valuable lessons for young minds. So far, the global head of Unilever R&D, head of purchase of Coca Cola, purchase and procurement team at PepsiCo among others have paid a visit to his museum and have marvelled at his collection, and he is a proud collector in business circles. “It’s been a cumulative process for me, and each item carries a beautiful story. I doubt I’ll ever stop collecting such items.”
source: http://www.bangaloremirror.com / Bangalore Mirror / Home> Columns> Sunday Read / by Sindhuja Balaji, Bangalore Mirror Bureau / November 17th, 2013