Festive mix: Zpívánky - Czech folk song TV show for kids

It'll be a good conversation starter at any christmas party to say that you're currently listening to a mix/edit of songs from a Czech folk song/folk dance/fairy tale TV show for children.

Download this mix here.

I stumbled upon this show on YouTube while looking for TV idents. Here's my YouTube playlist (the mix/edit is based on sound snippets from these videos).

If this puts you in a festive mood, you might also like this Eastern European fairy tale soundscape I made some time ago.

Last minute xmas gift tips

Typical 1970s hobby books, seen at thrift store.

Cross-Stitch; Printing on Fabric;

Handicraft Woods, a creative leisure amusement; New Straw Stars.

Stay tuned for my xmas gift to you, dear readers. Will be up just in time.

Pharma records: Geigy Documenta diagnostics records

Another beauty from the graphic design studios at Geigy pharmaceuticals, Basel, Switzerland, ca. 1960s. This is from a series of records accompanying films made by the company. It contains recordings of heartbeats with various defects.

Previous posts with Geigy pharma records: here and here.

Pharma records: Geigy's lullaby records "Fremde Wiegenlieder" for Medomin sleeping pills

Geigy Medomin Fremde Wiegenlieder (foreign lullabies) mini mix by Dispokino on Mixcloud

Swiss pharma company Geigy promoted their sleeping pills Medomin with this series of lullaby records called "Fremde Wiegenlieder" (foreign lullabies), recorded for this occasion. These are thin 7" records (somehow between a flexi and a regular 7") in thin booklet type sleeves that are a little bigger than regular 7" sleeves.
Geigy was famous for their good Swiss Style typography, with masters like Karl Gerstner and Armin Hoffmann working for them. The designer of this series remains uncredited. There's a nice book on Geigy's design.
Medomin however is banned nowadays, it was barbiturate based and thus highly addictive. Considering this fact, the slogan "sleep like a child with Medomin" paired with the images of sleeping children seems rather awkward.

Previously I posted a record from a different Medomin promo series.

Pharma records: Geigy Medomin picture flexi

Swiss pharma company Geigy was famous for its graphic design, with Karl Gerstner, Armin Hoffmann and other "Swiss Style" masters working for them. Here's a flexi-disc from one of their promo record series for Medomin sleeping pills (designer not credited). More Medomin-records in my next post.

Pharma records: Vifor 7" picture discs

Records seem to have been a favored promotional gift of the pharmaceutical industry. Over the years, I have acquired a little collection from different companies (I also happen to live in a city that is the home of big pharma companies). Here's a first selection, the picture 7" records from the Vifor company.

Update: A friend just told me there's a work by Swiss artist Francis Baudevin based on exactly these records, and he seems to have one more!

Käthi Bhend in Helveticus 1981

Käthi Bhend is a Swiss illustrator and graphic designer known especially for her children's books. She used to live in an old farmhouse a bit outside of the town I grew up. A friend of my parents, I spent some of my best childhood afternoons at her house full of books (so many children's books!).
Here's three pages she did for the annual "Helveticus" book for the youth. It came with a red and a green piece of film. Put on her drawing, they revealed a different image and text each (printed in the opposite color). The red text/green film: "Red is a beautiful color". The red film/green text: "Green is more beautiful".