Charlotte Bondy, aluminium foil packaging designer: papers

Albums containing samples of designs for advertising posters, aluminium packaging and wrappings (ca.1925 - 1936); album containing a handwritten autobiography, illustrations and examples of aluminium foils designed by Charlotte Bondy (1930 - 1984).

Charlotte Bondy, nee Schmidt (1907 - 1986) was born in Munich. She served an apprenticeship in an architect's office, specialising in interior decoration. In 1929 an economic slump meant that there was little demand for interior decoration and Charlotte Bondy therefore left the practice and took a course in window dressing. In 1930 she started working as a designer of printed aluminium foils for the firm Aluminium Walzwerke Singen (AWS). The designs were mostly for the packaging of foodstuffs (cheese, chocolates, tea) and tobacco but she also produced publicity designs and advertisements for AWS and for the Leipziger Messe catalogue. In the 1930s she was arrested as an enemy of the state and forbidden to marry Paul Bondy, who ran the Export Department of AWS, because he was Jewish. In 1936 they left Germany for London and married in Britain. In London Charlotte Bondy painted, made and sold toy animals.

This archive collection is available for consultation in the V&A Study Rooms by appointment only. Full details of access arrangements may be found here: http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/a/archives/.

Access to some of the material may be restricted. These restrictions are noted in the catalogue where relevant.

• Purchased from Charlotte Bondy, 1983.
• Given by Jo Bondy, 2016.

Cataloguing supported by the American Friends of the V&A through the generosity of The David Berg Foundation, New York.

Information on copying and commercial reproduction may be found here: http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/a/archives/.

V&A Prints, Drawings and Paintings Collection hold various designs for sweet wrappers by Charlotte Bondy.