Thursday 17 June 2021

Old Posters from the 1970s

 


I spotted this Nessie poster on eBay last week and bought it for about a fiver. I think people are more likely to call them infographics these days, but I had never seen it before and so it joins the Loch Ness Monster memorabilia collection that has grown in size over the decades. It is entitled "The Eigh-Uisge of Loch Ness" which is a reference to the old Gaelic for "Water Horse".

The text of the poster looks like it has the influence of famed monster hunter, Tim Dinsdale, all over it as he is quoted on the mystery, two frames from his 1960 film and the artist's impression of the creature looks like it is taken from his works. The 1972 flipper photo and sonar graphics are included but not the subsequent pictures taken by Robert Rines and the AAS from 1975. To that we can add the classic MacNab, Wilson and Lowrie pictures.

In answer to the question, "Where is your scientific evidence?", Dinsdale tells us it was a question no one would bother asking by 1973. Unfortunately, he did not see what would come to pass as the sceptical era ensued within a decade. What exactly Tim was thinking prior to his death in 1987 was probably more sanguine, albeit still positive towards there being a monster in the loch. 

Everything you see in this poster has been panned by the sceptics, I agree with some of it, but not all. The poster is a product of its time and would look a lot different today. But where did this poster come from? The answer came from noting that the copyright lay with Canon Records. A quick Internet search revealed this poster was an insert for a vinyl LP record pressed in 1975 entitled "Come to Scotland".

This was a collection of traditional and popular songs from Scotland which was a promotional tourist item. Yet alongside "I Love a Lassie" and "Flower of Scotland" was a poster about the Loch Ness Monster. Well, it was something designed to get people to visit Scotland, but it seems a suitable song about the monster was harder to find. The LP is described at this link.

On the general theme of Loch Ness posters, the classic one for me is still "The Facts about Loch Ness and the Monster" first published in 1977. The folded product unfolds into a nice 3-D map of the Loch Ness basin surrounded by various images and text boxes. 




Around the same time the first poster was produced was another which I have owned since 1975 and that was simply titled "The Loch Ness Monster" published by Phoebus. This expanded into a large poster of Sir Peter Scott's well known "Courtship at Loch Ness" painting. It also included the Wilson and Flipper photos and two of Frank Searle's productions.




Moving on, we have another item called "Loch Ness - An Illustrated Guide" which is a simpler item and has more to say about the loch and its sight with a section for the monster. This has no sensational photos of the creature and I would date it to around 1970.



Another poster which came to light after the first version of this article came from David from Canberra, Australia. He told me he bought this A2 sized poster back in 1977 published by the Aberdeen Press & Journal newspaper called "The Strange History of the Loch Ness Monster". He sent me a picture of it included below. Like the poster above, it also features a 3-D type map of the loch and shares some of the well known photos but includes the 1975 AAS pictures. The text is fairly standard stuff but I wonder about that Peter Scott like rendition of Nessie but with a flared newt-like tail?




Finally, it is no surprise that Frank Searle got involved in this type of product as he had a portfolio of monster pictures that were ideal material for a poster. So he collaborated with a Graham Forbes and the result was entitled "Loch Ness - The Hidden Facts" and is shown below. I thought I owned this and then I recalled I balked at paying the eBay price of thirty quid. Perhaps I was wrong, but I copied the images on the auction for future use.





If you know of any other poster products from the 1970s or any other time, let me know.



The author can be contacted at lochnesskelpie@gmail.com



20 comments:

  1. Ah, the 70s When the plesiosaur theory was alive and well and the Surgeon's photo was the best evidence. How times have changed.

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    Replies
    1. plesiosaur seemed to be the only theory in play back then!

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    2. Some of the ones we discuss today were in effect even back then. The plesiosaur was just the more popular one and like today wishful thinking.

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  2. Anybody else heard of this story of a lost potential LNM DNA sample?
    http://karlshuker.blogspot.com/2021/06/was-potential-source-of-nessie-dna.html#comment-form

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    Replies
    1. I covered this six years ago:

      https://lochnessmystery.blogspot.com/2015/01/boat-collision-with-nessie.html

      Delete
    2. The incident Olrik mentions triggered the memory of the boat collision. Had forgotten where I heard or read about it. Your link confirms it was here. 41 years before the eDNA sampling, we could have had an actual tissue sample. Frustrating beyond words. Stupid bastards indeed!

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    3. Fascinating, didn't know about this collision

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  3. Just wondering GB. On your link to the boat collision article, you disallowed further comments after the 7th comment. Why? was it the time you were contemplating doing away with the comments section? I can't remember.

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  4. Around late '76/early '77, as a Nessie-obsessed kid in Dayton, Ohio, I was thrilled to find an entire magazine devoted to her at the local KingKwik store! It wasn't a Nessie devoted issue of a specific magazine, like NatGeo, but some sort of indie product. It had a colour wrap around cover, but the inside was B&W newsprint. It had pretty much every photo claiming to show Nessie up to that point, including a bunch of Searle photos; even at that age, I wasn't fooled. And yeah... I was 8 years old, so I cut out all my faves and tacked them to the walls of my room (groan). I've never seen it again, and I'd just about give my bat'leth for a copy!

    Cheers,

    Storm the Klingon

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  5. There is another poster in my possession which was produced in collabration with Frank Searle in the 1970s. Naturally it was a montage of his photos. Currently I cant find it, but someone else cashing on on the poster scene.

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    1. You mean Frank Searle cashing in on the poster scene? I bet he made a few quid on his fake pictures. LOL

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    2. Was this not done by Alex Harvey from The Sensational Alex Harvey Band? Saw them in Berlin,early seventies backing Deep Purple...wiped the floor with them!

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    3. If that's what GB was referring to, I remember this:

      http://lochnessmystery.blogspot.com/2011/12/alex-harvey-presents-loch-ness-monster.html

      Regrettably the links have been pulled, but I found these on the the three notable eyewitnesses on YouTube.

      Intrroduction:

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gNE6HhvmpQ

      Father Gregory Brusey:

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpwC_f2nmHg

      Frank Searle:

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_RWGKX0e_E

      Alex Campbell:

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DH8wXPnPwD4

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  6. I had that album and the poster was on my bedroom wall. It was a mixture of songs, tunes and conversation, and featured a number of people describing their monster sightings in detail.

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  7. Speaking of Frank Searle, interesting documentary of this infamous and notorious character. Isn't treated very kindly.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTz6qgki1lk

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  8. I found images of Frank Searle's own poster product - article updated accordingly.

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  9. Yet another poster added - produced by the Press & Journal newspaper in those busy 1970s.

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    1. I like that new poster sent by David, it's the best one in my opinion. I downloaded it so I can read the text and see the details better. It's a good resolution pic. The newt-like tail is a nice notional artistic touch.

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  10. A chance to own one of these posters:

    https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/174859591236?mkevt=1&mkpid=0&emsid=e11021.m43.l1120&mkcid=7&ch=osgood&euid=3abe0278e598456bb830a7628fbcec77&bu=43092232842&ut=RU&osub=-1%7E1&crd=20210727062926&segname=11021&sojTags=ch%3Dch%2Cbu%3Dbu%2Cut%3Dut%2Cosub%3Dosub%2Ccrd%3Dcrd%2Csegname%3Dsegname%2Cchnl%3Dmkcid

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