Fleischmann’s Mixer’s Manual

Fleischmann’s was a distiller both before and after Prohibition, and lives on, today, as a brand of Sazerac Company. In the mid-century, Fleischmann’s produced quite a lot of marketing ephemera, including pamphlets of recipes to promote various Fleischmann’s products, including various American whiskies, gin and vodka, as well as Black & White blended scotch. In at least two cases, Fleischmann’s commissioned total designs for their Mixer’s Manual from noted graphic artists. This one was by Joseph Binder. (Click here to see a design by Mildred Sophie Porter)

Joseph Binder was born in Vienna in 1898, where he helped found DesignAustria. Binder wrote a notable book for the trade entitled “Colour in Advertising” (1934), and in 1936, emigrated to the United States, where his success continued, creating iconic posters, record covers and advertising. This little project for Fleischmann’s was perhaps not iconic, but it is first rate, and Binder’s inimitable style is evident from cover to cover (and there were multiple cover designs). Binder died in 1972.