Poster designed to have three printed framings; the outermost frame is plain, but this frame has been cut off at the top and bottom edges; the middle frame is a pale green border with red and blue maple leaves on a white geometrical pattern; the printer's trademarks are printed on the four corners …
Poster designed to have three printed framings; the outermost frame is plain, but this frame has been cut off at the top and bottom edges; the middle frame is a pale green border with red and blue maple leaves on a white geometrical pattern; the printer's trademarks are printed on the four corners of this frame; the inner frame mimics a wooden frame with many planes and an elliptical title plaque at the bottom; each frame is edged in black, and white lines separate the frames; the poster depicts industrial workers in various stages of a medical check up; the bottom area has a calendar with January 1984 the only month still attached.
Number Of Parts
1
Provenance
Owned by Gladys (Millar) Rockel, donated by her son Stephen Rockel
Printed on poster: "INDUSTRIAL MEDICINE IN // DINGBATLAND // Frosst // FOUNDED IN CANADA IN 1899 // DIVISION OF MERCK FROSST CANADA INC., KIRKLAND, QUEBEC // JANUARY 1984" with calendar dates and product information following.
Permanent Location
Storage Room 2005
2005-5
Length
67.3
Width
35.8
Depth
0.1
Unit Of Measure
centimeters
Condition Remarks
Minor loss of ink around detachable calendar pages
Copy Type
original
Reference Types
Person
Internet
Reference Comments
The Frosst Dingbat Calendars. Niagara Apothecary
Donor’s remarks
Research Facts
From 1915 until 1996, health professionals all across Canada received a calendar which featured the healing efforts of the Dingbats. Charles Edward Frosst founded the Canadian company that bore his name until 1965 when it was taken over by a major American manufacturer to become Merck-Frosst. Charles Frosst engaged the artist, William Dudley Burnett Ward, to paint an appealing calendar for distribution to his firm's audience. Over the course of 81 years there have been a long succession of artists following Ward.
The Dingbat calendars were discontinued as a result of a Canadian industry's association decision that the Dingbat promotion was unfair competition.
Gladys (Millar) Rockel graduated from Kitchener Waterloo Nursing College Class of 1939; nursing positions on Pontiac, MI (1940), Grand Rapids, MI (1941), Toronto, Ontario (1942) and worked in private practise with husband Dr Rockel.
The Dingbat calendars started in February each year leaving the last page for January of the following year still attached, so the actual calendar dates to the previous year.