A Campbells Soup Cocktail makes a great conversation starter at a drinks party or gathering. These were made for our recent Speakeasy Party, and were a great hit. Use the free download at the end of the post for your own Campbells soup cocktails.
The Soup Can
Andy Warhol – Pop Art
The Campbells soup can was immortalised in the 60s by Andy Warhol with his screen printed series of 32 soup cans. One for each variety of soup that was available at the time. The work did not make much of a stir at the time. The collective work is now recognised as a watershed moment in the pop art movement, with originals from the series changing hands for millions of dollars.
The Campbells Soup Can is now synonymous with Warhol, and the image has been replicated and copied in many forms, and on practically every surface imaginable.
When he first painted the cans, there was no business agreement between Warhol and the soup company. But by the mid 60’s however, the two were on familiar enough terms with each other, that Campbells’ commissioned an art work, and also provided tin can labels to Warhol for use as tickets to an exhibition.
Warhols Inspiration
Many people wrongly assume that Warhol designed the iconic can labels for the soup company. The design actually predates Warhols exhibition by over 70 years. One of the reasons that Warhol picked the soup can was that he wanted to choose a graphic image that was generic and easily recognisable. Campbells at the time were responsible for 3 out of every 4 cans of soup sold in the US.
Warhol claims to have eaten the soup every day for lunch for over 20 years.
Read more about Andy Warhol
Campbells Soup Can – The History
The Campbells soup company was founded in 1869 as a partnership between Joseph A Campbell, a fruit producer, and Abraham Anderson an ice box manufacturer. The company produced canned tomatoes, vegetables, jellies, soups and minced meats.
Anderson left the company to pursue other interest. However his son, the aptly named Campbell Speelman stayed on as creative director. He was responsible for the early version of the Campbells soup can.
The distinctive lettering in the Campbells logo is based on Joseph Campbells own signature. It was used to appeal to the housewife of the time, as it was intended to look like the kind of cursive script that would be found on handwritten recipes. The iconic label has subsequently had only minor changes to the design.
Designing The Label
One of the drinks that we served, was ‘hidden’ in a Campbells Soup can. An authentic 1920 design would be slightly different to that used by Warhol. I decided our guests would permit us this little artistic licence.
The speakeasy party that we set up, involved creating a hidden bar in our house that was masquerading as a ladies temperance society meeting. The full ‘backstory’ is available with the newspaper invitations that we sent out. Throw cops off the scent in case of a raid by serving drinks in ‘hidden vessels’.
Campbells Soup
To make the Campbells Soup Cocktail labels, I used illustrator, and replicated the front of the can as much as possible using vectors. The closest approximation to the Campbells font ‘off the shelf’ is the font Mission Script, which is free on a number of font download sites.
A speakeasy party is all about gin. But we already had a gin based cocktail on our menu, so our Campbells Soup Cocktail needed to be vodka based.
So we chose a ‘floradora’, as it was authentic to the 20s era (albeit a gin based version). And also because it was red, and a long drink that wouldn’t look lost in the can. I used a bit of artistic license to the sides of the can with the ‘directions’.
The other side of the can had the ingredients and a bar code.
Hopefully this next picture demonstrates the layout.
The labels are the perfect size to print out 2 per A4 page. Add double sided tape to the back of each label and trim at the black edges.
For our party, we bought around 30-40 tin can blanks from a company that sells them for a pound or so each.
It is important to make sure they are safe for drinking out of. If you use recycled can, make sure the edges are crimped down safely. And or consider using plastic inserts. Mine were available from the tin can supplier.
Wrap the label all around and secure in place with the double sided tape.
The cans were displayed with our other drinking vessels behind the temporary bar we set up.
A closer peek……
The Floradora
The floradoras were delicious, and worked perfectly as our Campbells Soup Cocktail. We deliberately made ours not too strong so that guests could drink a lot and not get ‘blotto’ in the first half hour!.
If you want a stronger drink, add 2oz of gin or vodka instead of 1.5oz, and substitute the raspberry syrup and apple juice for frambois (raspberry liquor).
Ingredients
- 1.5 oz vodka
- 0.5 oz fresh lime juice
- 0.5 oz raspberry syrup
- 0.5oz apple juice
- 4 oz ginger ale
- Garnish with a few edible flowers and a raspberry.
Method
Mix the vodka, lime juice and raspberry syrup and apple juice together, and pour over ice. Top up with ginger beer. Add garnish and enjoy.
The Printable
Floradora Campbells Soup Cocktail Label Download
The Small Print:
We hope you enjoy using the printable soup can label. If you do, I would love to hear from you. It has been provided free for personal use, and remains the property of PaintSewGlueChew.
Please do not distribute, sell or copy the printable. If referenced on another blog or site, please link back and give full credit to PaintSewGlueChew.com
Fancy a custom version of your own?
The Floradora version is available as a free download. If you would like me to create you a custom made version, personalised with a different flavour or recipe, please do get in touch to discuss what you need.
You can contact me at diana@paintsewgluechew.com
Here is an example of a Bloody Mary version I made for a client:
