'The murmur of ancient geraniums' is a line from 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, which I had always liked, and stored away in my mind thinking that it would come in handy one day, perhaps for an artwork.
But when I was setting off to South America it seemed an appropriate title for my blog.
The banner image is plundered from a Greek cigarette brand 'Santé', which I came upon on my first visit to Greece in 1998. I was not even a smoker anymore by then, but I was drawn to the stylish packet, and the girl with her head tilted back, and bought a packet. I remember smoking some of them, but not inhaling of course. I think my son finished the rest years later, when they must have been dry as a bone.
For years smokers wondered who the woman was, some presumed it was the lover of the painter who did the artwork, others that it was a prominent Athenian woman. Finally became known that it was the actress and dancer Zozo Dalmas.
Being back in Greece, I have just discovered that after 85 years of production the brand is now been discontinued.
An earlier version of the packaging:
No comments:
Post a Comment