Moroccan Candle Labels

I've written before about my odd affection for banana stickers, those little branding devices that are often stuck on supermarket bananas.

In a similar vein, when I lived in Morocco in the early '90s, I became infatuated with the labels from packages of candles. You could buy candles -- eight simple white tapers wrapped in paper -- in any town market. But the brands varied by region, so whenever I traveled I'd pick up the local lights and I soon developed a little collection.

I came across them again recently while working on my journal transcribing project. (Which, by the way, is going to take me years.)

There's a definite "big cat" theme going on with these first two. In fact, I'd say someone was ripping someone else off.

Many of the labels seemed to have a religious theme, depicting a mosque. Maybe they were often used in mosques. (I never went inside a mosque in Morocco -- in that country, you must be a muslim to enter. It's actually a law.)

In the town where I lived my first year, the mosque (and our house) had electricity. But in my second year I moved to a nearby village where candles were my only light -- and perhaps the only light in the mosque, too.

Falconry, anyone?

I think they're a fun little look at Moroccan graphic design. I wonder if these brands even exist anymore, or what's replaced them. It's been so long since I've been to Morocco. I really need to go back. Dave and I keep talking about it but something else always comes up first.

Speaking of which -- Lisbon, in just five days!