22/07/2025
Today, Alice and Dominic Besson set out to visit the Alma Jordan Library at the University of the West Indies with a gift. We donated the "guard books" with print advertisements, flyers and posters formerly belonging to our founder Gérard A. Besson, HBM, D. Litt (hons) (1942–2023).
These guard books were compiled by Besson’s agency “Creative Advertising” in the 1970s and 80s. The clippings are pasted on large pages and bound in these hardcover volumes. Each clipping is annotated with the newspaper in which it was published and the date. In advertising long ago, these guard books served as a record that the artwork had been published, should disputes arise with the customer.
Creative Advertising was an illustration-based agency. As such, the artwork was done by famous Trinidadian artists such as Michael King, Peter Sorzano, Peter Shim, Stuart Hahn, Jeffrey Pataysingh and Haydn Strasser. The 1970s were an important decade in Trinidad and Tobago’s history. Many national institutions, like the National Commercial Bank, the National Insurance Board and T&TEC were either started up or reorganised. These guard books document the communication for the launch and establishment of these institutions.
Gérard Besson was one of the pioneers of advertising in Trinidad and Tobago. His style, wit, humour, and creative spark are reflected in all these ads, which he conceptualised, wrote and designed (art directed). His keen sense of contemporary culture and observation of society make this collection a treasure trove for sociological study of the 1970s and 80s.
The guard books are also a wonderful testament to the business spirit of those decades, when business owners allowed an agency to employ much more wit and humour in their communications than today. There are very funny, original, whacky things to be found in these guard books that will delight the researcher.
The Alma Jordan Library at the UWI St. Augustine 🇹🇹
