Maltese retro items are undergoing something of a renaissance. From the fading traditional Maltese shop signs, which are generating a newfound appreciation, to the vintage items you come across at flea markets and bazaars, which call back a bygone age, these are becoming valuable collectibles. So, when you’re lucky enough to come across a cool authentic product from the past century, you have no choice but to stop and admire.

It’s clear that way before the days of Macbooks and iPads, Maltese designers had talent in spades, even when it came to designing something as simple as a bottle or an ice cream label. Here are a few examples of Maltese retro design, from some of our favourite local retro and antiques Facebook pages, that make us long for the good old days – even if they were long gone by the time we arrived!

This 1958 Trufrut poster

Designed by Emvin Cremona, one of Malta’s foremost artists, this advertising poster is a bonafide beauty.

This 1960s Wembley ice cream label

The Wembley factory survives – for the time being – in Gzira.

This 1900s stoneware beer bottle

A properly old find – this ginger beer used to be produced in Valletta’s Old Mint Street.

This 1961 Christmas newspaper

Another casually gorgeous artwork by Emvin Cremona.

The charming lettering on this can of tomatoes

Most likely dating back to the 1970s, cans like this were used by the Gozo Farmers Centre of Xewkija for their tomato extract.

This bubbly Fanta promotional poster

Those bubble letters are truly a thing to behold! This promotion ran across grocery stores in the late 1980s.

And another '80s promotional poster

As we’ve often pointed out, collecting bottle caps and flaps was something of a national pastime in the '80s and '90s.

This picturesque 1960s guide book

Talk about scenes you don’t see anymore!

This funky record sleeve

Charles Camilleri composed over 100 works for orchestra, voice and solo instruments, and was influenced by the sounds of Africa and Asia - as this artwork hints at.

And finally, this bottle of Diet Kinnie

Quintessentially '80s!