in PTZINE | 2013

In some ways, Lisbon seems to have been frozen in time, which translates into XIX century products and shops that, as time went by, have gone from outdated into vintage royalty. 

A Vida Portuguesa
The beginning is always a good place to start. So welcome to the beginning
of life as we know it: this is A Vida Portuguesa - or Portuguese life - a shop that
tells the story of our day-to-day lives through products that pierced time and
stubbornly, against all odds, survived. But keep in mind: this is not a museum,
nor an antiques shop, nor vintage-looking replica’s shop – this is the real deal.

The setting is just right, a nineteen century cosmetic factory and warehouse,
completely untouched and charismatically aged by time. The walls are still
covered with the original dark wooden cabinets and the counter looks modest
and sincere, as it should. Because the products here displayed have earned our
trust and respect throughout generations, and although they lost their place on
supermarket stands, they still stand as number one in Portuguese hearts.

So, let’s roam around the vitrines for a while to take in the century-old scents
of Confiança’s soaps, beautifully wrapped in their vintage designs, the Couto’s
toothpaste, that holds a legion of fans larger than any toothpaste I know, and
the iconic Bordalo Pinheiro’s swallows that became the shop’s logo. They’re all Portuguese collective mementos that have once been deadly threatened by their globalized counterparts, but bravely survived in tales of strength and courage. Because, more than products, they represent people’s lives, people who were too stubborn to go bankrupted and resisted long enough to see their products go from outdated to vintage royalty.

 

But how did this happen? First due to the harsh dictatorship that ruled Portugalfor over 40 years, forbidding the imports of foreign goods, and leading to a competition-free market until the mid-70’s. Until then, companies didn’t innovate because they didn’t feel the need, and after that they simply didn’t know how. Luckily tables turned, and what was once a handicap became these companies’ greatest advantage, but not without the vision and commitment of Catarina Portas, a journalist interested in finding out more about the then disappearing Portuguese household trademarks. As a consequence of her investigation she created a concept that developed into A Vida Portuguesa, a feat that put Catarina Portas on  Monocle magazine’s worldwide list of heroes “who deserve a bigger stage”. Bragging aside, we can only marvel at the result – the old factories are thriving and exporting their century’s old expertise worldwide, while investing in innovation and creativity, as to not let history repeat itself. But for now there’s nothing like stepping into A Vida Portuguesa to browse your way through time.

 

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