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Creator:

Baer, Ralph H., 1922-2014  Search this

Extent:

16 Cubic feet (44 boxes and 1 oversize folder)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Audiotapes

Audiocassettes

Cd-roms

Diagrams

Drawings

Interviews

Videotapes

Correspondence

Sketches

Photographs

Oral history

Notes

Manuals

Date:

1943 - 2015

Summary:

Ralph H. Baer was a German-born ordnance specialist, inventor, and engineer. He was a pioneer of early videogame technology. The papers include autobiographical materials; firearms notes, manuscripts, and photographs; and videogame and television engineering notes, diagrams, schematics, and video documentation.

Scope and Contents:

The Ralph Baer Papers include autobiographical materials and an extended oral history interview. The Papers also include materials about military small arms created by Baer during his World War II service. The largest portion of the collection documents Baer's work on video games.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged into 12 series.

Series 1: Autobiographical Documents, 1962-2006

Subseries 1.1: Manuscript, book and other documents, 1962-2006

Subseries 1.2: Other Media: CDs, VHS videos, periodical, 1991, 2000-2003

Series 2: WW II Small Arms Documents, 1943-1953

Subseries 2.1: Correspondence, 1950-1953

Subseries 2.2: Writings and notes, 1943-1948

Subseries 2.3: Drawings and schematics, undated

Subseries 2.4: Manuals and encyclopedias, 1943

Subseries 2.5: Photographs, 1945

Series 3: Hans Otto Mauksch Materials, 1944-1964

Subseries 3.1: Personal background information, 1944, 1945, 1946, 1964

Subseries 3.2: Instructional materials, 1944-1946, undated

Subseries 3.3: Ft. Riley, Kansas, 1946, 1953

Series 4: TV Game Documents, 1966-1972

Subseries 4.1: Working notes, diagrams and schematics, 1966-1971

Subseries 4.2: Administrative documents, 1966-1972 Subseries 4.3: Notebooks, 1966-1968

Subseries 4.4: TV game development documentation, 1966-1968

Series 5: Sanders Associates, Transitron, and Van Norman Industries, 1952-2003

Series 6: Product Development Documents, 1974-2015

Series 7: Product Guides and Technical Support, 1943-2011

Series 8: Legal and Patent Documents, 1966-2014

Series 9: Writings and Notes, 1946-1999

Series 10: Miscellaneous, 1961-2012

Series 11: Correspondence, 1983-2014

Series 12: Publicity and Awards, 1979-2015

Biographical / Historical:

Ralph H. Baer (1922-2014) was born in Germany and immigrated to the United States with his family in 1938. A graduate of the National Radio Institute (1940), Baer worked as a radio technician in the New York City area, servicing all types of home and auto radios. During World War II, Baer served in the United States Army, one year stateside, and two years in Europe. He was assigned to Military Intelligence and became an expert on military small arms. Baer returned to the United States with eighteen tons of foreign small arms for use in exhibits at Aberdeen, Maryland; Springfield, Massachusetts Armory; and Ft. Riley, Kansas.

After the war, Baer attended the American Television Institute of Technology in Chicago, graduating with a BS in television engineering. In 1949, Baer joined a small electro medical equipment firm, Wappler, Inc., as their chief engineer. He designed and built surgical cutting machines, epilators, and low frequency pulse generating muscle-toning equipment. In 1951, Baer moved to Loral Electronics of Bronx, New York as a senior engineer, designing power line carrier signaling equipment for IBM. During 1952-1956, Baer worked at Transitron, Inc., in New York City as a chief engineer and later as vice president. In 1956, Baer joined Sanders Associates in Nashua, New Hampshire building airborne radar components. He became manager of the Electronic Design Department at Sanders and eventually Division Manager and Chief Engineer for Equipment Design. Baer retired in 1987.

At Sanders in 1966, Baer began an independent project experimenting with ways for consumers to interact with standard home television sets. Development of interactive TV Game (TVG) ideas became a company-supported project continued by Baer and assisted by William H. Harrison and William T. Rusch (download the TV Game chronology prepared by Ralph Baer in 2006). By mid-1967, ping pong videogames were played inside Sanders, patent disclosures were applied for, and hardware was designed. Baer and his associates called the devices they were developing "boxes" and numbered the various versions one through seven. In 1971, Magnavox became Sanders Associates's first videogame licensee. Between 1972 and 1975, Magnavox produced and sold over 700,000 units of Odyssey, a set of games played on its television receivers. Atari became a licensee in 1976 after the first of many lawsuits won by Sanders in pursuit of patent infringements.

During his tenure at Sanders and thereafter, Baer was a prolific inventor. His creations included many electronic toys and games and other consumer electronic products. Among the better known products based on Baer's work are Milton Bradley's Simon, Galoob's Smarty Bear Video, and Kenner's Laser Command. In 2004 President George W. Bush awarded Baer the National Medal of Technology.

Baer married Dena Whinston in 1952 and they had three children, James, Mark, and Nancy. Ralph Baer died on December 6, 2014, at the age of 92.

Related Materials:

Materials at the Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Ralph H. Baer Innovative Lives Presentation, August 15, 2009 (AC1179)

The presentation documents a moderated conversation about Baer's life and work. Baer reenacts, with his partner William Harrison, the first time he played "Odyssey," the first home video game for the consumer market, which he invented, and answers questions from the audience. Materials include original video (born digital), master videos, and reference videos.

Materials at Other Organizations

Brian Sutton-Smith Library and Archives of Play at The Strong

Ralph H. Baer Papers, 1968-2010 inclusive; 1975-1998 bulk

The Ralph H. Baer papers are a compilation of correspondence, game designs, drawings, notes, reference materials, photographs, product descriptions, digital videos, schematics, electronic components, and manuals utilized by Ralph H. Baer throughout his lengthy career in the toy and game industry. The bulk of the materials are from 1975 through 1998.

U.S. Ordnance Museum, Fort Lee, Virginia

Materials consist of data on foreign small arms brought back from Europe in 1946 by Ralph H. Baer.

Museum of the Moving Image, Astoria, New York

Holdings include set of seven recreations of "TV game" prototypes originally created between 1966 and 1969, donated by pioneering game developer Ralph Baer. One of Baer's game prototypes, known as the "Brown Box," was licensed by Magnavox and released in 1972 as the Magnavox Odyssey, the world's first commercial home video game console.

University of Texas, Austin, Briscoe Center for American History

Ralph H. Baer "Brown Box" replica, 1952-1983, 2006-2012

The Ralph H. Baer "Brown Box" replica includes a fully-functional replica of Ralph Baer's "Brown Box," the prototype video game console that was used as the basis of the Magnavox Odyssey in 1972. The collection also contains related research materials.

Separated Materials:

The Division of Medicine and Science holds artifacts related to this collection including early video game prototypes and TV Game products.

TV Game Unit #1 (TVG#1); 1966; vacuum tube spot generator with Heathkit IG-62 Generator (See Accession 2006.0102.01)

Heathkit IG-62; used with TVG #1 (See Accession 2006.0102.02)

TV Game Unit #2 (TVG #2), aka the "Pump Unit," 1967; large aluminum chassis with wooden "pump" handle (See Accession 2006.0102.03)

TV Game Unit #7 (TVG#7), aka "Brown Box," 1967/1968; prototype for Magnavox Odyssey (See Accession 2006.0102.04)

Cardboard program cards for use with Brown Box (See Accession 2006.0102.05)

Lightgun, 1967/1968; game accessory for Brown Box (See Accession 2006.0102.06)

TV Game Unit #8, 1968; "de/dt" (velocity responsive) ballgame chassis for use with Brown Box (See Accession 2006.0102.07)

Magnavox Odyssey (Model ITL200) video game unit, 1972; with all accessories in the original carton (See Accession 2006.0102.08)

Milton-Bradley Company SIMON handheld microprocessor-control game, 1978 (See Accession 2006.0102.09)

Ideal Toy Company MANIAC microprocessor-control game, 1979, in original box with game instructions (See Accession 2006.0102.10)

Golf Game accessory, 1968; golf ball mounted on joystick handle for use with Brown Box (See Accession 2006.0102.11

"Brown Box" programming card, target shooting, 1967 (See Accession 2006.0102.12)

Provenance:

The collection was donated by Ralph H. Baer in 2003.

Restrictions:

The collection is open for research use. Gloves must be worn when handling unprotected photographs and negatives.

Rights:

Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning intellectual property rights. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions. Copyright held by the Smithsonian Institution.

Topic:

Books  Search this

Firearms  Search this

Games  Search this

Litigation  Search this

Inventions -- 20th century  Search this

Machine guns  Search this

World War, 1939-1945  Search this

Weapons  Search this

Video games  Search this

Toys -- 20th century  Search this

Television -- History  Search this

Rifles  Search this

Pistols  Search this

Military intelligence  Search this

Genre/Form:

Audiotapes

Audiocassettes

CD-ROMs

Diagrams

Drawings -- 1940-1950

Interviews -- 2000-2010

Videotapes

Correspondence -- 1950-2000

Sketches

Photographs -- Black-and-white photoprints -- Silver gelatin -- 1940-1950

Photographs -- 20th century

Oral history -- 2000-2010

Notes

Manuals -- 1940-1950

Citation:

Ralph H. Baer Papers, 1943-2015, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.0854

See more items in:

Ralph H. Baer Papers

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0854

Creator:

James Knights Co.  Search this

Extent:

0.6 Cubic feet (1 box)

1 Film reel

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Film reels

Memorandums

Specifications

Notes

Business letters

Financial records

Motion pictures (visual works)

Date:

1951-1981

Summary:

Collection documents proposed legislation regulating the import and export of watch components. Also included is a film entitled "Crystals for the Critical".

Scope and Contents note:

The collection comprises internal company documents primarily concerning the company's efforts in producing crystals for watches. Documents include correspondence with customers, suppliers, potential and active partners, technical specifications and notes, reports, financial records, and market research. One large file contains correspondence and memoranda relating to proposed legislation regulating the import and export of watch components.

The company produced the 1951 film, Crystals for the Critical, as a marketing and employee relations tool. It documents all aspects of the work of the James Knights Company.

Arrangement:

Collection is arranged into one series.

Historical:

The James Knights Company of Sandwich, Illinois was founded in 1942 to develop and manufacture crystal-controlled oscillators. In creating the company, James Knights and Leon Faber were responding to the enormous demand for frequency control in military radio and telephone communications during World Ware II. Faber, a utility company employee, had previous experience making quartz crystal control units for amateur radio enthusiasts, also known as "hams." James Knights owned a local electrical supply store.

After the war James Knights produced crystal units for military aircraft radios. The firm became a subsidiary of CTS (Chicago Telephone Supply) in 1964 and the company name changed to CTS Knights. In addition to supplying crystals for use in military applications, the company manufactured crystal oscillators for use in a variety of other electronic devices including computers. During the early 1970s, the company was interested in the use of crystals in watches and clocks. The paper documents in the collection focus primarily on this effort.

The company continued to produce crystal units as a division of CTS, now a global electronics firm, until 2002 when it was shut down.

Related Materials:

Materials in the Archives Center

Walter Guyton Cady Paper, 1903-1974 (NMAH.AC.0046)

Virgil Eldon Bottom Collection, 1936-1983 (NMAH.AC.0148)

Provenance:

Collection donated by Gary Van Cleave in 2002.

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research research access. Special arrangements required to view materials in cold storage. Using cold room materials requires a three hour waiting period. Contact the Archives Center at 202-633-3270. Gloves must be worn when handling unprotected photographs and negatives.

Rights:

Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.

Topic:

Clocks and watches  Search this

Genre/Form:

Memorandums

Specifications

Notes

Business letters

Financial records

Motion pictures (visual works)

Citation:

James Knights Co. Records, 1951-1981, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.0847

See more items in:

James Knights Co. Records

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0847

Creator:

Luchs, Kenneth J.  Search this

Henry J. Kaufman and Associates (Washington, D.C.)  Search this

Names:

Kaufman, Henry J.  Search this

Extent:

2 Cubic feet

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Correspondence

Advertisements

Newsletters

Scrapbooks

Photographs

Date:

1930-1980

bulk 1930s-1970s

Summary:

Materials relating to Henry J. Kaufman, including photographs and ID cards; and the records of the Kaufman firm, including six scrapbooks, one for each decade; company newsletters, photographs, and other papers detailing the business history of the company as well as its social and other internal activities.

Scope and Contents note:

This collection consists of various business papers, personal papers, and advertising samples of Henry Kaufman and the Washington, D.C. advertising firm Henry J. Kaufman and Associates. The bulk of the collection consists of seven scrapbooks from the 1930s-1970s that detail the company's social and internal activities as well as business history. Researchers will find this collection particularly valuable for its insight into office culture and the ways in which it changes throughout the decades.

Series 1, Business Papers, 1930s-1980s, contains various business papers, photographs, and advertising samples relating to Henry J. Kaufman and Associates.

Subseries 1.1, Scrapbooks, 1930s-1970s, contains seven scrapbooks put together by Henry J. Kaufman and Associates. The scrapbooks contain press coverage of the firm, newspaper clippings relating to members of the company, information regarding clients and campaigns, photographs of company events, and examples of office humor and culture. Five of the scrapbooks are divided by decade, beginning with the 1930s and ending with the 1970s, but two of the books cover date ranges longer than one decade. The scrapbook contained in Box 5 is dedicated mainly to Kaufman's tenure as president of the Advertising Club of Metropolitan Washington, Incorporated. Several of the scrapbook pages have been disassembled, but there are numbered and photocopied pages to maintain the provenance of the collection. The folders labeled "Material" contain the material originally located on the disassembled scrapbook pages.

Subseries 1.2, Newsletters, 1933, circa 1958, 1968-75, 1978, contains editions of the company newsletter The Kaufman Report, an earlier newsletter entitled Corner Stone, and a direct mail piece.

Subseries 1.3, Advertising Campaigns, circa 1962-1990s, undated, contains an assortment of advertisements sponsored by Henry J. Kaufman and Associates. Highlights are the Porsche Corporation, The Wall Street Journal, and a portfolio of advertising samples from 1977-1979.

Subseries 1.4, Other Materials, 1951-1984, undated, contains a variety of business papers, correspondence, photographs, personnel lists, and press coverage related to the agency. Henry J. Kaufman and Associates relocated to the Canal Street Building in 1963, and a number of the documents and photographs in this subseries are related to the move.

Series 2, Kaufman's Personal Papers, 1950s-1990s, undated, contains information pertaining more to Henry J. Kaufman than to the company. The most substantive parts of the series are photographs of Kaufman and tributes relating to his birthdays and death.

Arrangement:

The collection is divided into two series.

Series 1, Business Papers, 1930s-1980s

Series 2, Kaufman's Personal Papers, 1950s-1990s, undated

Biographical/Historical note:

Henry J. Kaufman (1906-1997) founded his Washington, D.C. based advertising agency in 1929, only months before the stock market crash. Business in some companies was quite poor after the collapse, and many desperate executives were willing to risk money on advertising. The agency Henry J. Kaufman and Associates profited from the risk and grew rapidly, adding public relations and other services and eventually became the largest advertising firm in the Washington, D.C. area. The company had both local and national clients and campaigns, including the Porsche Corporation and the Society of American Florists. In addition to its print media, the agency was especially successful in the field of radio advertising, sponsoring an award in commercial radio announcing as well as regularly winning awards of its own. Kaufman was a member of the Advertising Club of Metropolitan Washington, Incorporated (known as the Ad Club) and served as president in the 1940s. He was considered the founder and "dean" of Washington, D.C. advertising and headed Henry J. Kaufman and Associates for fifty years until he sold it in the late 1970s. He stayed active in consulting work and acted as a mentor to others in the advertising field until his death in 1997. Kaufman and his wife Irma were married sixty-six years.

Related Materials:

Mateials in the Archives Center

NW Ayer Advertising Agency Records (NMAH.AC.0059)

Caroline R. Jones Collection (NMAH.AC.0552)

Provenance:

The collection was donated to the Archives Center in June 2003 by Mr. Kaufman's nephew, Kenneth J. Luchs.

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research and access on site by appointment. Unprotected photographs must be handled with gloves.

Rights:

Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.

Topic:

Advertising agencies  Search this

advertising  Search this

Genre/Form:

Correspondence -- 20th century

Advertisements -- 20th century

Newsletters -- 20th century

Scrapbooks -- 20th century

Photographs -- 20th century

Citation:

Henry J. Kaufman and Associates Records, 1930s-1970s Archives Center, National Museum of American History. Gift of Kenneth J. Luchs.

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.0843

See more items in:

Henry J. Kaufman and Associates Records

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0843

Creator:

Information, Technology and Society, Div. of (NMAH, SI).  Search this

GTE Laboratories Inc.  Search this

Extent:

7 Cubic feet (14 boxes, 6 map-folders)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Patents

Notes

Manuals

Drawings

Software

Date:

1984-1999.

Summary:

Drawings, patents, notes, computer printouts, articles, and technical papers documenting the GTE Burst-switch; also, subject files relating to many aspects of the burst switch project.

Scope and Contents note:

The collection is arranged into ten series—articles and papers, patents, manuals and instructional guides, testing materials, notes, subject files, software/hardware information, Datacon wire wrap listings, drawings, and 5" and 8" floppy diskettes documenting the GTE burst-switch project. The majority of the project work was done in the early 1980s and continued through 1985. The subject files are arranged alphabetically and relate to specific aspects of the project. The drawings are divided into original and copies. The originals drawings are mylar or vellum. The Mark IIA refers to the final research model of the burst switch.

Arrangement:

The collection is divided into ten series.

Series 1: Articles and Papers, 1983-1999

Series 2: Patents, 1987

Series 3: Manuals and Instruction Guides, 1987-1990

Series 4: Testing Materials, 1985-1987

Series 5: Notes, 1985-1988

Series 6: Subject Files, 1985-1991

Series 7: Software/Firmware, 1987-1989

Series 8: Datacon Wire Wrap Listings, 1985-1987

Series 9: Drawings, 1984-1987

Series 10: Floppy disks, 1987-1991

Historical:

The burst switch was developed in the 1970s-1980s at the GTE Laboratories in Waltham, Massachusetts. The burst switch was one of the first switches to demonstrate how voice and data traffic could be integrated into a single network and be handled simultaneously. It was never manufactured on a large scale, but concepts derived from the technology have been used in numerous forms of telecommunications equipment.

Provenance:

The collection was donated by Thomas Muldoon on December 17, 1999.

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research and access on site by appointment.

Rights:

Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.

Topic:

Electric switchgear  Search this

Telecommunication  Search this

Genre/Form:

Patents -- 20th century

Notes

Manuals

Drawings -- 1980-2000

Software

Citation:

GTE Burst Switch Collection, 1984-1999, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.0833

See more items in:

GTE Burst Switch Collection

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0833

Designer:

Deskey, Donald, 1894-  Search this

Collector:

Science, Medicine and Society, Division of (NMAH, SI).  Search this

Science, Medicine and Society, Division of (NMAH, SI).  Search this

Advertiser:

Procter & Gamble Company  Search this

Extent:

1.5 Cubic feet (3 boxes)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Packaging

Date:

1940s-1970s.

Summary:

A collection of flat-folded product packages for soap and detergent. Some of the packages were designed by industrial designer Donald Deskey.

Scope and Contents:

Collection comprises of sample packages, and signs for Proctor & Gamble products. The samples were for test marketing product names. Some of the products have the date stamped on the item. The industrial designer Donald Deskey designed a number of the packages. Most of the materials are personal care products, but there is a substantial amount of household products. Researchers interested in graphic design and the creative process of developing packaging for consumer goods will find this collection useful.

Series 1, Packaging, 1946-1980, includes sample packages for products such as soaps, shaving creams, laundry detergents, dental care, household cleansers, hair care and dish detergents. The packages are arranged first by size and then in alphabetical and chronological order.

Series 2, Signs, undated, includes two signs for Lennox and Naptha soaps. These materials are arranged in alphabetical order.

Arrangement:

Collection is arranged into two series.

Series 1, Packaging, 1946-1980, undated

Series 2, Signs, undated

Biographical / Historical:

Candle maker William Procter and soap maker James Gamble formed a partnership in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1837 to sell their products. Procter & Gamble is probably best known for developing Ivory Soap, but the company has also developed other products such as Ivory Flakes, Chipso (the first dishwasher soap), and Crisco. Innovations in production, distribution, market research and advertising have also contributed to the success of the Procter & Gamble Company.

Provenance:

Donated to the National Museum of American History by Procter & Gamble in 1984, along with many artifacts.

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research and access on site by appointment.

Rights:

Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.

Topic:

advertising  Search this

Soap  Search this

Genre/Form:

Packaging

Citation:

Procter & Gamble Company Product Packaging Collection, 1940s-1970s, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.0836

See more items in:

Procter & Gamble Company Product Packaging Collection

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0836

Creator:

Procter & Gamble Company  Search this

Leyendecker, J. C., 1874-1951  Search this

Smith, Jessie Willcox, 1863-1935  Search this

Elliott, Elizabeth Shippen Green  Search this

Extent:

10 Cubic feet (30 boxes)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Advertisements

Photomechanical reproductions

Date:

1883-1998

Summary:

Print advertisements covering almost the entire history of Ivory Soap, including advertisements designed by artists including Jesse Wilcox Smith, Elizabeth Shippen Green, and J. C. Leyendecker.

Scope and Contents:

The collection consists of print advertising and publications covering almost the entire history of Ivory Soap. Researchers may use this collection to examine the evolution of advertising strategies and techniques from the very early days of mass-produced brand-name consumer products to the present. From the beginning, Ivory advertisements proclaimed the product's "99 and 44/100%" purity, its ability to float, and its versatility. The collection, however, is much more than a glimpse into advertising history. It is an extremely rich resource for a wide range of cultural studies. Ivory advertising was primarily aimed at women, and it contains many images of women, babies, and young children. The depictions reflect contemporary attitudes toward class structure, race, immigrants and residents of other countries, cleanliness, and domestic relationships. The advertisements often play upon the guilt of women, suggesting that their main concerns should be their husbands, children, and dishpan hands. Many advertisements associate cleanliness with social and religious propriety, physical fitness, and athleticism. There also are many images of men and women performing every-day tasks in gender-defined situations.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged into two series.

Series 1: Ivory Soap Products Advertisements, 1883-1998, undated

Series 2: Publications, 1883-1969, undated

Biographical / Historical:

In 1837, candle maker William Procter and soap maker James Gamble formed a partnership in Cincinnati, Ohio, to sell their products. The new company prospered, and by 1859 Procter & Gamble sales reached one million dollars. Contracts with the United States Army during the Civil War to supply soap and candles increased Procter & Gamble's customer base and reputation. In 1879, James Norris Gamble, son of the founder, developed an inexpensive pure white soap. A factory worker who forgot to shut off the soap-making machine when he left for lunch inadvertently improved the product. When he returned, the soap mixture was frothy due to the air that had been whipped into it, and the resulting soap cakes floated in water. There was immediate demand for the "floating soap." After considering many names for the new product, Harley Procter, son of the founder, finally named the soap "Ivory" after Psalms 45:8: "All thy garments smell of myrrh and aloes and cassia, out of the ivory palaces whereby they have made thee glad." Chemical analyses of the soap in 1882 revealed that 56/100 of the ingredients were not pure soap. Harley Procter subtracted that amount from one hundred and the slogan "99 and 44/100% pure" was born. The first ads appeared in 1882 in The Independent, a weekly newspaper.

Innovations in production, distribution, and market research contributed to Procter & Gamble's success. Procter & Gamble also developed other products such as Ivory Flakes, Chipso (the first dishwasher soap), and Crisco. By 1945, Procter & Gamble had become a nearly $350 million company. The company also was an innovator in advertising, developing creative print advertisements aimed at different target groups, sponsoring radio shows and comic strips, and airing its first television commercial (for Ivory Soap) during the first televised major league baseball game. Procter & Gamble is now a global company, selling more than 250 products, including Ivory Soap, to five billion customers in 130 countries.

Related Materials:

Several collections in the Archives Center have materials relating to Ivory Soap. The J. Walter Wilkinson Papers contain art he created for Ivory Soap advertisements. The Ivory Soap 1940 Essay Contest Collection consists of documents relating to the contest and its winner, Helen Nixon. The Procter & Gamble Product Packaging Collection, 1940s-1970s, includes Ivory brand products. The Warshaw Collection of Business Americana's "Soap" subject category contains documents relating to Procter & Gamble and other manufacturers. About twenty-five per cent of the advertisements in this collection are reproduced in the Archives Center's digital image library. The library is located in the "American Stories" section of the Center's World Wide Web pages: http://www.americanhistory.si.edu/archives

Separated Materials:

Artifacts donated to the Division of Medicine and Science.

Provenance:

Procter & Gamble donated this collection to the Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution on October 24, 2001.

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Rights:

Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.

Topic:

advertising  Search this

Soap  Search this

Genre/Form:

Advertisements -- 20th century

Photomechanical reproductions

Advertisements -- 19th century

Citation:

Ivory Soap Collection, 1883-1998, undated; Archives Center, National Museum of American History. Gift of Procter & Gamble.

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.0791

See more items in:

Ivory Soap Advertising Collection

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0791

Creator:

Warshaw, Isadore, 1900-1969  Search this

Extent:

1 Cubic foot (consisting of 5 boxes, 1 map folder.)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Ephemera

Business ephemera

Date:

circa 1809-1940

Summary:

A New York bookseller, Warshaw assembled this collection over nearly fifty years. The Warshaw Collection of Business Americana: Baking Powders forms part of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Subseries 1.1: Subject Categories. The Subject Categories subseries is divided into 470 subject categories based on those created by Mr. Warshaw. These subject categories include topical subjects, types or forms of material, people, organizations, historical events, and other categories. An overview to the entire Warshaw collection is available here: Warshaw Collection of Business Americana

Scope and Contents:

This material consists primarily of advertising cards, bills/receipts, printed advertisements, book marks, cook books, labels, pamphlets, and recipe books, scattered correspondence on letterhead stationery from manufacturers and distributors of baking powders. These companies also tended to sell other products including bakers' supplies, spices, coffee, teas, cream of tartar, cigars, tobacco, gloss starch, laundry bluing, soap powder, baking soda, soap, corn starch, phosphate of calcium, powdered gelatin and other shelf groceries. The B. T. Babbitt Company located in New York distributed a number of pamphlets and printed advertisements containing reproductions of popular paintings by American artist including Paul de Longpre, Virginia Janus, Percy Moran and J. L. Ferris. Larger size reproductions could be obtained by sending the company trade marks from their products. Other manufacturers such as Edward Canby offered free libraries to their customers. Some of these companies are also in other subject categories such as chemicals, baking soda, patent medicine, images children, art, women, nature scenes, and courtship scenes.

Publications include two pamphlets. Both pamphlets were articles which appeared in the Pharmaceutical Record. "Baking Powders, An Essay on their Composition and Action" (April 1, 1887) was written by George Holland and "Baking Powders" (June 1, 1888) written by C. V. Petraeus discuss the physical qualities of baking powders. H. D. Thatcher & Company also published a pamphlet on the same subject titled "How to Test Baking Powder, Illustrated and Explained for the Practical Use not Only of the Scientist but for the Common People and the Ordinary Cook, with Descriptions of Thatcher's Sugar of Milk Baking Powder and Selected Cooking Recipes "(1890).

Materials are organized alphabetically by name of company. There are three folders of material grouped by type: labels, related pamphlets and miscellaneous items. Miscellaneous items consist of advertising cards with no company to identify manufacturer or dealer.

General:

The following is a list of brand names for various baking powder products. The names that appear on this list are a compilation of those found on materials in the vertical document boxes. It is not a complete list of all the brand names for baking powders. The list is intended to assist researchers in locating desired materials when only the brand name is known.

Brand Name Index

Brand Name -- Manufacturer

Acme -- Lange, Grabe & Baird

Cap Sheaf -- DeLand & Company

Champion -- Johnston Brothers

Chemical -- Deland

Craig's -- Hannum, H.B. & Company

Crown -- Dieter, J.F. & Company

Czar -- Steele & Emory

Enterprise -- Bacon, Stickney & Company

Excelsior -- Redheffer & Stuart

Forest City -- Vouwie Brothers

Gold Medal -- Taylor, J. Monroe

Golden Sheaf -- Henkel Brothers

Golden Shield -- Monroe County Chemical Company

Good Luck -- Chicago Chemical Works

Horsford' s -- Humford Chemical Works

I.C. -- Jacques Manufacturing Company

Imperial Grown -- Anthony, J.B. & Company

International -- Queen City Chemical Company

K.C. -- Jacques Manufacturing Company

Kenton -- Potter Parlin & Company

Knickerbocker -- Stitt, [Wmin?]

Luther's -- Benjamin, L.O. & Company

Miles -- Larzelere, James H.

Morning Glory -- Feeny, G.S.

None Such -- Hanford, Geo G.

Oriole -- Queen City Chemical Company

Patapsco -- Smith, Hanway & Company

Peerless -- Marde

Pure Gold -- Newman, S.A.

Safe & Reliable -- Granger & Company

Sea Foam -- Jones, Gantz & Company

Silver Star -- Gandy, Edward

Snow -- Boston Relish Company

Sun Flower -- Fahnestock Company

Trust -- Burns & Reed

Unrivaled -- Spracues, Warner & Griswold

Victor -- Boos & Holbrook

Windsor -- Kegeler, H. Chas.

Materials in the Archives Center:

Archives Center Collection of Business Americana (AC0404)

Forms Part Of:

Forms part of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana.

Series 1: Business Ephemera

Series 2: Other Collection Divisions

Series 3: Isadore Warshaw Personal Papers

Series 4: Photographic Reference Material

Provenance:

Baking Powders is a portion of the Business Ephemera Series of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Accession AC0060 purchased from Isadore Warshaw in 1967. Warshaw continued to accumulate similar material until his death, which was donated in 1971 by his widow, Augusta. For a period after acquisition, related materials from other sources (of mixed provenance) were added to the collection so there may be content produced or published after Warshaw's death in 1969. This practice has since ceased.

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research. Some items may be restricted due to fragile condition.

Rights:

Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.

Topic:

Baking powder  Search this

Genre/Form:

Ephemera

Business ephemera

Citation:

Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution

Sponsor:

Funding for partial processing of the collection was supported by a grant from the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund (CCPF).

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.0060.S01.01.BakingPowders

See more items in:

Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Baking Powders

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0060-s01-01-bakingpowders

Creator:

Warshaw, Isadore, 1900-1969  Search this

Extent:

8.45 Cubic feet (consisting of 18 boxes, 5 folders, 8 oversize folders, 1 map case folder, 1 flat box (partial).)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Ephemera

Business ephemera

Date:

circa 1778-1968

Summary:

A New York bookseller, Warshaw assembled this collection over nearly fifty years. The Warshaw Collection of Business Americana: Music forms part of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Subseries 1.1: Subject Categories. The Subject Categories subseries is divided into 470 subject categories based on those created by Mr. Warshaw. These subject categories include topical subjects, types or forms of material, people, organizations, historical events, and other categories. An overview to the entire Warshaw collection is available here: Warshaw Collection of Business Americana

Scope and Contents:

This material consists of sheet music covers, concert programs, bills, receipts, printed advertisements, import/export documents, business cards, catalogues, songbooks, journals, newsletters, information on music schools and instructors, scattered correspondence on letterhead stationary, photographs, caricatures and lithographs of individual musicians, composers and lyricists of the late 19th and early 20th century. There is material pertaining to Gilbert & Sullivan; images, concert programs, and advertisements for their operettas, including Japanese images from the Mikado. There is biographical information on the Arthur Tams Music Library with catalogues from his collection, business correspondence with G. Schirmer and others and the James Madison Americana Collection. There are unique images of musical instruments, catalogues and advertisements for their manufacturers; mechanical musical instruments, music boxes, phonographs and even a few radio and Muzak programs. This material spans a century, beginning in the 1840's. Its images chronicle the inventions of the automobile and the airplane, and the rapid industrial and life-style changes of that time period.

Arrangement:

The bulk of the material is arranged topically, the rest is organized by company name. Sheet music publishers and musical and mechanical music instrument manufacturers, dealers and importers are in Boxes 1- 7. Boxes 6-7 contain a large amount of information from one particular dealer, the Arthur W. Tams Music Library. Box 8 contains information on manufacturers and dealers of Phonographs and records. Boxes 1-8 are arranged by company name. In the remainder of Box 8 and in Boxes 9- 10, there are programs, concerts tickets and curriculum pertaining to music schools, private instructors of music and voice, music clubs, societies and unions. Boxes 10-13 contain concert programs of musical performances that are organized by their geographic location or type of performance. Under the topic heading solo performances in Boxes 12-13 are handbills , programs and ads for individual performances and music luminaries including Gilbert & Sullivan and Stephen Foster. Box 14 holds general works which consists of images of musical instruments and musicians, correspondence trade cards, patents, import/export documents and hand-written music notation. Related publications are in Boxes 15-17 and are organized by type of material. Songbooks and lyric sheets are in Box 15. Periodical publications including journals and catalogues are in Box 16. The remainder of the related publications are divided by size and grouped into books, notebooks, essays and pamphlets in Box 17.

Materials in the Archives Center:

Archives Center Collection of Business Americana (AC0404)

Forms Part Of:

Forms part of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana.

Series 1: Business Ephemera

Series 2: Other Collection Divisions

Series 3: Isadore Warshaw Personal Papers

Series 4: Photographic Reference Material

Provenance:

Music is a portion of the Business Ephemera Series of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Accession AC0060 purchased from Isadore Warshaw in 1967. Warshaw continued to accumulate similar material until his death, which was donated in 1971 by his widow, Augusta. For a period after acquisition, related materials from other sources (of mixed provenance) were added to the collection so there may be content produced or published after Warshaw's death in 1969. This practice has since ceased.

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research. Some items may be restricted due to fragile condition.

Rights:

Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.

Genre/Form:

Ephemera

Business ephemera

Citation:

Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Music, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution

Sponsor:

Funding for partial processing of the collection was supported by a grant from the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund (CCPF).

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.0060.S01.01.Music

See more items in:

Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Music

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0060-s01-01-music

Creator:

Warshaw, Isadore, 1900-1969  Search this

Extent:

2.35 Cubic feet (consisting of 5 boxes, 1 folder, 1 oversize folder, 3 map case folders, plus digital images of some collection material. )

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Print advertising

Correspondence

Recipes

Advertising mail

Trade cards

Commercial catalogs

Advertising fliers

Mail order catalogs

Advertising cards

Advertising

Illustrations

Printed materials

Business records

Business letters

Trade literature

Trade catalogs

Printed material

Reports

Periodicals

Invoices

Sales catalogs

Receipts

Ephemera

Letterheads

Manuals

Business cards

Sales records

Printed ephemera

Catalogs

Sales letters

Legal documents

Publications

Catalogues

Business ephemera

Date:

1791-1964

bulk 1840-1925

Summary:

A New York bookseller, Warshaw assembled this collection over nearly fifty years. The Warshaw Collection of Business Americana: Accounting and Bookkeeping forms part of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Subseries 1.1: Subject Categories. The Subject Categories subseries is divided into 470 subject categories based on those created by Mr. Warshaw. These subject categories include topical subjects, types or forms of material, people, organizations, historical events, and other categories. An overview to the entire Warshaw collection is available here: Warshaw Collection of Business Americana

Scope and Contents:

The meat category primarily covers beef, pork, and seafood. Material related to seafood, including clams, oysters, fish, and shellfish, is significant. Additional animal protein sources may be present, especially within the recipes. Several professional associations documents and promotional materials are included. For chicken and other fowl, see subject category Poultry.

Materials represent a sampling of transactional records such as bills, invoices and receipts, marketing material, shipping services for goods, butchering, and preparation for consumption.

Arrangement:

Meat is arranged in three subseries.

Business Records and Marketing Material



Genre



Subject

Forms Part Of:

Forms part of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana.

Series 1: Business Ephemera

Series 2: Other Collection Divisions

Series 3: Isadore Warshaw Personal Papers

Series 4: Photographic Reference Material

Provenance:

Meat is a portion of the Business Ephemera Series of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Accession AC0060 purchased from Isadore Warshaw in 1967. Warshaw continued to accumulate similar material until his death, which was donated in 1971 by his widow, Augusta. For a period after acquisition, related materials from other sources (of mixed provenance) were added to the collection so there may be content produced or published after Warshaw's death in 1969. This practice has since ceased.

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research. Some items may be restricted due to fragile condition.

Rights:

Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.

Topic:

Slaughtering and slaughter-houses  Search this

Livestock  Search this

Food processing plants  Search this

Canning and preserving  Search this

Ranching  Search this

Packing-houses  Search this

Sausages  Search this

Buffalo  Search this

Food industry and trade  Search this

Meat -- Packing  Search this

Seafood  Search this

Food  Search this

Meat industry  Search this

Meat industry and trade  Search this

Sales promotion  Search this

Consumer goods -- Catalogs  Search this

Fisheries -- Equipment and supplies  Search this

Fisheries  Search this

Fish and fisheries  Search this

Patents  Search this

Fishing  Search this

Trade associations  Search this

Genre/Form:

Print advertising

Correspondence

Recipes

Advertising mail

Trade cards

Commercial catalogs

Advertising fliers

Mail order catalogs

Advertising cards

Advertising

Illustrations

Printed materials

Business records

Business letters

Trade literature

Trade catalogs

Printed material

Reports

Periodicals

Invoices

Sales catalogs

Receipts

Ephemera

Letterheads

Manuals

Business cards

Sales records

Printed ephemera

Catalogs

Sales letters

Legal documents

Publications

Catalogues

Business ephemera

Citation:

Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Meat, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution

Sponsor:

Funding for partial processing of the collection was supported by a grant from the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund (CCPF).

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.0060.S01.01.Meat

See more items in:

Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Meat

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0060-s01-01-meat

Creator:

Warshaw, Isadore, 1900-1969  Search this

Extent:

0.98 Cubic feet (consisting of 2 boxes, 1 folder, 1 oversize folder, 1 map case folder.)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Business ephemera

Ephemera

Date:

undated

Summary:

A New York bookseller, Warshaw assembled this collection over nearly fifty years. The Warshaw Collection of Business Americana: Inks forms part of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Subseries 1.1: Subject Categories. The Subject Categories subseries is divided into 470 subject categories based on those created by Mr. Warshaw. These subject categories include topical subjects, types or forms of material, people, organizations, historical events, and other categories. An overview to the entire Warshaw collection is available here: Warshaw Collection of Business Americana

Materials in the Archives Center:

Archives Center Collection of Business Americana (AC0404)

Forms Part Of:

Forms part of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana.

Series 1: Business Ephemera

Series 2: Other Collection Divisions

Series 3: Isadore Warshaw Personal Papers

Series 4: Photographic Reference Material

Provenance:

Inks is a portion of the Business Ephemera Series of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Accession AC0060 purchased from Isadore Warshaw in 1967. Warshaw continued to accumulate similar material until his death, which was donated in 1971 by his widow, Augusta. For a period after acquisition, related materials from other sources (of mixed provenance) were added to the collection so there may be content produced or published after Warshaw's death in 1969. This practice has since ceased.

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research. Some items may be restricted due to fragile condition.

Rights:

Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.

Genre/Form:

Business ephemera

Ephemera

Citation:

Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Inks, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution

Sponsor:

Funding for partial processing of the collection was supported by a grant from the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund (CCPF).

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.0060.S01.01.Inks

See more items in:

Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Inks

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0060-s01-01-inks

Creator:

Warshaw, Isadore, 1900-1969  Search this

Extent:

37.8 Cubic feet (consisting of 76 boxes (including 12 off-site), 12 folders, 16 oversize folders, 7 flat boxes (6 full, 1 partial), plus digital images of some collection material. )

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Ephemera

Business ephemera

Date:

1768-1973

Summary:

A New York bookseller, Warshaw assembled this collection over nearly fifty years. The Warshaw Collection of Business Americana: Dry Goods forms part of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Subseries 1.1: Subject Categories. The Subject Categories subseries is divided into 470 subject categories based on those created by Mr. Warshaw. These subject categories include topical subjects, types or forms of material, people, organizations, historical events, and other categories. An overview to the entire Warshaw collection is available here: Warshaw Collection of Business Americana

Scope and Contents:

This material consists primarily of scattered correspondence on letterhead stationery, bills/receipts, printed advertisements, trade catalogs, handbills, pamphlets, advertising cards , photographs, cloth samples , leaflets, books, prospectus, order forms, chromolithographs, magazine advertisements, seals, postcards, business cards, children's books, greeting cards, almanacs, calendars, cardboard standups, fans, paper bag samples and import/export documents from businesses referred to loosely as department or variety stores. A number of these stores are still in business and tend to have a substantial amount of material . Such companies include I. Magnin, R. H. Macy, Woodward & Lothrop, F. H. Woolworth's, Sears, Roebuck & Company , Montgomery Wards, Wanamaker, etc. There are a few references to businesses who imported English, French, German, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Egyptian, Sudanese, Persian and Moorish articles.

Generally the stores included among these materials sold a variety of products consisting of clothing and clothing accessories, home furnishings, home construction kits, novelties, stationery , groceries and a number of other products sold in contemporary department and variety stores. There are also companies that specialized in a particular product or type of product. Researchers interested in these businesses should also consult the same subject category if it is included on the listing of vertical document boxes. It is also possible that if the company produced oversize catalogs these would be listed with the Warshaw Collection oversize materials. For example, there are a number of Montgomery Wards, Butler Brothers, Bellas Hess and Company and Sears, Roebuck and Company catalogs found among the oversize materials.

There are a number of images that appear on these materials. Most of these images tend to be illustrations of the exterior or interior departments of the stores . Product illustrations also appear throughout the catalogues, printed advertisements and price lists. Ethnic images particularly in French advertisements also appear regularly. Dry goods stores relied heavily on advertisements directed toward children especially during the Christmas/holiday season. Books for children illustrating characters from favorite stories or Christmas scenes are common among the larger stores namely Woodward & Lothrop.

Materials in boxes one through thirty-nine are organized by name of company. Publications that discuss the history of a particular company are included with the company related materials. Catalogues , calendars , almanacs and price lists are generally listed under the company name in the finding aid with dates . This is due to the fact that these materials are often requested by researchers in this manner. This does not imply that these are the only materials for that particular company in the folders .

Box thirty-nine is also partially arranged by type including patents, stocks , general images, associations and miscellaneous items. A few related publications such as a chain store bibliography and a book on the history of chain stores are also included.

Boxes forty and forty-one contain periodicals created by W. A. Spelman in New York. Published as a trade journal devoted to the interests of the retail merchants, it was primarily meant to aid the subscriber in meeting the increasing competition in the dry goods trade. It was also meant to guide merchants in the purchase of goods. Referred to as The Fancy Goods Graphic or Spelman's Fancy Goods Graphic, these publications date from 1881-1890 .

Import and export documents are found in boxes forty-one, through forty-three.

The processing of additional materials in 2017 integrated a significant volume of material, most notably the Jermain Business and Family papers and to a lesser extent, the Trimble Family Business records. Both offer insight to the operations of 19th Century family businesses. Also added was significant manuscript on the history of Montgomery Ward is also available.

Catalogues, especially thinner circular type editions have not been consolidated and may be found throughout the material in this collection. However there are several groupings listed in the Catalogue series, especially for regular issue bulky catalogues published by Montgomery Ward and Sears Roebuck and Company. See note regarding some items that have been microfilmed or transferred off-site.

Arrangement:

Dry Goods is arranged in two subseries.

Business Records and Marketing Material

General, including Accounting Books and Ledgers

Companies and Proprietors

Companies and Proprietors, Oversize Material

Trade Literature and Other

Export/Import Records

Jermain Business and Family Papers; plus associated Albany Records

Montgomery Ward History Manuscripts

Trimble Family Business Records

General, Marketing Material

Catalogues

General and Mail Order

Montgomery Ward

Sears, Roebuck and Company

Assorted [Off-Site, including Montgomery Ward and Sears, Roebuck and Company]

Materials in the Archives Center:

Archives Center Collection of Business Americana (AC0404)

Forms Part Of:

Forms part of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana.

Series 1: Business Ephemera

Series 2: Other Collection Divisions

Series 3: Isadore Warshaw Personal Papers

Series 4: Photographic Reference Material

Provenance:

Dry Goods is a portion of the Business Ephemera Series of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Accession AC0060 purchased from Isadore Warshaw in 1967. Warshaw continued to accumulate similar material until his death, which was donated in 1971 by his widow, Augusta. For a period after acquisition, related materials from other sources (of mixed provenance) were added to the collection so there may be content produced or published after Warshaw's death in 1969. This practice has since ceased.

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research. Sears, Roebuck & Co. catalogs are restricted due to fragile condition. Researchers should consult microfilm in NMAH library for 1880-1983 editions, drawer 692. Some additional items may be restricted due to fragile condition. Off-site materials must be requested in advance. Consult Archives Staff.

Rights:

Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.

Topic:

Dry-goods  Search this

Genre/Form:

Ephemera

Business ephemera

Citation:

Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Dry Goods, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution

Sponsor:

Funding for partial processing of the collection was supported by a grant from the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund (CCPF).

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.0060.S01.01.Dry

See more items in:

Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Dry Goods

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0060-s01-01-dry

Creator:

Warshaw, Isadore, 1900-1969  Search this

Extent:

2.98 Cubic feet (consisting of 6 boxes, 3 folders, 9 oversize folders, 2 map case folders, plus digital images of some collection material. )

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Business ephemera

Ephemera

Date:

1813-1940

Summary:

A New York bookseller, Warshaw assembled this collection over nearly fifty years. The Warshaw Collection of Business Americana: Cosmetics forms part of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Subseries 1.1: Subject Categories. The Subject Categories subseries is divided into 470 subject categories based on those created by Mr. Warshaw. These subject categories include topical subjects, types or forms of material, people, organizations, historical events, and other categories. An overview to the entire Warshaw collection is available here: Warshaw Collection of Business Americana

Scope and Contents:

This collection consists of a great variety of materials, including business correspondence, bills and receipts, advertisements, order forms, business and advertising cards, labels, bookmarks, calendars, formulas, handbooks, pamphlets, price lists, leaflets, display cards, postcards, circulars, packaging, toilet albums, and labels. Many of the products are perfumes or colognes; others include shaving creams, hair preparations, manicure supplies, soaps, creams and lotions, powders, makeup, and bath products. Foot preparations, dental care products, deodorants, medications, starch, oils and spices, and brushes are also present. Most of these products are for the use of female consumers. Trade materials are directed toward scalp specialists, hairdressers, dermatologists, beauty culturist and manicurists. There are a number of materials from female-owned establishments. Other materials include publications, such as catalogues produced by manufacturers for consumers, and publications for the trade. Cosmetic appliances, formulas, labels, trademarks and patents, and import/export documents are also present. Most of this material dates from the late 19th to the early 20th century.

Images of women and of flowers predominate in this collection. Most of the women are Anglo American with a few others such as Turkish, Asian, Scots, Brazilian, Swiss, Egyptian and African American.

Arrangement:

Arranged into three subseries

Subseries 1: Manufacturers, Distributors, and Retailers, circa 1830-1960

Subseries 2: Publications, circa 1850-1940

Subseries 3: Related Materials, circa 1890-1934

Materials in the Archives Center:

Archives Center Collection of Business Americana (AC0404)

Forms Part Of:

Forms part of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana.

Series 1: Business Ephemera

Series 2: Other Collection Divisions

Series 3: Isadore Warshaw Personal Papers

Series 4: Photographic Reference Material

Provenance:

Cosmetics is a portion of the Business Ephemera Series of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Accession AC0060 purchased from Isadore Warshaw in 1967. Warshaw continued to accumulate similar material until his death, which was donated in 1971 by his widow, Augusta. For a period after acquisition, related materials from other sources (of mixed provenance) were added to the collection so there may be content produced or published after Warshaw's death in 1969. This practice has since ceased.

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research. Some items may be restricted due to fragile condition.

Rights:

Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.

Topic:

advertising -- Cosmetics  Search this

Cosmetics  Search this

Cosmetics industry  Search this

Genre/Form:

Business ephemera

Ephemera

Citation:

Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution

Sponsor:

Funding for partial processing of the collection was supported by a grant from the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund (CCPF).

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.0060.S01.01.Cosmetics

See more items in:

Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Cosmetics

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0060-s01-01-cosmetics

Creator:

Ayer (N W) Incorporated.  Search this

Names:

American Telephone and Telegraph Company -- Advertisements  Search this

Cunningham & Walsh.  Search this

Hixson & Jorgenson  Search this

United Air Lines, Inc. -- Advertisements  Search this

Ayer, Francis Wayland  Search this

De Kooning, Willem, 1904-1997  Search this

O'Keeffe, Georgia , 1887-1986  Search this

Extent:

270 Cubic feet (1169 boxes )

7 Film reels (1463 boxes, 18 map-folders)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Film reels

Business records

Interviews

Oral history

Print advertising

Proof sheets

Proofs (printed matter)

Scrapbooks

Trade literature

Tear sheets

Advertisements

Date:

1817-1851

1869-2006

Summary:

Collection consists of records documenting one of the oldest advertising agencies created in Philadelphia. The company then moves to New York and expanses to international markets. During its history NW Ayer & Sons acquires a number of other advertising agencies and is eventually purchased. The largest portion of the collection is print advertisements but also includes radio and television. NW Ayer is known for some of the slogans created for major American companies.

Scope and Contents:

The collection consists primarily of proof sheets of advertisements created by NW Ayer & Son, Incorporated for their clients. These materials are in series one through thirteen and consist primarily of print advertisements. There are also billboards, radio and television commercials. The advertisements range from consumer to corporate and industrial products. The majority of the advertisements were created for Ayer's New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and international offices. Printed advertisements created by Cunningham & Walsh, Hixson & Jorgensen and Newell-Emmett are also included among these materials. Researchers who are interested in records created by Ayer in the course of operating an advertising agency will find these materials in Series fourteen-nineteen.

Series fourteen consists of advertisements created by NW Ayer & Son to promote their services to potential clients.

Series fifteen are scrapbooks of some of the earliest advertisements created by the company. Series sixteen are publications. Some of the publications were created by Ayer while others were about Ayer or the advertising industry in general. Provides good background materials and puts the company in perspective. Series eighteen are the legal records. Materials relating to employees including photographs, oral histories etc. are found in series nineteen.

Series twenty is one of the smallest amounts of materials and includes information relating to the history of NW Ayer & Son.

The container lists for series one-thirteen are part of a database and are searchable. The list has been printed for the convenience of the researcher and is included in this finding aid. Series fourteen-twenty container lists are also a part of the finding aid but are not in a searchable format.

Series 1, Scrapbooks of Client Advertisements, circa 1870-1920, is arranged into three boxes by chronological date. There are two bound scrapbooks and one box of folders containing loose scrapbook pages. NW Ayer & Son compiled an assortment of their earliest ads and placed them into scrapbooks. Besides the earliest advertisements, the scrapbooks contain requests to run advertisements, reading notices and listings of papers Ayer advertised in. The early advertisements themselves range from medical remedies to jewelry to machines to clothing to education and more. Most of the advertisements in the bound scrapbooks are dated.

Series 2, Proofsheets, circa 1870-1930, NW Ayer was fond of creating scrapbooks containing proofsheets. The series contains proofsheets created between 1892 and 1930, organized into 526 boxes. For convenience of storage, access and arrangement, the scrapbooks were disassembled and the pages placed in original order in flat archival storage boxes. The proofsheets are arranged by book number rather than client name. Usually the boxes contain a listing of the clients and sometimes the dates of the advertisements to be found within the box.

Series 3, Proofsheets, circa 1920-1975, is organized into 532 oversize boxes, and contain proofsheets and tearsheets created between 1920 and 1972. Within this series, materials are arranged alphabetically by company name (occasionally subdivided by brand or product), and thereunder chronologically by date of production. Many major, national advertisers are represented, including American Telephone & Telegraph, Armour Company, Canada Dry, Cannon Mills, Carrier Corporation, Domino Sugar, Caterpillar tractor company, Ford Motor Company, General Electric, Goodyear, Hills Bros. Coffee, Ladies Home Journal, National Dairy, Plymouth (Chrysler Corporation), Steinway, TV Guide, United Airlines and the United States Army. Also contained in this series are three scrapbooks of client advertisements including Canada Dry, Ford Motor, and Victor Talking Machine.

Series 4, 2001 Addendum, circa 1976-2001, is organized into ninety three oversized boxes,one folder and contains proofsheets for select Ayer clients, created between 1975 and 2001. Within this series, materials are arranged alphabetically by client name and there under chronologically by date of production. Major national advertisers represented include American Telephone & Telegraph, Avon, the United States Army, DeBeers Consolidated Diamond Mines, Dupont, TV Guide, Sealtest, Kraft Foods, Gillette, General Motors, Cannon Mills.

Series 5, Billboards, circa 1952-1956, consists of mounted and un-mounted original art/mock-ups. Twenty-two pieces of original art created as mock-ups for Texaco billboards.

Series 6, Film and Video Commercials, 1967-1970,

Series 7, Radio and Television Materials, 1933-1993, undated, is arranged into eight boxes and includes radio scripts, television scripts, and story boards for commercials.

Subseries 7.1, Scripts and storyboards for Radio and Television Commercials, dates Scripts for radio and television commercials includes title, date, length of commercial, advertising agency, client information

NW Ayer's radio and television materials mainly focus on the American Telegraph and Telephone account. Some of Ayer's materials relate to Bell Telephone Hours.

Storyboards are used in television and film to assist the director in working with crew to tell the story. To show the viewer through the use of figures, visual effects and camera angles. When directors first start thinking about their storyboard they create a story in their mind. They think of all the camera angles, visual effects and how the figures will interact in their mind. They try to create an extraordinary story in their head to attract the viewer (YOU) In order for the storyboard to be entirely effective it can't be a passive document. When done properly, a storyboard serves as a central design, meeting the needs of many team members including graphics artists, video personnel and programmers.

Another function of a storyboard is to help the team communicate during the training development process. This communication is very important in working with a large team as in the movie King, produced in 1996. Figures help the director explain to the crew how they are going to record the film and how to present it to the audience. Sometimes the director wants special effects to be added to the film, but his budget might not be that big so the director will have to change the story to fit their budget.

The Visual Effects are an important part in the storyboards it adds a special touch of creativity to your film. Camera angles are an important expects in your film because the camera angles determine where the viewing audience will look. If you want your audience to look at a certain object you must turn their attention to it by focusing on that object and maybe you might try blocking something out. Then you will have your audience's attention and you may do whatever else you have to, it could be scaring them are just surprising them or whatever you do.

Also included is talent information and log sheets relating to the storage of the commercials.

Bell Telephone Hour Program, 1942-[19??], The Bell Telephone Hour, also known as The Telephone Hour, was a five minute musical program which began April 29, 1940 on National Broadcasting Company Radio and was heard on NBC until June 30, 1958. Sponsored by Bell Telephone showcased the best in classical and Broadway music, reaching eight to nine million listeners each week. It continued on television from 1959 to 1968.

Earlier shows featured James Melton and Francia White as soloists. Producer Wallace Magill restructured the format on April 27, 1942 into the "Great Artists Series" of concert and opera performers, beginning with Jascha Heifetz. Records indicate that the list of talents on the program included Marian Anderson, Helen Traubel, Oscar Levant, Lily Pons, Nelson Eddy, Bing Crosby, Margaret Daum, Benny Goodman, José Iturbi, Gladys Swarthout and .The series returned to radio in 1968-1969 as Bell Telephone Hour Encores, also known as Encores from the Bell Telephone Hour, featuring highlights and interviews from the original series.

National Broadcasting television specials sponsored by the Bell System, 1957-1987includes information relating to Science series, Bell system Theshold Series, Bell telephone hour and commercial and public sponsored programs

Series 8, Chicago Office Print Advertisements, 1954-1989, is arranged alphabetically by the name of the client in ninety boxes and six oversize folders. Clients include Illinois Bell Telephone (1955-1989), Microswitch (1969-1989), Teletype (1975-1984), John Deere (1974-1989) and Caterpillar (1966-1972) are particularly well represented. Other clients of interest include Dr. Scholl's shoes (circa 1968-1972), the Girl Scouts (1976-1980), Sunbeam Personal Products Company (1973-1981), Bell and Howell (1974-1983) and Alberto Culver shampoos (1967-1971), Honeywell, Incorporated, Blue Cross and Blue Shield Associations, Kraft, Incorporated, Sears, Roebuck and Company, and YMCA.

Series 9, Los Angeles Office Materials, 1950s-1987, include printed advertisements created by this office and information relating to the employees.

Subseries 9.1, Print Advertisements, 1977-1987, printed advertisements arranged in one box alphabetically by client. There is a sparse sampling of clients from this particular Ayer branch office. The majority of the advertisements contained within this series are from Pizza Hut (1986-1987). Also included are Computer Automation (1977-1978), State of the Art, Incorporated (1982) and Toshiba (1986).

Subseries 9.2, Personnel Files, 1950s-1970s, includes cards of employees who worked in the Los Angeles office. Information on the cards includes name, address, telephone number, birthday, date hired, departure date and why (retired, terminated, resigned, etc) and position. Not all cards have all information. There is also a photograph of the employees on the cards.

Series 10, Foreign Print Advertisements, 1977-1991, undated, NW Ayer maintained partnerships with international companies such as Sloanas Ayer in Argentina, Connaghan & May Paton Ayer in Australia, Moussault Ayer in Belgium, NW Ayer, LTD. in Canada, GMC Ayer in France, Co-Partner Ayer in Germany, Wong Lam Wang in Hong Kong, MacHarman Ayer in New Zealand, Grupo de Diseno Ayer in Spain, Nedeby Ayer in Sweden, and Ayer Barker in United Kingdom. This group of material is a small sampling of advertisements created from these International offices. It is arranged alphabetically by client. There are quite a few automobile advertisements (i.e. Audi, Fiat, General Motors, Mercedes-Benz, and Volkswagen). In addition there are numerous advertisements for various personal items from MacLean's toothpaste to Quick athletic shoes to Labello lip balm, etc. Most of the advertisements have the creator's name printed on the advertisements.

Series 11, Cunningham & Walsh, Incorporated Materials, 1915-1987, undated contains 98 boxes 11 folders materials from the New York advertising agency acquired by NW Ayer in the 1960s. The company began with Newel-Emmett, an agency of nine men which broke up in 1949. Two of the men Fred Walsh and Jack Cunningham formed this agency in bearing their names in 1950. The agency created "let your fingers for the walking campaign for American Telephone & Telegraph, Mother Nature for Chiffon, and Mrs. Olson for Folgers's coffee and let the good times roll for Kawasaki motorcycle. In 1986, NW Ayer Incorporated purchased Cunningham & Walsh Incorporated.

Subseries 11.1, Print Advertisements, 1915-1987, are contained in ninety eight boxes of primarily print advertisements arranged alphabetically by client name. Clients that are particularly well represented are Graybar (electrical implements, circa1926-1937), Johns-Manulle (circa1915-1971), Smith and Corono typewriters (circa 1934-1960), Sunshine Biscuit Company (circa 1925-1961), Texaco Company (circa 1936-1961), Western Electric (circa 1920- 1971) and Yellow Pages (circa 1936-1971). Cunningham and Walsh also represented several travel and tourism industry clients, including Cook Travel Services (circa 1951-1962), Italian Line (circa 1953-1961), Narragansett and Croft (circa 1956-1960) and Northwest Airlines (circa 1946-1955). There are photographs of Texaco advertisements dating from 1913-1962. There is also a scrapbook of advertisements from the Western Electric Company dating from 1920-1922.

Subseries 11.2, Radio and Television Advertisements, 1963-1967, consist of materials created for Western Electric. Materials are arranged in chronological order.

Subseries 11.3, Company Related Materials, 1962-1986, undated include client lists, information relating to NW Ayer purchase and annual report 1962.

Series 12, Hixson & Jorgensen Materials, 1953-1971, a Los Angeles advertising company, merged with Ayer in 1969. This series is housed in one box. Within the box are four scrapbooks and folders with a hodgepodge of materials relating to advertising. Of most interest are the scrapbooks. Two scrapbooks deal with Hixson and Jorgensen's self promotion ad campaign "the right appeal gets action" (1953-1957). The other two scrapbooks contain news clippings about the company and its activities (1959-1971).

Series 13, Newell-Emmet, 1942-1957, founded in 1919 and governed in the 1940s by a partnership of nine men. The partnership broke up in 1949 when the men went their separate ways. The materials consist of print advertisements for one of client, Permutit Company, a water conditioning company. The materials are arranged in one box in chronological order.

Series 14, House Print Advertisements, 1870-1991, 16 boxes consists of advertisements or self-promotion advertisements to campaign for new clients. The series is arranged chronologically by date into fifteen boxes. Within the series are two scrapbooks containing self promotion ads from 1888-1919 and 1892-1895. Numerous house ads relate to Ayer's "Human Contact" campaign. In addition to the self promotion ads, Ayer ran advertisements expounding about particular concepts or themes for example, one month the concept would "understand" while another month would be "teamwork" and yet another would be on "imagination". Some of the self promotion ads target specific groups like Philadelphia businessmen. Other advertisements incorporate the fine arts.

Series 15, Scrapbooks, 1872-1959, relates to company events, records and news clippings about Ayer's history. The six boxes are arranged by chronological date. Two of the boxes focus solely on the death of founder F.W. Ayer (1923). Another box houses a scrapbook that showcases Ayer's annual Typography Exhibition (1931-1959). One box contains a scrapbook that specifically deals with correspondences relating to Ayer's advertising. Yet another box's contents are folders of loose pages from scrapbooks that have newspaper clippings, order forms, correspondences and other company records. In one box, a bound scrapbook houses a variety of materials relating to Ayer and advertising (i.e. newspaper clippings, competitor's advertisements, NW Ayer's advertisements, correspondences for advertisements, clippings regarding the "theory of advertising."

Series 16, Publications, 1849-2006, are housed in thirty four boxes and are arranged into three main categories.

Subseries 16.1, House Publications, 1876-1994, covers diverse topics; some proscriptive works about the Ayer method in advertising, some commemorating people, anniversaries or events in the life of the agency. Materials consist of scattered issues of the employee newsletter The Next Step 1920-1921. The materials are arranged in chronological order by date of publication. Ayer in the News, The Show Windows of an Advertising Agency, 1915, book form of advertisements published on the cover of Printer's Ink, highlighting Ayer's relations with advertisers. The Story of the States, 1916, Reprint in book form of a series of articles published in Printer's Ink for the purpose of adding some pertinent fact, progressive thought and prophetic vision to the Nationalism of Advertising highlights major businesses, manufacturer, natural resources and other qualities or attractions of each state. The Book of the Golden Celebration, 1919, includes welcome address and closing remarks by founder F. Wayland Ayer, The Next Step, 1920 employee newsletter with photographs, employee profiles, in-house jokes, etc., Advertising Advertising: A Series of Fifty-two Advertisements scheduled one time a week. Twenty-seven, thirty and forty inches, a day of the week optional with publisher, 1924

Subseries 16.2, Publications about NW Ayer, 1949-2006, includes a book first published in 1939. Includes articles, documenting events and is arranged chronologically by date of publication.

Subseries 16.3, General Publications about Advertising, 1922-1974, are arranged chronologically by date of publication and relate primarily to the history of advertising.

Subseries 16.4, Publications about Other Subjects, 1948-1964, include four books about the tobacco industry primarily the history of the American Tobacco Company and Lorillard Company from the Cunningham and Walsh library.

Series 17, Business Records, circa 1885-1990s

Subseries 17.1, Contracts, 1885-1908, undated, are arranged alphabetically and span from 1885-1908. The majority of the contracts are with newspaper and magazine publishers from around the country.

Subseries 17.2, General client information, 1911-1999, undated, including active and cancelled lists with dates, client gains, historical client list, (should move this to series 20) Ayer Plan User Guide Strategic Planning for Human Contact, undated

Subseries 17.3, Individual Client Account Information, 1950s-1990s, undated, contain information used by Ayer to create advertisements for some of its clients. American Telephone &Telegraph Corporate Case History, American Telephone &Telegraph Corporate advertisement memo, commissioned artists for DeBeers advertisements, DeBeers information relating to the creative process and photography credits, a case history for DeBeers Consolidated Mines, Ltd., The Diamond Engagement Ring, Managing Communication at all levels, DuPont publications, JC Penny Marketing Communication Plan Recommendation, Leaf, Incorporated, Saturn presentation, and USAREC oral presentation.

Subseries 17.4, Potential Clients, 1993, includes grouping has a questionnaire sent to Ayer by a potential client. Questionnaire response for Prudential Securities, 1993 Prudential Securities advertising account review, 1993.

Subseries 17.5, Financial Records, 1929-1938, includes balance sheet, 1929 May 1 Balance sheet and adjustments Consolidated statement of assets and liabilities, Expenses 191936-37 Business review and expenses, 1937 and 1938 Business review and expenses comparative statement, 1937 and 1938.

Series 18, Legal Records, circa 1911-1982, Ayer's legal records are arranged by twelve subject groupings within four boxes. The twelve groupings are advertising service agreements (circa 1918-1982), bylaws, copyright claims, correspondences, international correspondences, dissolution of trusts, stock information, agreements between partners, incorporation materials, reduction of capital, property information and miscellaneous materials. The bulk of the materials are the advertising service agreements. These agreements are between Ayer and their clients and state the services Ayer will offer and at what cost. The bylaws are Ayer's company bylaws from 1969 and 1972. The copyright claims are certificates stating Ayer's ownership over certain published materials (i.e. "Policy", Media Equalizer Model, and Don Newman's Washington Square Experiment). The correspondences relate to either the voting trust and receipts for agreement or the New York Corporation. The international correspondences are from either Ayer's Canadian office or London office. The dissolutions of trusts contains materials about the dividend trust of Wilfred F. Fry, the investment trust of Winfred W. Fry, the voting trust, and the New York corporation. The stock information has stock certificates and capital stock information. The agreements between partners (1911-1916) specify the terms between F.W. Ayer and his partners. The incorporation materials (circa 1929-1977) deal with Ayer advertising agency becoming incorporated in the state of Delaware. The reduction of capital grouping is a notification that shares of stock have been retired. The property information grouping contains property deeds and insurance policy (circa 1921-1939), a property appraisal (1934), and a bill of sale (1948). The miscellaneous grouping contains a house memo regarding a set of board meeting minutes and a registry of foreign companies in Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (1929-1954).

Subseries 18.1, Advertising Service Agreements, 1918-1982

Subseries 18.2, Bylaw Materials, 1969-1972

Subseries 18.3, Copyright Claims, 1962-1969

Subseries 18.4, Correspondence, 1928-1933

Subseries 18.5, International Office Correspondence, 1947-1948

Subseries 18.6, Dissolution of Trusts, 1934-1937

Subseries 18.7, Stock Information, 1934-1974

Subseries 18.8, Agreements between Partners, 1911-1916

Subseries 18.9, Incorporation Materials, 1929-1977

Subseries 18.10, Certificates of Reduction of Capital, 1937; 1975

Subseries 18.11, Property Information, 1921-1948

Subseries 18.12, Miscellaneous Materials, 1929-1977

Series 19, Personnel Records, circa 1889-2001, are arranged into eight groupings within eight boxes. The groupings are employee card files, photographs, Ayer alumni, biographies, speeches, recollections, oral histories, and miscellaneous. Typed manuscript of book A Copy Writer Speaks by George Cecil, NW Ayer, Incorporated copy head 1920s-1950s

Subseries 19.1, Employee card files, circa 1892-1915; 1929-1963, consists of index cards with the name, age, job title, date and wage increases, date of hire/fire, as well as remarks about the employee's service and/or reasons for seeking or leaving the job. Materials are arranged alphabetically by the last name of the employee within three boxes.

Subseries 19.2, Photographs, circa 1924-1984, undated, are housed in two boxes. The photographs grouped together by subjects i.e. personnel, company events, Ayer buildings, and miscellaneous. This grouping primarily consists of personnel photographs. Includes a glass plate negative dated 1924 of NW Ayer.

Subseries 19.3, Ayer Alumni, circa 1989-98, include employees who have left Ayer. There is a listing of Ayer "graduates" and their current job. Emeritus, Ayer's alumni newsletter 1989-1996, makes up the majority of materials in this grouping. The newsletter keeps the alumni up to date with the happenings of Ayer and what has become of former Ayer employees. Emeritus is a quarterly newsletter devoted to the activities, thoughts and feelings of Ayer alumni a body of people who consists of retirees and former employees.

Subseries 19.4, Biographical Information, circa 1889-1994, undated, prominent members of Ayer's operations had biographical sketches completed of them. This was true for the bio sketches of Robert Ervin, Louis T. Hagopian, and George A. Rink. There is a substantial file on Dorothy Dignam ("Mis Dig"), a leading woman in the advertising world from the 1930s to the 1950s. Also of interest is a video ("The Siano Man") compiled by Ayer employees to commemorate Jerry Siano's retirement from Ayer in 1994. The series is arranged alphabetically by last name.

Subseries 19.5, Speeches, circa 1919-1931; 1975, contains speeches made by Wilfred W. Fry and Neal W. O'Connor. Wilfred W. Fry had various speaking engagements connected with Ayer. Contained in this group is a sampling of his speeches from 1919 to 1931. Neal O'Connor's speech "Advertising: Who Says It's a Young People's Business" was given at the Central Region Convention for the American Association of Advertising Agencies in Chicago on November 6, 1975. The speeches are arranged alphabetically by the speaker's last name.

Subseries 19.6, Recollections, 1954-1984, undated, are arranged alphabetically by last name. These are recollections from Ayer employees about the company and its advertisements. Some recollections are specifically about certain types of advertisements, like farm equipment while others reflect on F. W. Ayer and the company.

Subseries 19.7, Oral History Interview Transcripts, 1983-1985; 1989-1991, include interviews with key NW Ayer personnel, conducted by Ayer alumnae Howard Davis, Brad Lynch and Don Sholl (Vice President creative) for the Oral History Program. The materials are arranged alphabetically by the last name of the interviewee.

Subseries 19.8, Oral History Interview Audio Tapes, 1985-1990, include interviews on audiotape the materials are arranged alphabetically by the last name of the interviewee.

Subseries 19.9, Internal Communications, 1993-1999, includes information sent to employees relating to retirements, management changes, awards won by the company, promotions, potential new accounts, free items, grand opening of Ayer Café, donation events, sponsorship programs, holiday schedules, discounts for employees from clients, Ayer joins MacManus Group.

Subseries 19.10, General Materials, 1940; 1970, includes agency directory entry including a list of the employees, 1970s, annual banquet program for the Curfew Club May 22, 1940 a group formed by the Philadelphia employee in 1938. It sponsored numerous sports, social and educational activities. Groups were formed in public speaking, music appreciation and a series of talks on Monday evenings title the modern woman. The front page was a series of talks for general interest. A list of officers, 1991, Twenty five year club membership, 1973 December 1, List of NW Ayer graduates, 1970, List of Officers, 1991 May 31, Obituary for Leo Lionni, 1999 October 17, List of photographers of advertisements, 2001

Series 20, Background and History Information, 1817-1999, undated includes a chronology, 1817-1990, quick reference timeline, 1848-1923, loose pages from a scrapbook containing examples of correspondence, envelopes, advertisements dating from 1875-1878; slogans coined by NW Ayer & Sons, Incorporated, 1899-1990, history of management, 1909-1923, articles and photographs about the building and art galleries, 1926-1976, publications about the Philadelphia building, 1929, pamphlet relating to memories of NW Ayer & Sons, Incorporated, 1930s-1950s, television history, 1940-1948, Article about the history of the company, 1950 January, pocket guide, 1982, AdWeek reports about standings for advertising agencies, information relating to Human Contact which is NW Ayer's Information relating to Human Contact, undated which is their philosophy on advertising.

Series 21, Materials Created by other Advertising Agencies, 1945-1978, undated, consists of print advertisements collected by Ayer from other major advertising companies. The companies include Doyle Dane Bernback, Incorporated, Leo Burnett Company, Grey Advertising Agency, D'Arcy Ad Agency, Scali, McCabe, Sloves, Incorporated and Erwin Wasey Company. The materials are arranged in alphabetical order by client and include products from Ralston Purina and Van Camp (Chicken of the Sea), Kellogg, American Export Lines and No Nonsense Fashions.

Series 22, 2010 Addendum of Print Advertisements, circa 1879s-1999, undated, includes material given to the Archives Center in 2010. It is organized into seventy one oversized boxes and contains proofsheets of print advertisements for select Ayer clients. These are arranged alphabetically by client name and include substantial quantities of materials from American Telephone &Telegraph (1945-1996), Bahamas Ministry of Tourism (1967-1987), Carrier (1971-1981), Citibank (1973-1991), DeBeers (1940s-1960s and1990s), Electric Companies Advertising Program [ECAP] (1942-1970s), General Motors (1989-1998), J.C. Penney (1983-1986), Newsweek (1966-1975), and Proctor and Gamble (1980s-1890s). There are also numerous other clients represented by smaller quantities of materials.

Subseries 22.1, Print Advertisements, 1930-1990, undated

Subseries 22.2, Print Advertisements on Glass Plate Negatives, 1879-1881, undated, include Cannon towels, Cheny Brothers silks, Cornish & Company organs and pianos, Enterprise Manufacturing Company, 1879 sad iron, an ad from Harper's Weekly 1881 for ladies clothing, Ostermoor & Company mattresses, Pear's soap, Porter's cough balsam, Steinway pianos.

Series 23, Microfilm of Print Advertisements, circa 1908-1985, consists of three boxes of printed advertisements for the American Telephone and Telegraph Company. Some of the same advertisements might also be found in series two, three and four.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged into twenty-three series.

Series 1: Scrapbooks of Client Print Advertisements, circa 1870-1920

Series 2: Proofsheets, circa 1870-1930

Series 3: Proofsheets, circa 1920-1975

Series 4: 2001 Addendum, circa 1976-2001

Series 5: Billboards, circa 1952-1956

Series 6: Audiovisual Materials

Series 7: Radio and Television Materials, 1933-1993, undated

Series 8: Chicago Office Print Advertisements, 1954-1989

Series 9: Los Angeles Office Materials, 1950s-1987

Subseries 9.1: Printed Advertisements, 1977-1987

Subseries 9.2: Personnel Files, 1950s-1970s

Series 10: Foreign Print Advertisements, 1977-1991, undated

Series 11: Cunningham & Walsh Incorporated Materials, 1915-1987, undated

Subseries 11.1: Printed Advertisements, 1915-1987

Subseries 11.2: Radio and Television Advertisements, 1963-1967

Subseries 11.3: Company Related Materials, 1962-1986, undated

Series 12: Hixson & Jorgensen Materials, 1953-1971, undated

Series 13: Newell-Emmet, 1942-1957

Series 14: House Print Advertisements, 1870-1991

Series 15: Scrapbooks, 1872-1959

Series 16: Publications, 1849-2006

Subseries 16.1: House Publications, 1876-1994

Subseries 16.2: Publications about NW Ayer, 1949-1995

Subseries 16.3: General Publications about Advertising, 1922-2006

Subseries 16.4: Publications about other Subjects, 1948-1964

Series 17, Business Records, circa 1885-1990s

Subseries 17.1: Contracts, 1885-1908, undated

Subseries 17.2: General Client Information, 1911-1999, undated

Subseries 17.3: Individual Client Account Information, 1950s-1990s, undated

Subseries 17.4: Potential Clients, 1993

Subseries 17.5: Financial Records, 1929-1938

Series 18: Legal Records, circa 1911-1984

Subseries 18.1: Advertising Service Agreements, 1918-1982

Subseries 18.2: Bylaw Materials, 1969-1972

Subseries 18.3, Copyright Claims, 1962-1969

Subseries 18.4: Correspondence, 1928-1933

Subseries 18.5: International Office Correspondence, 1947-1948

Subseries 18.6: Dissolution of Trusts, 1934-1937

Subseries 18.7: Stock Information, 1934-1974

Subseries 18.8: Agreements between Partners, 1911-1916

Subseries 18.9: Incorporation Materials, 1929-1977

Subseries 18.10: Certificates of Reduction of Capital, 1937; 1975

Subseries 18.11: Property Information

Subseries 18.12: Miscellaneous Materials, 1929-1977

Series 19: Employee Materials, circa 1889-2001

Subseries 19.1: Employee Card files, circa 1892-1915; 1929-1963

Subseries 19.2: Photographs, circa 1924-1984, undated

Subseries 19.3: Alumni Publications, circa 1989-1998

Subseries 19.4: Biographical Information, circa 1889-1994

Subseries 19.5: Speeches, circa 1919-1931; 1975

Subseries 19.6: Recollections, 1954-1984, undated

Subseries 19.7: Oral History Interview Transcripts, 1983-1985; 1989-1991

Subseries 19.8: Oral History Audiotapes, 1985-1990

Subseries 19.9: Internal Communications, 1993-1999

Subseries 19.1: General Materials, 1940-2001

Series 20: History and Background Information about the Company, 1817-1999, undated

Series 21: Materials Created by other Advertising Agencies, 1945-1978, undated

Series 22: 2010 Addendum of Print Advertisements, circa 1879s-1990s, undated

Subseries 22.1: Print Advertisements, 1930-1990, undated

Subseries 22.2: Print Advertisements on Glass Plate Negatives, 1879-1881, undated

Series 23: Microfilm of Print Advertisements, circa 1908-1985

Biographical / Historical:

Founded in Philadelphia in 1869, NW Ayer & Son is one of the oldest and largest advertising agencies in America. For most of its history, it was the undisputed leader and innovator in the field of advertising. In 1876, NW Ayer & Son pioneered the "open contract", a revolutionary change in the method of billing for advertising which became the industry standard for the next hundred years. NW Ayer pioneered the use of fine art in advertising and established the industry's first art department. It was the first agency to use a full-time copywriter and the first to institute a copy department. The agency relocated to New York City in 1974. During its long history, the agency's clients included many "blue-chip" clients, including American Telephone & Telegraph, DeBeers Consolidated Diamond Mines, Ford Motor Company, Nabisco, R. J. Reynolds and United Airlines. However, in later years, the Ayer's inherent conservatism left the agency vulnerable to the creative revolution of the 1960s and 1970s, the advertising industry restructuring of the 1980s and the economic recession of the early 1990s. The agency was bought out by a Korean investor in 1993. In 1996, NW Ayer merged with another struggling top twenty United States advertising agency, Darcy, Masius, Benton & Bowles, under the umbrella of the McManus Group. Ayer continues to operate as a separate, full-service agency.

Through a series of buyouts and mergers, Ayer traces its lineage to the first advertising agency founded in the United States, a Philadelphia agency begun by Volney Palmer in 1841. Palmer began his career in advertising as a newspaper agent, acting as middleman between newspaper publishers and advertisers across the country. By 1849, Palmer had founded his own newspaper, V. B. Palmer's Register and Spirit of the Press, and had developed a complete system of advertising which included securing advertising space and placing ads in scores of commercial, political, religious, scientific and agricultural journals across the country. Palmer went one step further than the "space jobbers" of the day when he began offering "advertisements carefully drawn for those who have not the time to prepare an original copy." Always an enthusiastic promoter of advertising as an incentive to trade and American economic growth, Palmer promised advertisers that "every dollar paid for advertising in country newspapers will pay back twenty-fold" and encouraged skeptical consumers that "he who wishes to buy cheap should buy of those who advertise." When Palmer died in 1863, the agency was bought by his bookkeeper, John Joy, who joined with another Philadelphia advertising agency to form Joy, Coe & Sharpe. That agency was bought out again in 1868 and renamed Coe, Wetherill & Company. In 1877, Coe, Wetherill and Company was bought out by the newly formed NW Ayer & Son.

Francis Wayland Ayer was an ambitious young schoolteacher with an entrepreneurial streak. Having worked for a year soliciting advertisements on a commission basis for the publisher of the National Baptist weekly, Francis Ayer saw the potential to turn a profit as an advertising agent. In 1869, Ayer persuaded his father, Nathan Wheeler Ayer, to join him in business, and with an initial investment of only $250.00, NW Ayer & Son was born. Notwithstanding a smallpox epidemic in Philadelphia in 1871 and the general economic depression of the early 1870s, the agency flourished. The senior Ayer died in 1873, leaving his interest in the agency to his wife, but Francis W. Ayer bought her out, consolidating his interest in the company's management. In 1877, with Coe, Wetherill & Company (the successor to Palmer's 1841 agency) on the verge of bankruptcy and heavily indebted to Ayer for advertising it had placed in Ayer publications, Ayer assumed ownership of that agency. Thus did NW Ayer lay claim to being the oldest advertising agency in the country.

Both Nathan Wheeler and Francis Wayland Ayer began their careers as schoolteachers, and one of their legacies was a commitment to the cause of education: correspondence schools and institutions of higher learning were historically well-represented among Ayer clients. Just after World War I, the agency was heralded as "co-founder of more schools than any citizen of this country" for its conspicuous efforts to advertise private schools. Well into the 1960s, an "Education Department" at Ayer prepared advertisements for over three hundred private schools, camps and colleges, representing almost half the regional and national advertising done for such institutions. In fact, to its clients Ayer presented advertising itself as being akin to a system of education. In 1886, Ayer began promoting the virtues of the Ayer way advertising with the slogan, "Keeping Everlastingly at It Brings Success."

The agency's goals were simple: "to make advertising pay the advertiser, to spend the advertiser's money as though it were our own, to develop, magnify and dignify advertising as a business." Initially, Ayer's fortunes were tied to newspapers, and the agency began to make a name for itself as compiler and publisher of a widely used American Newspaper Annual. During the first years, Ayer's singular goal was "to get business, place it [in newspapers] and get money for it"; after several years as an independent space broker, however, Francis Ayer resolved "not to be an order taker any longer." This decision led NW Ayer and Son to a change in its mode of conducting business which would revolutionize the advertising industry: in 1876, Ayer pioneered the "open contract" with Diggee & Conard, Philadelphia raised growers and agricultural suppliers. Prior to the open contract, NW Ayer & Sons and most agencies operated as "space-jobbers," independent wholesalers of advertising space, in which the opportunities for graft and corrupt practices were virtually unlimited. In contrast, the open contract, wherein the advertiser paid a fixed commission based on the volume of advertising placed, aligned the advertising agent firmly on the side of the advertiser and gave advertisers access to the actual rates charged by newspapers and religious journals. The open contract with a fixed commission has been hailed by advertising pioneer Albert Lasker as one of the "three great landmarks in advertising history." (The other two were Lasker's own development of "reason-why" advertising copy and J. Walter Thompson's pioneering of sex appeal in an advertisement for Woodbury's soap.) Although the transition to the open contract did not happen overnight, by 1884, nearly three-quarters of Ayer's advertising billings were on an open contract basis. Since Ayer was, by the 1890s, the largest agency in America, the switch to direct payment by advertisers had a significant impact on the advertising industry, as other agencies were forced to respond to Ayer's higher standard. Just as important, the open contract helped to establish N W Ayer's long-standing reputation for "clean ethics and fair dealing" -- a reputation the agency has guarded jealously for over a century. The open contract also helped to establish Ayer as a full service advertising agency and to regularize the production of advertising in-house. From that point forward, Ayer routinely offered advice and service beyond the mere placement of advertisements. Ayer set another milestone for the industry in 1888, when Jarvis Wood was hired as the industry's first full-time copywriter. Wood was joined by a second full time copywriter four years later, and the Copy Department was formally established in 1900. The industry's first Art Department grew out of the Copy Department when Ayer hired its first commercial artist to assist with copy preparation in 1898; twelve years later Ayer became the first agency to offer the services of a full time art director, whose sole responsibility was the design and illustration of ads.

Ayer's leadership in the use of fine art in advertising has roots in this period, but achieved its highest expression under the guidance of legendary art director Charles Coiner. Coiner joined Ayer in 1924, after graduating from the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. Despite early resistance from some clients, Coiner was adamant that "the use of outstanding palette and original art forms bring a greater return in readership, in impact and prestige for the advertiser." To this end, Coiner marshaled the talents of notable painters, illustrators and photographers, including N.C. Wyeth and Rockwell Kent (Steinway), Georgia O'Keefe (Dole), Leo Lionni (DuPont), Edward Steichen (Steinway, Cannon Mills), Charles Sheeler (Ford), and Irving Penn (DeBeers). Coiner believed that there was a practical side to the use of fine art in advertising, and his success (and Ayer's) lay in the marriage of research and copywriting with fine art, an arrangement Coiner termed "art for business sake." Coiner's efforts won both awards and attention for a series completed in the 1950s for the Container Corporation of America. Titled "Great Ideas of Western Man" the campaign featured abstract and modern paintings and sculpture by leading U.S. and foreign artists, linked with Western philosophical writings in an early example of advertising designed primarily to bolster corporate image. In 1994, Charles Coiner was posthumously named to the American Advertising Federation's Hall of Fame, the first full time art director ever chosen for that honor.

Coiner and fellow art director Paul Darrow also created legendary advertising with the "A Diamond Is Forever" campaign for DeBeers; ads featured the work of Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali and other modernist painters. The "A Diamond is Forever" tagline was written in 1949 by Frances Gerety, a woman copywriter at Ayer from 1943 to 1970. In 1999, Ad Age magazine cited "A Diamond is Forever" as the most memorable advertising slogan of the twentieth century.

Coiner also earned respect for his volunteer government service during World War II; he designed the armbands for civil defense volunteers and logos for the National Recovery Administration and Community Chest. As a founding member of the Advertising Council in 1945, Ayer has had a long-standing commitment to public service advertising. In the mid-1980s, Ayer became a leading force in the Reagan-era "War on Drugs". Lou Hagopian, Ayer's sixth CEO, brokered the establishment of the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, a media coalition which generated as much as a million dollars a day in donated advertising space and time to prevent the use and abuse of illegal drugs. Famous names appear among NW Ayer's clientele from the very earliest days of the agency. Retailer John Wanamaker, Jay Cooke and Company, and Montgomery Ward's mail-order business were among the first Ayer clients. The agency has represented at least twenty automobile manufacturers, including Cadillac, Chrysler, Ford, General Motors, Plymouth, and Rolls-Royce. Other major, long-term clients through the years have included American Telephone & Telegraph, Canada Dry, Cannon Mills, Hills Bros. Coffee Company, Kellogg's, R. J. Reynolds, Steinway and Sons, United Airlines, and the United States Army. By the time of Ayer's hundredth anniversary in 1969, some of these companies had been Ayer clients for decades if not generations, and the longevity of those relationships was for many years a source of Ayer's strength.

But the advertising industry began to change in the late 1960s and 1970s, due in part to a "creative revolution." Small advertising agencies won attention with provocative copywriting and art direction that more closely resembled art than advertising. Advances in market research allowed clients to more narrowly tailor their advertising messages to distinct groups of consumers, and this led to a rise in targeted marketing which could more readily be doled out to specialized small agencies than to larger, established firms like NW Ayer & Son. The civil rights and anti-war movements also contributed to increasing public skepticism with the values of corporate America, and by extension, with some national advertising campaigns. Older, more conservative firms like Ayer were hard pressed to meet these new challenges.

About 1970, in an effort to meet these challenges and to establish a foothold on the West Coast, Ayer bought out two smaller agencies--Hixson & Jorgenson (Los Angeles) and Frederick E. Baker (Seattle). The agency relocated from Philadelphia to New York City in 1974 in an attempt both to consolidate operations (Ayer had operated a New York office since the 1920s) and to be closer to the historic center of the advertising industry. Riding the wave of mergers that characterized the advertising industry in the late 1980s and 1990s, Ayer continued to grow through the acquisition of Cunningham & Walsh in 1986 and Rink Wells in 19xx.

During this transitional period, Ayer received widespread acclaim for its work for the United States Army, which included the widely recognized slogan "Be All You Can Be". Ayer first acquired the Army recruitment account in 1967 and with help from its direct marketing arm, the agency was widely credited with helping the Army reach its recruitment goals despite an unpopular war and plummeting enlistments after the elimination of the draft in 1973. Ayer held the account for two decades, from the Vietnam War through the Cold War, but lost the account in 1986 amid government charges that an Ayer employee assigned to the account accepted kickbacks from a New York film production house. Despite Ayer's position as the country's 18th largest agency (with billings of $880 million in 1985), the loss of the agency's second largest account hit hard.

NW Ayer made up for the loss of the $100 million dollar a year Army account and made headlines for being on the winning end of the largest account switch in advertising history to date, when fast food giant Burger King moved its $200 million dollar advertising account from arch-rival J. Walter Thompson in 1987. Burger King must have had drive-thru service in mind, however, and Ayer made headlines again when it lost the account just eighteen months later in another record-breaking account switch. Another devastating blow to the agency was the loss of its lead position on the American Telegraph and Telephone account. Ayer pioneered telecommunications advertising in 1908, when the agency was selected to craft advertising for the Bell System's universal telephone service. Despite valiant efforts to keep an account the agency had held for most of the twentieth century, and for which they had written such memorable corporate slogans as American Telephone &Telegraph "The Voice with a Smile" and "Reach Out and Touch Someone", the agency lost the account in 1996.

After a wave of mergers and acquisitions in the late 1980s, the economic recession of the early 1990s hit Madison Avenue hard, and Ayer was particularly vulnerable. Despite the agency's long history and roster of "blue-chip" clients, Ayer was not known for cutting-edge creative work. Moreover, though the agency had offices overseas, Ayer had never built a strong multinational presence, and many of the smaller international offices were sold during the financial turmoil of the 1980s. This left a real void in the new climate of global marketplace consolidation. By about 1990, earnings were declining (although Ayer was still among the top twenty United States agencies in billings), and the agency was suffering from client defections, high management turnover, expensive real estate commitments and deferred executive compensation deals, all fallout of the high-flying 1980s. This was the atmosphere in 1993, when W.Y. Choi, a Korean investor who had already assembled a media and marketing empire in his homeland, began looking for an American partner to form an international advertising network. Jerry Siano, the former creative director who had recently been named Ayer's seventh CEO, was in no position to refuse Choi's offer of $35 million to buy the now floundering agency. The infusion of cash was no magic bullet, however. Choi took a wait-and-see approach, allowing his partner Richard Humphreys to make key decisions about Ayer's future, including the purging of senior executives and the installation of two new CEOs in as many years.

The agency's downward trend continued with the loss of another longtime client, the DeBeers diamond cartel in 1995. Adweek reported that Ayer's billings fell from $892 million in 1990 to less than $850 million in 1995. Several top executives defected abruptly, and the agency failed to attract major new accounts. Ayer was facing the loss not merely of revenue and personnel, but the loss of much of the respect it once commanded. Ayer remained among the twenty largest U.S. agencies, but an aura of uncertainty hung over the agency like a cloud. A new CEO was appointed, and Mary Lou Quinlan became the agency's first woman CEO in 1995. A year later, Ayer and another struggling top twenty agency, D'arcy, Masius, Benton & Bowles, combined as part of the McManus Group of companies. In 1998, the McManus Group had worldwide billings of more than $6.5 billion.

Under the McManus Group, Ayer was able to expand its international operations and begin to rebuild a stronger global presence. Several important new clients were won in 1997 and 1998, including Avon, General Motors, Kitchenaid, several Procter & Gamble brands and, most notably, Continental Airlines worldwide accounts. Born in the nineteenth century, Ayer may be one of a very few advertising agencies to successfully weather the economic and cultural transitions of both the twentieth and twentieth first centuries. Ayer was eventually acquired by the Publicis Groupe based in Paris, France which closed down the N.W. Ayer offices in 2002.

Related Materials:

Materials in the Archives Center

Warshaw Collection of Business Americana (AC0060)

Hills Bros. Coffee Incorporated Records (AC0395)

Provenance:

The collection was donated by N W Ayer ABH International, April 15, 1975 and by Ayer & Partners, October 30, 1996.

Restrictions:

The collection is open for research use.

Physical Access: Researchers must use microfilm copy. Researchers must handle unprotected photographs with gloves. Researchers must use reference copies of audiovisual materials. When no reference copy exists, the Archives Center staff will produce reference copies on an "as needed" basis, as resources allow.

Technical Access: Viewing the film portion of the collection without reference copies requires special appointment, please inquire; listening to audio discs requires special arrangement. Do not use original materials when available on reference video or audio tapes.

Rights:

Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Reproduction permission from Archives Center: reproduction fees may apply. Publication and production quality duplication is restricted due to complex copyright, publicity rights, and right to privacy issues. All duplication requests must be reviewed and approved by Archives Center staff. Potential users must receive written permission from appropriate rights holders prior to obtaining high quality copies.

Topic:

Advertising agencies  Search this

advertising  Search this

Genre/Form:

Business records -- 1840-2000

Interviews -- 1980-2000

Oral history -- 1980-1990

Print advertising

Proof sheets

Proofs (printed matter)

Scrapbooks -- 1840-1990

Trade literature

Tear sheets

Advertisements

Citation:

NW Ayer & Sons, incorporated Advertising Agency Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.0059

See more items in:

N W Ayer Advertising Agency Records

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0059

Creator:

Ewin, James Lithgow (inventor)  Search this

Extent:

1 Cubic foot (1 box)

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Articles

Correspondence

Newsletters

Notes

Patents

Press releases

Date:

1873, 1874, 1879.

Scope and Contents note:

This collection includes an English patent paper #2126 for improved vulcanizable water-proof gum, 1873, to Benjamin Joseph Barnard Mills; a U.S. patent paper #151,109 for improvement in the art of manufacturing horseshoes, 1874; and an English patent paper #1194 for improvement in street-lighting apparatus.

Provenance:

Collection donated by James Lithgow Ewin, March 13, 1894.

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Rights:

Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.

Topic:

Vulcanization  Search this

Street-lighting apparatus  Search this

Rhythm and blues music  Search this

African American music -- 20th century  Search this

African American musicians  Search this

Blues musicians  Search this

Horseshoeing  Search this

Inventions -- 1870-1880  Search this

Inventors -- 1870-1880  Search this

Popular music -- Publishing and writing  Search this

Genre/Form:

Articles -- 1950-2000

Correspondence -- 1970-2000

Newsletters -- 20th century

Notes

Patents -- 1870-1880

Press releases

Citation:

James Lithgow Ewin Patents, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

Identifier:

NMAH.AC.0051

Archival Repository:

Archives Center, National Museum of American History

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-0051

Collector:

Roberts, Helen H. (Helen Heffron), 1888-1985  Search this

Correspondent:

Gabaoosa, George  Search this

Extent:

2 Pages

Culture:

Anishinaabe (Chippewa/Ojibwa)  Search this

Indians of North America -- Northeast  Search this

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Pages

Date:

April 3, 1928

Local Numbers:

NAA MS 4022

Topic:

Music -- Chippewa  Search this

Chippewa  Search this

Citation:

Manuscript 4022, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution

Identifier:

NAA.MS4022

Archival Repository:

National Anthropological Archives

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-naa-ms4022

Creator:

ANONYMOUS  Search this

Extent:

63 Pages

Culture:

Anishinaabe (Chippewa/Ojibwa)  Search this

Indians of North America -- Northeast  Search this

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Pages

Date:

undated

Local Numbers:

NAA MS 3

Local Note:

Not in McCauley's writing; checked with Menominee #59-MCB.

Topic:

Language and languages -- Documentation  Search this

Chippewa  Search this

Citation:

Manuscript 3, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution

Identifier:

NAA.MS3

Archival Repository:

National Anthropological Archives

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-naa-ms3

Collector:

Jones, P.E.  Search this

Jones, Peter E. (Peter Edmund), 1843-1909  Search this

Extent:

5 Pages

Culture:

Anishinaabe (Chippewa/Ojibwa)  Search this

Indians of North America -- Northeast  Search this

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Pages

Date:

1898

Local Numbers:

NAA MS 3732

Topic:

Names, place -- Chippewa  Search this

Chippewa  Search this

Citation:

Manuscript 3732, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution

Identifier:

NAA.MS3732

Archival Repository:

National Anthropological Archives

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-naa-ms3732

Creator:

Michelson, Truman, 1879-1938  Search this

Extent:

2 Pages

Culture:

Algonquin (Algonkin)  Search this

Indians of North America -- Northeast  Search this

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Pages

Notes

Date:

undated

Scope and Contents:

Based on Mr. Hewitt's suggestions relative to the 28th Annual Report, by Dr.Michelson ("Preliminary Report on the Linguistic Classification of Algonquian Tribes").

Local Numbers:

NAA MS 3888

Local Note:

Typescript document

Topic:

Language and languages -- Documentation  Search this

Algonquin  Search this

Genre/Form:

Notes

Citation:

Manuscript 3888, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution

Identifier:

NAA.MS3888

Archival Repository:

National Anthropological Archives

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-naa-ms3888

Collector:

Bottineau, Jno. B. (John B.)  Search this

Extent:

7 Pages

Culture:

Anishinaabe (Chippewa/Ojibwa)  Search this

Indians of North America -- Northeast  Search this

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Pages

Date:

undated

Scope and Contents:

This refers to Senate Bill 1834, 53rd Cong. 2d Session and defines rights and privileges of mixed blood Indians, etc.

Local Numbers:

NAA MS 3721

Local Note:

Typescript copy

Topic:

Federal-Indian relations -- Chippewa  Search this

Chippewa  Search this

Citation:

Manuscript 3721, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution

Identifier:

NAA.MS3721

Archival Repository:

National Anthropological Archives

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-naa-ms3721

Creator:

Holmberg, H. J. (Henrik Johan), 1818-1864  Search this

Gibbs, George, 1815-1873  Search this

Kałussowski, Henryk, 1806-1894  Search this

Culture:

Chinese  Search this

Type:

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Vocabulary

Notes

Place:

Alaska

Date:

undated

Scope and Contents:

Statistical notice relative to Russian America compiled from Russian sources by Henry Kalussowski. Chinese vocabulary by unknown author. Ethnographical sketches of Russian America by Heinrich Holmberg. R̲e̲a̲d̲ June 2, 1854 (From Acta Societatis Scientiarum Fennicae, Tomus IV.) 450 pages. Also "Notes to Holmberg, Pt. I," by George Gibbs.

Local Numbers:

NAA MS 3859

Topic:

Language and languages -- Documentation  Search this

Genre/Form:

Vocabulary

Notes

Citation:

Manuscript 3859, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution

Identifier:

NAA.MS3859

Archival Repository:

National Anthropological Archives

EDAN-URL:

ead_collection:sova-naa-ms3859