Created in 1971, the Federal Express Corporation, an overnight air freight delivery system was an innovative company known for its memorable advertising campaigns. The core of the Federal Express Advertising History Collection is a series of interviews conducted in 1988 by Dr. Scott Ellsworth. Twenty-five individuals associated with Federal Express advertising were interviewed about the company and its award-winning advertising.
Scope and Contents:
The Federal Express Advertising Collection documents the dvelopment of the overnight air freight delivery company with particular emphasis on the innovative advertising campaigns used to introduce and promote the company's services. The oral histories with individuals associated with both Federal Express Corporation and the advertising agencies form the core of the collection. Abstracts that provide biographical information and summaries of the interviews supplement the oral histories. Research files and company publications provide background information. Television commercials and print advertising contain examples, particularly illustrating the campaigns discussed in the interviews.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into eight series.
Series 1, Research Files, 1972-1988
Subseries 1.1, Federal Express Clippings Files
Subseries 1.2, Federal Express Research Reports
Subseries 1.3, Research Files
Series 2, Interviewee Files, 1988
Series 3, Oral History Interviews, 1988
Subseries 3.1, Original Interviews
Subseries 3.2, Researcher Copies
Subseries 3.3, Masters
Series 4, Television Advertising, 1973-1989
Subseries 4.1, Television Commercials
Subseries 4.2, Storyboards
Subseries 4.3, Slides and Photographs
Series 5, Print Advertising, 1972-1988
Subseries 5.1, Federal Express Print Advertising
Subseries 5.2, Federal Express Mechanicals
Subseries 5.3, Slides of Mechanicals and International Marketing
Subseries 5.4, Federal Express Posters
Subseries 5.5, Print Reference Materials
Series 6, Public Relations Materials, 1973-1988
Series 7, Company Publications, 1973-1988
Series 8, Miscellaneous, Undated
Biographical / Historical:
In 1971, Fred Smith of Memphis, Tennessee created the Federal Express Corporation, an overnight air freight delivery system. He based his idea for a new approach to the air freight delivery service on the "hub and spoke system." According to Smith's innovative model, a fleet of airplanes would fly packages from cities across the nation each evening to a central "hub" in Memphis, where the parcels would be unloaded, sorted, and re-loaded onto other planes for travel to their final destinations. Smith's objective was two-fold: to expedite delivery of the parcels and to ensure their security in the process.
In 1977, Congress passed the Air Cargo Deregulation Act. This enabled Federal Express to fly much larger planes and to expand its business without substantial capital investment. During its first decade of existence, the corporation achieved remarkable success, enjoying its first billion-dollar revenue in 1981.
Federal Express originally employed two advertising agencies: Ally & Gargano, Inc. of New York City (1974-1987) and Fallon McElligott of Minneapolis (1987 - 1994). In its early years, Federal Express was attracted to Ally & Gargano due to the agency's small size and its entrepreneurial spirit. Fred Smith believed these traits would foster the creativity necessary for original and effective advertising to introduce Federal Express. It was the responsibility of the agency to convince customers not only to abandon such incumbants in the industry as Emery, United Parcel Service and the U.S. Postal Service, but also to trust Federal Express, a newcomer.
Ally & Gargano targeted the professional community and the general public through print advertisements and television commercials. Especially in the latter medium, the agency used humor as its primary marketing technique, emphasizing competitors' "slowness" and "unreliability." In 1981, the agency launched a series of widely acclaimed ads with John Moschitta as the "Fast Talking Man." The slogan "When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight" seen at the close of most commercials served as a practical reminder of Federal Express' function.
Federal Express moved its account from Ally & Gargano to Fallon McElligott in 1987. Fallon McElligott's first television campaign used the phrase "It's more than just a package -- it's your business" and depicted scenes of different work environments. The campaign stressed the seriousness with which Federal Express handled its customers' parcels. In 1988, Federal Express was a sponsor of the Winter Olympics.
Related Materials:
Materials in the Archives Center
Ally and Gargano, Inc. Print Advertisements (AC0938)
Provenance:
Made by the Smithsonian Institution and donated by the Federal Express Corporation, 1988.
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.
"Wings of Gold: How the Aeroplane Developed New Guinea" Collection
Extent:
0.2 Cubic feet (4 folders)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Place:
Papua New Guinea
Date:
circa 1922-1035
Summary:
This collection consists of copies of 57 black and white photographs collected by author James Sinclair for use in his book, Wings of Gold: How the Aeroplane Developed New Guinea, Pacific Publications (Sydney), 1978. The collection does not include copies of all photographs used in the book.
Scope and Contents:
The photographs illustrate aviation activities in Papua, New Guinea from the early 1920s to the mid-1930s including Guinea Airways operations, primarily cargo operations, using Junkers G 31 and W 34 aircraft in support of gold mining and oil exploration; other smaller operators, like Bulolo Goldfield's Aeroplane Services and W. R. Carpenter Air Services using mostly de Havilland aircraft; various "bush pilots" also extensively using de Havilland planes; and expeditions such as the Stirling New Guinea Expedition, fostered by the Smithsonian Institution and employing a modified float-equipped Breguet Bre.14 B2 ("The Ern"), and the Hurley Expedition of 1922 which used a Curtiss MF (Seagull) (Model 18) flying boat.
This group of 8 x 10 inch black and white photographs are copy photographs made from copy negatives shot from James Sinclair's original photographs and lent to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (NASM) for copying by Terry Gwynn-Jones. The originals were collected by Sinclair for use in his book, Wings of Gold: How the Aeroplane Developed New Guinea, Pacific Publications (Sydney), 1978. The collection does not include copies of all photographs used in the book.
Arrangement:
A set of 42 poor-quality copy negatives and copy photographs were produced in 1987 by the Smithsonian Office of Printing and Photographic Services (SI-OPPS) and assigned numbers 87-16321 through 87-16362. In 1990, a set of 52 good-quality copy negatives and copy photographs were produced in 1990 by SI-OPPS and assigned numbers 90-128 through 90-179. The 1990 set includes 16 images not found in the 1987 set. There is extensive but incomplete overlap between the 1987 set and the 1990 set; in all, there are 57 unique images.
Biographical / Historical:
Aviation activities in the Territory of Papua, a territory of the British Empire located in the southeastern quarter of the southwest Pacific island of New Guinea, first occurred in the early 1920s, during a period when the territory was administered by the Commonwealth of Australia. Activities increased greatly in 1930, when an airstrip was constructed in the town of Bulolo (Morobe Province) to support gold dredging in the area. Dredging equipment was transported to Bulolo in pieces by air, with the first gold dredge beginning operations on March 21, 1932.
James Patrick Sinclair was born in Dubbo, New South Wales, Australia, on April 18, 1928. In November 1947, he joined Australia's Department of District Services and Native Affairs, Administration of Papua New Guinea, serving from 1948 to 1957 in many locations as a patrol officer, assistant district officer, deputy district commissioner and district commissioner. Sinclair was the last Australian District Commissioner of the Eastern Highlands District (1969-1974), retiring from civil service in August 1975 after Papua New Guinea declared independence from the British Empire to become the Independent State of Papua New Guinea. In his retirement, Sinclair returned to his previous hobby of writing on Papua New Guinea history, eventually publishing more than 30 books prior to his death on October 9, 2017.
Terry Gwynn-Jones was born in Malvern, England (UK) in 1933. In 1951, Gwynn-Jones joined the Royal Air Force (RAF) and subsequently served as a pilot in the RAF, the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), and the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) before joining the Australian Department of Aviation in 1969. In 1975, veteran Battle of Britain pilot Denys Dalton—with Gwynn-Jones as co-pilot—set a new around-the-world speed record for piston engined aircraft, flying Beech Duke 60 (r/n VH-TKE) round trip from Brisbane, Australia, in 122 hours 19 minutes 57 seconds between July 20 and 25, 1975. In 1983, Gwynn-Jones was a member of the Australian team which won that year's World Ballooning Championship in France. A prolific writer, Gwynn-Jones published numerous aviation history books and articles, and served as a consultant and writer for the Time-Life Epic of Flight series. In the 1980s, Gwynn-Jones was appointed to a visiting fellowship at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, and in 1987 he was appointed to the Board of Advisors of the museum's History of Aviation book project. Gwynn-Jones died in Brisbane on March 28, 2008.
Provenance:
Terry Gwynn-Jones, gift, 1987, NASM.1988.0048
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access
Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
[Technical reports on air cargo, the minimum time to climb problem, and the effect of rate of loading on the unconfined compressive strength of compacted soils]
Collection consists of materials created by and collected by Richard Wheatland II during the period when he served as a Vice President of New York Airways (1953-1968), a helicopter airline operating in the New York City metropolitan area from 1952-1977.
Scope and Contents:
The collection includes a variety of material, probably collected by Richard Wheatland II (1923-2009) during the period 1953-1968 when he served as a Vice President of New York Airways (NYA). The material reflects the administration of the airline and many of the activities of its president, Robert L. Cummings, Jr., as well as its dealings with organizations such as the Air Transport Association (ATA), American Helicopter Society, Bell Helicopter, Eastern Air Lines, the Grand Central Building, the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Pan America World Airways (Pan Am), the Port of New York Authority (PONYA), Sikorsky, Trans World Airlines (TWA), other organizations interested in helicopter operations, and the federal government. In addition to administrative correspondence, memoranda, proposals, employee operations manuals, speeches, and reports, there are also a large number of manuscripts and publications, clippings, timetables and other ephemera, and a small number of photographs.
New York Airways' fleet included several helicopter models over the airline's lifetime, including the Sikorsky S-55, Sikorsky S-58, Bell 47H (used for charter work), Vertol V-44 (civil version of the Piasecki H-21 Workhorse), Boeing-Vertol Model 107, and Sikorsky S-61L and S-61N models. The collection contains materials relating to these aircraft and helicopter operations in general as well as other vertical flight and short take off and landing (STOL) aircraft including the Cierva CR Twin (CR LTH.1, Grasshopper III), Hughes H-500, Hiller FH-1100, Bell 206 JetRanger, and Fairchild (Pilatus) Porter (Heli-Porter, Turbo-Porter).
In addition to the material directly relating to NYA, the collection includes material on topics of interest to the NYA executives. This includes information on the other two helicopter carriers, Los Angeles Airways (LAA) and Helicopter Air Services (HAS) of Chicago, as well as the later San Francisco & Oakland Helicopter Airlines (SFO), and other international, national, and local airlines. Also included are a large number of materials directly relating to air transportation and urban planning issues in the New York City metropolitan area (including northern New Jersey), particularly those related to the airports NYA served: Newark International Airport (IATA airport code EWR) and Teterboro Airport (TEB) in New Jersey, LaGuardia Airport (LGA), West 30th Street Heliport (JRA), Downtown Manhattan/Wall Street Heliport (JRB), Pan Am Building Heliport (JPB), and New York International Airport, Anderson Field, commonly known as "Idlewild" (IDL). New York International Airport was renamed as John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) on December 24, 1963.
Series 2I (1973 Acquisition) contains more of Wheatland's personal notes on various topics, and also includes materials on topics of general business executive interest such as public speaking and management techniques.
Arrangement:
Contents are in original order as received by NASM Archives. Folders in both series are arranged (roughly) in alphabetical by original folder title. Materials within the folders in Series 2 (1973 Acquisition) tend to appear in reverse chronological order. Multiple copies of the same materials may appear in different folders.
Digital images of materials in this collection were repurposed from scans made by an outside contractor for a commercial product and may show irregular cropping, orientation, and color variations. Some materials may not be visible online due to copyright restrictions.
Biographical / Historical:
Incorporated on August 31, 1949, New York Airways (NYA), one of the first three helicopter carriers certificated by the United States Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), began mail service between New York City's three major airports on October 15, 1952, and on July 8, 1953, inaugurated the world's first regularly scheduled passenger helicopter service. As was the case with all of the helicopter carriers, NYA depended heavily on government subsidies for its economic health, but worked steadily towards its goal of financial self-sufficiency, extending its routes into nearby Connecticut and New Jersey, carrying freight, and doing charter work. In October 1955, NYA signed joint fare agreements with many national and international airlines, promoting their service by making it easier for passengers transferring to and from the major New York City airports to go "all the way by air." As ground traffic in the New York metropolitan area became increasingly congested, NYA, based at LaGuardia Airport, worked closely with the Port of New York Authority (PONYA) to establish heliports on the island of Manhattan, inaugurating service into the West 30th Street Heliport in 1956 and the Wall Street Heliport (at Pier 6 on the East River) in 1960. In December 1956, as part of a campaign to break the color barrier in the airline industry, NYA hired pilot Perry H. Young, Jr.; Young made his first regularly scheduled flight for NYA as a co-pilot on February 5, 1957, becoming the the first Black pilot for a commercial airline in the United States.
High operating costs continued to be an issue for all of the helicopter carriers, and in 1958, after continuing criticism from the CAB on the subject of alleged excessive costs and increasing subsidy need, NYA was forced to suspend some services. In 1961 Congress put a ceiling on helicopter carrier subsidy payments. The 1964-1965 New York World's Fair provided NYA the opportunity to add passenger and sightseeing service to and from the rooftop heliport of the Port of New York Authority Building at the Fair. Ever seeking a way to reduce its need for government subsidies (which were eventually withdrawn), in June 1965 NYA entered into operating support agreements with Trans World Airlines (TWA) and Pan American World Airways, whose passengers were some of NYA's biggest customers. NYA is perhaps most famous for its regularly scheduled passenger service from the rooftop heliport atop the Pan Am Building, inaugurated on December 21, 1965. Though undeniably glamorous, the noisy NYA helicopters were not appreciated by many of their midtown Manhattan neighbors. Service to the Pan Am Building heliport was cancelled on February 18, 1968, due to inadequate passenger loads, then was briefly resumed in early 1977 until a fatal accident on May 16, 1977, ended NYA service from the heliport. Already suffering from financial setbacks and rising fuel prices, NYA ceased operations permanently following a fatal accident at Newark International Airport on April 18, 1979, and filed for bankruptcy the following month in May 1979.
Richard Wheatland II, born in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1923, served in the United States Navy from 1943-1946 as a deck officer on a destroyer-minelayer in the Pacific; after his discharge he did one year of graduate work in government at Harvard University and then attended Columbia Law School, receiving his law degree in 1949. From 1950 to 1952, Wheatland was based in Paris, France, employed by the US Government in a division of the Office of the Special Representative in Europe for the Marshall Plan. Wheatland returned to New York to join New York Airways in January 1953 as the Manager of the airline's Traffic and Sales Department, and soon became NYA's Vice President of Sales and Service. He was married in 1954 to Cynthia McAdoo. Wheatland left the company in 1968 to take a position in his native home of Boston, and died peacefully at his home on June 26, 2009.
NOTE: The airline covered by this collection, New York Airways (1951), should not be confused with an earlier New York Airways (1927) which was founded July 8, 1927, operated as a subsidiary of Pan American Airways, and was sold to Eastern Air Transport on July 15, 1931. It should also not be confused with the unrelated but similarly named New York Air (owned by Frank Lorenzo's Texas Air Corporation) which was founded in late 1980 and ceased operations on February 1, 1987, when it merged with Continental Airlines.
Provenance:
Richard Wheatland II, Gift, 1973, 1992, NASM.1992.0052
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access
Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
This collection consists of photographs of aircraft and personnel of the Naviera Colombiana, along with photographs of seaplanes taken by Emil Tkachick. The following aircraft are represented: Consolidated PB2Y-3R 'Coronado' at Miami, FL; Northrop Gamma 2D, TWA; and Martin PBM-5 Mariner; Kawanishi H8K2 'Emily'; and the Dornier DO-335A-O 'Pfeil'. There are also prints of a tractor used to pull the Naviera Colombiana's Martin PBM-5 Mariners; of Don Carmichael, director of the Colombian freight operation Naviera Colombiana's Division; of Charles E. Stevenson, Chief of Inspection for Colombiana freight operation Naviera Colombiana; and of Emil Tkachick, in sea anchor cowling-up the engine of one of the Naviera Colombiana's Martin PBM-5s.
Biographical / Historical:
The Naviera Colombiana was a short lived (1938-1949?) flying boat freight operation, operating out of Barranquille, Columbia.
General:
NASMrev
Provenance:
Emil Tkachick, Gift, 1990, 1990-0057, NASM
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access
Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests
American Export Airlines (AEA) was established in 1937 by the shipping company, American Export Lines, with the goal of establishing a North Atlantic flying boat route. Dr. Edward P. Warner (1894-1958), an American aviation pioneer and one of the leading figures in world air transport systems, was engaged by AEA to prepare reports on possible North Atlantic routes. Warner produced reports in 1937 and 1938 but AEA was not able to start their New York - Ireland flying boat service until June of 1942, due in part to stiff resistance from Pan American. In 1945 AEA was awarded transatlantic rights covering northern Europe, and the airline cut its strings with the shipping company. In November 1948, AEA merged with American Airlines to become American Overseas Airlines (AOA). AOA and Pan American merged in 1950.
Biographical / Historical:
This collection consists of the following items: a letter to Coverdale & Colpitts from Edward P. Warner, November 9, 1938; a report, "Notes on the Operating Plan of American Export Lines Inc., and especially on the Correlation of the Present Project with that Studies and Reported on by Edward P. Warner in December 1937"; and the report, "Trans-Atlantic Air Line Possibilities and the Selection of Trans-Atlantic Equipment: report prepared by Edward P. Warner for Coverdale & Colpitts, submitted December 13, 1937," with an accompanying notebook of charts and maps of possible route
In August of 2005, the following items were donated to the Museum: "Little Known Facts about the Scheduled Air Transport Industry," April 15, 1941; An Analysis of Project Beacon, November 1961; The Airport and its Neighbors: The Report of the President's Airport Commission, May 16, 1952; "Air Transport" by J. Parker Van Zandt, November 5,1912; Aircraft Record: A Manual of Defense Data, Vol. 1, No. 1, May 1941; "Air Carrier Traffic Study: The Relation of Air Transportation to National Defense," September 9, 1941; Civil Aeronautics Authority Reorganization Plans Press Release, June 30, 1940; memo to Mr. Pogue from Mr. Keyser on the subsidy in mail rates, March 28, 1940; two maps on E. A. L. Instrument approach from NE Atlanta, Georgia, February 26, 1941; CAA "Aircraft Specification, No, 618" (for Douglas Aircraft), January 23, 1941; memo to John Wanner for John Munson on "Approach Zoning of the Washington National Airport," February 6,1940; eight untitled writings relating to the civil aviation and the Civil Aeronautics Board, 1940s.
Provenance:
Alfred S. Rhode, Gift, 2005
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access.
Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests
Pan American Airways (Pan Am) inaugurated transatlantic air mail service under scheduled contract (Foreign Air Mail FAM 18) in 1939. This collection consists of a letter from Kathryn Schieferecke to her two children, Laurence and Bernadine, sent through the New York postmaster. Mrs. Schieferecke arranged for the letter to be flown on the first transatlantic airmail flight operated by Pan American Airways (Pan Am).
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of a letter from Kathryn Schieferecke to her two children, Laurence and Bernadine, sent through the New York postmaster. Mrs. Schieferecke arranged for the letter to be flown on the first transatlantic airmail flight operated by Pan American Airways (Pan Am). In the letter, dated May 4, 1939, Mrs. Schieferecke encourages the children to keep the letter because it might be valuable someday. The envelope has been stamped on its left side of the front with a blue cachet showing a Boeing Model 314 Clipper in flight over the Statue of Liberty and the words, "United States of America, Trans-Atlantic Air Mail Service, First Flight FAM 18." There is a New York postmark on the front, and a Marseilles postmark on the back flap.
Arrangement:
Collection is in original order.
Biographical / Historical:
Pan American Airways (Pan Am) inaugurated transatlantic air mail service under scheduled contract (Foreign Air Mail FAM 18) in 1939. The first flight was made on May 20, 1939 by the Boeing Model 314 Yankee Clipper (NC18603) from New York to Marseilles, France. The pilot was Arthur Earl Laporte. Kathryn Schieferecke was the postmaster for Lenora, Kansas. In May 1939, Schieferecke was hospitalized and her two children were temporarily in an orphanage in Abilene, Kansas.
Provenance:
Patrick Wilder, Gift, 2015, NASM.2015.0021
Restrictions:
No restrictions on access.
Rights:
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests
Pan American Airways (Pan Am) (USA) Foreign Air Mail (FAM 18) First Transatlantic Scheduled Airmail Flight Flown Letter, Accession NASM.2015.0021, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Flying Tigers is a national and international cargo and express mail carrier based in Los Angeles, California . The collection consists of mechanicals, proofsheets, advertising slicks, promotional material and other collateral l created by Lord, Dentsu & Partners for the Flying Tigers account between 1981 and 1988.
Scope and Contents:
Flying Tigers is a national and international cargo and express mail carrier based in Los Angles, California . The collection consists of mechanicals, proofsheets, advertising slicks, promotional material and other collateral l created by Lord, Dentsu & Partners for the Flying Tigers account between 1981 and 1988. For the most part, the materials are arranged chronologically by date of creation.
Arrangement:
2 series: (1) promotional material and collateral; (2) advertising proof sheets and mechanicals.
Topically arranged.
Materials in the Archives Center, national Museum of American History:
Researchers interested in advertising reflecting entrepreneurialism and changes in the air freight industry in the United States should also consult the Federal Express Advertising Collection, which includes advertising and oral histories documenting the founding and evolution of that corporation through the 1980s.
Provenance:
The collection was donated to the Center for Advertising History by the Los A ngeles office of Lord, Dentsu & Partners in July 1992.
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.
