The collection documents four scrapbooks containing photographs, programs, flyers, business cards, periodical illustrations, and letterheads of vaudeville and medicine shows from 1897-1902. Also included are two audiotapes containing comments by the donors about the scrapbooks.
Scope and Contents:
The four scrapbooks which make up the Billings Merriam Family Vaudeville collection cover the period from about 1890 to 1913. They were actually kept by the parents and grandparents of Billie Plunkett who contributed them to the Smithsonian in 1982.
The four scrapbooks each contain personal photographs, programs of minor plays and comedies, flyers for specialty acts, business cards, magazine photos, and letterheads advertising acts.
Presumably, as a way of advertising, each performer or act would have printed on letterhead a picture of themselves and occasionally a picture of them in performance, the name of the act, a description of what the act included, and sometimes a listing of references and places where they had performed.
The letterheads and flyers advertised persons who were aerialists, contortionists, comedians, did wire walking, had a dog and pony show, magicians, pantomimists, trick cyclists, dancers, jugglers, singers, impersonators, gun manipulators, hypnotists, mental telepathists, blackface comedians, and living statues.
Several agents and booking agencies used letterheads in the same way. Medicine shows were also advertised on the letterheads some naming the products they were hustling and the diseases that could be cured.
The items have been pasted in scrapbooks a couple of which were old hotel ledgers in which pages have been pasted together. The paper is deteriorating. Very few items have dates or locations.
There are also two audio tapes. One contains comments by two half sisters: Norma Christiani and Billie Plunckett on the scrapbooks in this collection. The other consists of reminiscences by Norma Christiani of her life in the vaudeville shows mentioned above (bad audio quality).
Biographical / Historical:
Gay and Essa Billings, the first generation represented in these scrapbooks, were managers of vaudeville acts. They also sold medicine occasionally which was called "Knox All Remedies". Gay was also a comedian. Essa was known for her "serpentine dance and poses plastique". Their daughters, Eva and Ethel, did singing and dancing soubrettes (i.e. were saucy, coquettish actresses and/or singers in comedies or comic operas).
Billy Merriam, married to Eva, was a trapeze artist and juggler. He also formed acts. Presumably, the collection of letterheads is a result of correspondence in which acts were secured and bookings were made.
From Billie Plunkett, a granddaughter, we learn that the Billings had Gay's Electric Company and Gay's One Horse Circus. Daughter, Ethel, married Fred A. Stock and together they had a medicine show and sold something called "NU Tone".
One of the letter heads of Gay Billings advertised startling novelties funny comedians and songs which opened September 29, 1904 and closed January 27, 1905. Another letter head advertised "The Three B's Esa Billings serpentine dance and poses plastic; Gay Billings picture operator and song illustrator; and Eva Billings song and dance artist and soubret and gave their permanent address as Bellevue, Iowa.
In December 1904, Gay's Electric Company presented Essa Billings and Billie Merriam. In January 26, 1912, Gay Billings presented Clark's Dog and Pony Circus. At an undated time, it was the Billings Trio Novelty Sketch Artists with Gay All Round Comedian; Ethel Singing and Dancing Soubrette and Essa versatile Performer.
In 1906 there is a newspaper write up of Gay's Players and Billy and Eva Meriam. In a small article it was said that the act was good, the customers got their money's worth, that it was a clever team on the vaudeville circuit and described Eva as being a ring contortionist and Billy as an acrobat and trapeze artist.
The Merriams were known as the "Flying Merriams" and also the "Merriam Merry Makers" with 7 people in the company. Another flyer advertised that Billy Merriam was the owner of the show and Gay Billings the Manager. Included was Gay, Essa and Ethel as singers, dancers and sketch artists; Billie and Emma as trapeze artists, jugglers and contortionist. Two reels of moving pictures were also presented.
Another flyer (undated) speaks of "Merriams Tent Show" with 12 people in the act. Another flyer referred to himself as "Juvenile Adonis of the flying rings and trapeze and marvelous upside down act...Walk the ceiling head down, without the protection of a net." Another flyer said that Billy and Eva Merriam had spent two years with the Ringling Brothers, and had worked 10 years in Iowa.
Evidently moving pictures were often shown at these shows, usually with two reels. The companies had their own electric light plant and picture machine.
One letter head read: "The Merriams: Billy Eva Zoe Novelty Aerial Artists: and continued: "Not Best, But Two of the Good Ones." The act was a comedy acrobatic and contortion act on a vaudeville program which alos included motion pictures. Generally the titles of the motion pictures were given but no other information was. One time Billy fell and injured himself when chairs and tables collapsed. Another time in Phoenix, the threatre burned and they lost their trunks and new rigging. Once in Seattle there was fire but not loss of their belongings. In Iowa the State prohibited fight films to be shown. "The general public does not believe in instilling in the minds of the youth the instincts of pugilism", a newspaper article stated.
Eva and Billy Merriam had their own vaudeville show which eventually turned into a medicine show. Eva dressed as an Indian Princess and called herself Princess Iola (which was her middle name). During the winter months they played in halls and threatres and in the summer they used a large platform stage with a "runway" on outdoor lots. Billy and his daughter, Billie, did aerial numbers and Billy did juggling acts, escape acts, black face numbers and song and dance. The show included hired acts. Lots of Princess Iola's remedies was sold. Then Eva tried selling cosmetics and the show's name was changed to "Vanity Fair Company". The product was packaged in their hotel rooms.
Provenance:
This collection was donated by Mrs. Billie Plunkett and Mrs. Norman Christiani to Richard W. Flint, Division of Performing Arts (now the Division of Culture and the Arts) in August, 1982.
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.
Spanish Advertising and Marketing Service (creator) Search this
Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies Search this
Extent:
3.5 Cubic feet (3 boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Storyboards
Video recordings
Posters
Photographs
Advertisements
Audio cassettes
Clippings
Date:
1962 - 2000
Summary:
The Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies Collection includes advertisements, research, and publications produced by SAMS (Spanish Advertising and Marketing Service), which was founded by Luis Diaz Albertini in 1963.
Scope and Contents:
The collection documents the work of SAMS (Spanish Advertising and Marketing Service). It contains advertising campaign materials such as print advertisements, storyboards, proofs of print advertisements, point of purchase advertisements, audio recordings of radio advertisements, and video footage of television commercials. SAMS created advertising for manufacturers of tobacco, movies, cosmetics, watches, toothpaste, cleansers, food products, and alcoholic beverages, to name a few. SAMS was founded during a time in which the "Spanish speaking" consumer was of growing significance in the American market, and American advertisements increasingly catered to and targeted this audience.
The collection contains extensive explanatory notations written by Sara Sunshine, a Cuban immigrant, who created advertising print, audio, and visuals from the 1960s to 1990s and founder of the co-founder of Spanish Advertising and Marketing Services, the nation's first Latino ad agency.
Arrangement:
The collection is divided into seven series.
Series 1: Storyboards and Scripts, 1970-1995
Series 2: Advertisements, 1962-1974
Series 3: Publications, 1976-1988
Series 4: Marketing Research, 1962-1984
Series 5: Packaging, 1962
Series 6: Ephemera, 1980-1989
Series 7: Audiovisual Materials
Biographical / Historical:
Luis Diaz Albertini founded SAMS (Spanish Advertising and Marketing Service) in 1963. Sara Sunshine was the head copywriter and art executive. The agency had a staff of just four employees. It was the first full-service Spanish language advertising agency in the United States. In 2007, the Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies was formed. Among its goals was preserving the industry's past and preserving the history of Hispanic advertising. The first archival collection they accepted was the records of SAMS. Originally housed at the University of Maryland, it was transferred to the National Museum of American History in 2015.
Related Materials:
Materials at the Archives Center
Goya Foods, Inc. Records (AC0694)
Provenance:
Donated to the Archives Center in 2015 by the Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies, through Horacio Gavilan.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Rights:
Reproduction restricted due to copyright or trademark. Contact the Archives Center for details.
A very complete collection of records of a "Mom and Pop" rural service station in the post-World War II era. Includes papers illustrating the day-to-day operations of the garage, such as financial records, ledgers, and property records. Also included are personal papers, such as a diploma and letters; and photographs, both personal and of the business.
Scope and Contents:
This collection is a very complete collection of records representative of the many small "mom and pop" service stations that went into business in the years following World War II. The records represent a time when Americans fell headlong in love with the automobile. With their increased mobility (as well as their additional disposable income), they took to the roads. The many financial documents, ledgers, canceled checks and monthly profit and loss statements, present a day to day picture of the economics of a small local gas station/garage operation. The personal items illustrate not only facets of the man who owned the garage but also, through the documents relating to the Ward residence, a picture of home ownership prior to World War II. Also of note is the V-mail from Ward's brother-in-law, Henry Whitehill Townshend (1912-1989) covering the years 1942-1945 during his service with the 29th Division, US Army, in the European theatre of World War II.
The collection is divided into five series. All series are arranged chronologically.
Series 1: Financial Records, 1946-1962, includes cancelled checks, monthly profit and loss statements, 1946-1961, garage property financing documents,1946, bills and receipts,1952-1962, a final inventory from 1962 and a boundary survey for a neighboring property from 1962 that includes the relation of the Ward's Garage and Ward home properties relative to their neighboring properties.
Series 2: Garage Ledgers, 1946-1962, includes garage ledgers 1946-1962 and one ledger with no date that detail daily income and expenses month by month.
Series 3: Photographs, 1929-1951 includes personal photographs of Ward and his wife Margaret, the Ward residence, Ward working on a car, photographs of Ward's Garage during construction and at completion, one photograph of Ward's Garage taken in the aftermath of a wind storm, photographs of Ward's participation in two Firemen's Parades and an aerial view of Hyde Field and the Ward residence.
Series 4: Forms and Promotional Items, 1961, undated, includes blank forms used in the garage operation, Estimate of Damage sheets and blank bill heads and two of Ward's Garage promotional items, a 1961 calendar and an undated thermometer.
Series 5: Personal Papers, 1929-1965, includes Ward's 1929 High School Diploma, a bank book for his personal account, marriage, confirmation and certificates, hunting licenses, documents relating to purchasing land and building the Ward residence (10316 Piscataway Road), V-mail from Ward's brother-in-law Henry W. Townshend, 1942-1945, a Christmas card from his nephew William H. Townshend, Ward's Last Will and Testament and funeral ephemera and bills.
Arrangement:
The collection is divided into 5 series.
Series 1: Financial Records, 1946-1962
Series 2: Garage Ledgers, 1946-1962
Series 3: Photographs, 1929-1951
Series 4: Blank Forms and Promotional Items, 1961 and undated
Series 4: Personal Papers, 1929-1965
Biographical Note:
Frank Elmo Ward (1912-1964) was born on the family tobacco farm near Thrift in southern Prince George's County, Maryland on February 2, 1912. He seldom used his real middle name preferring Elmer as opposed to Elmo. His parents were Harrison C. and Rena Roberts Ward. He attended local elementary and secondary schools graduating from Surratt Senior High School in 1929. Growing up on the farm, Ward had been adept at fixing various types of farm machinery and as automobiles became a more prominent part of the landscape he found he enjoyed working on cars. After high school, Ward worked on the family farm and eventually took a job with Mandell Chevrolet in Washington, DC. On May 26, 1933, he married Margaret Naylor Townshend (1908-1997), the daughter of Harry N. and Martha Robinson Townshend of Marston in Carroll County, Maryland. The couple had no children. They eventually purchased an acre of land from Nicholas Miller and built a house in 1936. The property was across from Hyde Field Airport and situated on the Piscataway Road between the small towns of Piscataway and Clinton (also known as Surrattsville). Ward enjoyed hunting as a leisure time activity. He also enjoyed showing off his antique car, a 1916 Overland that he had purchased from his cousin, Mamie Herbert. Ward was active in civic affairs. He was a member of Christ Episcopal Church, Clinton, where he served on the vestry and he was also a member of the Clinton Volunteer Fire Department. He participated in many Firemen's Parades throughout the state.
In 1945, Ward grew tired of his job at Mandell's and decided to go into business for himself. With the increased amount of automobile ownership and travel after World War II along with the ever increasing need to keep those vehicles running, Ward decided to become his own boss and open a full-service auto garage. He purchased one third of an acre of land, a few hundred feet from his home, near the corner of Piscataway Road and Tippett Road (Liber 808, folio 490, Prince George's County Land Records). Initially borrowing money from his former employer, Mandell's, Ward constructed his new garage and service station according to his own plans and sketches. The garage was built of cinderblock with a paint shop added to the rear at a later date. The garage opened for business on January 2, 1946 with Ward and one full-time employee, William "Billy" Tippett. Ward borrowed money from The Second National Bank of Washington in March 1946 to repay his employer for the money borrowed to construct his garage. The construction note was paid off in April 1954. The garage proximity to Hyde Field Airport as well as Andrews AFB and being situated along Piscataway Road, a major artery between the western side of the county and the town of Clinton, in the east, assured the garage a steady customer base. Also, in a community of strong family ties, being related by birth and marriage to many families in the area made him a known commodity and many of his extended family went the extra mile to patronize his garage over one that was perhaps closer to them. Ward also advertised in The Enquirer Gazette, the local county newspaper.
In addition to selling Texaco gasoline and oil products and doing general car repairs, Ward also dealt in used cars and trucks and seems to have sold new Kaiser-Fraiser cars as well. He later added a paint shop to the rear of the garage. He offered towing and wrecker services and attended used automobile auctions as far away as Fredericksburg, Virginia. Ward initially kept his own books/ledgers until July 1946. Beginning in late July, his wife Margaret, who termed the garage "the doghouse," kept the books/ledgers and "ran parts" for the business. She kept a double set of books/ledgers and the garage used outside auditing firms for accounting: first Pearson's Counting House in Washington, DC, then County Bookkeeping Service in Waldorf, Maryland. A business checking account was established at The Clinton Bank and it seems that some household expenses did on occasion come out of the business checking account. At Christmas, Ward gave out the usual promotional items to his valued customers: calendars and thermometers. His waiting room also offered the usual range of snack food, a Coca-Cola machine and Lance brand crackers and cookies. The garage was a success but Ward's increasing battle with alcoholism eventually began to take its toll on his health and ability to manage the garage. Because of his worsening illness, the garage was closed on August 1, 1962 and sold in November to Cecil and Betty Williamson. Ward died on February 2, 1964. His wife Margaret died on September 28, 1997. Both he and his wife are buried in Westminster Cemetery, Carroll County, Maryland.
Separated Materials:
The Division of Home and Community Life (formerly Division of Costume and Textiles Collection) holds related objects that include personal clothing and cosmetics from Frank and Margaret Ward.
For Margaret Ward these include:
Woman's necklace,1906, (See accession number 1992.0474.13)
Rouge compact (Princess Pat), 1920-1940, (See accession number 1998.0129.1)
Rouge compact (Kissproof), 1920-1940, (See accession number 1998.0129.2)
Lipstick (Colgate), 1935-1950,(See accession number 1998.0129.3)
Rouge (Hazel Bishop), 1945-1960,(See accession number 1998.0129.4)
Card of buttons (Chic), 1930-1940, (See accession number 1998.0129.5)
Nail polish (Northern Warren), 1930-1950,(See accession number 1998.0129.6)
Two women's brooches (possibly antimacassar pins), 1930-1939, (See accession number 1998.0129.8)
Woman's brooch, 1900-1925, (See accession number 2003.0015001)
Hair curler, 1933-1938, (See accession number 1998.0038.1)
Tape measure, 1930-1940, (See accession number 1998.0038.2)
Woman's compact (Bourjois), 1944-1954, (See accession number 2001.0196.17)
Container of dusting powder (Helena Rubenstein), 1940-1950, See accession number 2001.0196.18)
Container of dusting powder (Coty), 1940-1950, (See accession number 2001.0196.19)
There is a photograph, most likely a wedding portrait, in which Martha is wearing the woman's necklace referred to above (see accession number 92-11940). She married Harry Naylor Townsend on 29 October 1906. Margaret married Frank Ward in 1933. For photographs of Margaret and Frank Ward see the Ward's Garage Papers, #783, AC-NMAH.
For Frank Ward there are the following items:
A bathing suit, 1890-1900, (See accession number 1997.0327)
A buckle, 1920-1940, (See accession number 1998.0129.7)
Provenance:
Donated to the National Museum of American History, Archives Center, by Franklin A. Robinson, Jr., in August 2001.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research use.
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.
103 illustrated advertisements, posters, and store decorations: 51 color, 52 black and white.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged in six series as follows:
Series 1: Clothing, cicra 1963-1968
Series 2: Fashion Perspectives, 1967
Series 3: Cosmetics, circa 1963-1968
Series 4: Store Openings, circa 1963-1968
Series 5: Special Appearances, circa 1963-1968
Series 6: Holiday, circa 1963-1968
Biographical / Historical:
In 1913, Joseph Magnin (son of Isaac Magnin, founder of the I. Magnin stores) founded a department store bearing his name. In 1967, the chain reached its peak popularity with over 32 stores. It had become one of the premier luxury department store chains in the country. The Magnin family sold the chain to Amfac Corp. in 1969. In September 1984, bankruptcy closed the remaining 24 stores.
During the 1960s, Betty Brader (b. 1923) became one of the chief illustrators of Joseph Magnin posters; this collection is comprised primarily of her work. She also worked for Neiman-Marcus, Saks, Franklin Simon, and various advertising agencies. Brader won numerous awards throughout her career for her innovative illustrations. Her style of fashion illustration is copied widely today by fashion illustrators. The posters she produced for Joseph Magnin were highly acclaimed in the San Francisco Bay Area. Brader died in 1986 after a long illness.
Chain of department stores, begun in 1913 by Joseph Magnin, based in San Francisco. The chain closed in 1984, due to bankrupty.
Related Materials:
The Archives Center holds several collections dealing with women in business (#423 Estelle Ellis Collection, #509 Brownie Wise, #631 Dorothy Shaver), costume design (#729 Virginia "Jimmie" Booth Collection), and advertising (#59 N W Ayer Advertising Agency Records).
Provenance:
This collection was donated to the Archives Center of the National Museum of American History in November 1984 by members of the Magnin family.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Rights:
Reproduction restricted due to copyright or trademark. Museum received non-exclusive rights.
The Cover Girl Make-Up Advertising Oral History and Documentation Project, 1923-1991, is the result of a year-long study in 1990, which examined the advertising created for Noxell Corporation's Cover Girl make-up products from 1959 to 1990. The objective of the project was to document, in print and electronic media, the history of Cover Girl make-up advertising since its inception in 1959.
Scope and Contents:
Twenty-two oral history interviews (conducted by Dr. Scott Ellsworth for the Archives Center) and a variety of print and television advertisements, photographs, scrapbooks, personal papers, business records and related materials were gathered by the Center for Advertising History staff. The objective was to create a collection that provides documentation, in print and electronic media, of the history and development of advertising for Cover Girl make-up since its inception in 1959.
Collection also includes earlier material related to other Noxell products, including Noxzema, with no direct connection to the Cover Girl campaign.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into eight series.
Series 1: Research Files
Series 2: Interviewee Files
Series 3: Oral History Interviews
Series 4: Television Advertising Materials
Series 5: Print Advertising Materials
Series 6: Company Publications and Promotional Literature
Series 7: Photographs
Series 8: Scrapbooks
Biographical / Historical:
George Avery Bunting founded the Noxzema Chemical Company in Baltimore, Maryland in 1917. In the 1890s, he left behind a teaching job on Maryland's Eastern shore to move to Baltimore, where he hoped to pursue a career as a pharmacist. He landed a job as errand boy and soda jerk at a local drugstore, where he worked while attending classes at the University Of Maryland College of Pharmacy. Valedictorian of the Class of 1899, Bunting was promoted to manager of the drugstore, which he purchased. Bunting began to experiment with the formulation of medicated pastes and compounds, which he marketed to his customers. In 1909, he began refining a medicated vanishing cream, which he introduced in 1914. "Dr. Bunting's Sunburn Remedy," an aromatic skin cream containing clove oil, eucalyptus oil, lime water, menthol and camphor, was mixed by hand at his pharmacy. Marketed locally as a greaseless, medicated cream for the treatment of a variety of skin conditions, including sunburn, eczema, and acne, the product was renamed "Noxzema" for its reputed ability to "knock eczema." By 1917, the Noxzema Chemical Company was formed. During the 1920s, distribution of the product was expanded to include New York, Chicago, and the Midwest and, by 1926, the first Noxzema manufactory was built in northwest Baltimore to accommodate the demand for nearly a million jars a year.
Having achieved a national market by 1938, Noxzema Chemical Company executives pursued product diversification as a means to maintain the corporate growth of the early years. In the 1930s and 1940s, line extensions included shaving cream, suntan lotion and cold cream, all with the distinctive "medicated" Noxzema aroma.
In the late 1950s, Bill Hunt, director of product development at Noxzema, suggested a line extension into medicated make-up. Creatives at Sullivan, Stauffer, Colwell & Bayles, Incorporated (SSC&B), Noxzema's advertising agency since 1946, suggested that the advertising for the new product focus on beauty and glamour with some reference to the medicated claims made for other Noxzema products. In contrast to other cosmetics, which were sold at specialized department store counters, Noxzema's medicated make-up would be marketed alongside other Noxzema products in grocery stores and other mass distribution outlets. After experimenting with names that suggested both glamour and the medicated claims (including Thera-Blem and Blema-Glow), Bill Grathwohl, Noxell's advertising director, selected Carolyn Oelbaum's "Cover Girl," which conveyed the product's usefulness as a blemish cover-up, while invoking the glamorous image of fashion models. These three elements of the advertising, wholesome glamour, mass marketing, and medicated make-up, remain central to Cover Girl advertising nearly a half-century later.
Beginning with the national launch in 1961, American and international fashion models were featured in the ads. The target audience was identified as women between eighteen and fifty-four and, initially, the "glamour" ads were targeted at women's magazines, while the "medicated" claims were reserved for teen magazines. Television ads featured both elements. Cover Girl advertising always featured beautiful women -- especially Caucasian women, but the Cover Girl image has evolved over time to conform to changing notions of beauty. In the late 1950s and 1960s, the Cover Girl was refined and aloof, a fashion conscious sophisticate. By the 1970s, a new social emphasis on looking and dressing "naturally" and the introduction of the "Clean Make-up" campaign created a new advertising focus on the wholesome glamour of the "girl next door," a blue-eyed, blonde all-American image. In the 1980s, the Cover Girl look was updated to include African-American, Hispanic and working women.
In January 1970, SSC&B bought 49% of the Lintas Worldwide advertising network. After SSC&B was acquired by the Interpublic Group of Companies in 1979, the entire Lintas operation was consolidated under the name SSC&B/Lintas in 1981. With the Procter & Gamble buy-out of the Noxell Corporation in September 1989, the cosmetics account was moved to long-time P&G agency Grey Advertising, in order to circumvent a possible conflict of interest between P&G competitor Unilever, another Lintas account. In 1989 SSC&B/Lintas, Cover Girl's agency since its launch in 1961, lost the account it helped to create and define, but the brand continues to dominate mass-marketed cosmetics.
This project is the result of a year-long study of advertising created for the Noxell Corporation's Cover Girl make-up products, 1959-1990. The effort was supported in part by a grant from the Noxell Corporation. The target audience was identified as women 18-54, and initially, the "glamour" ads were targeted at women's magazines, while the "medicated" claims were reserved for teen magazines. Television ads featured both elements. Cover Girl advertising has always featured beautiful women (especially Caucasian women), but the Cover Girl image evolved over time to conform with changing notions of beauty. In the late 1950s-1960s, the Cover Girl was refined and aloof, a fashion conscious sophisticate. By the 1970s, a new social emphasis on looking and dressing "naturally" and the introduction of the "Clean Make-up" campaign created a new advertising focus on the wholesome glamour of the "girl next door," a blue-eyed, blonde all-American image. Through the 1980s, the Cover Girl look was updated to include African-American and Hispanic models and images of women at work.
Related Materials:
Materials in the Archives Center
Warshaw Collection of Business Americana (AC0060)
N W Ayer Advertising Agency Records (AC0059)
Separated Materials:
The Division of Home and Community Life, Costume Collection holds eighty-six cosmetic items and one computer that were also donated by the Noxell Corporation in 1990 in conjunction with the oral history project. These artifacts include lipstick, manicure sets, brushes, make-up, eye shadow, blush, powder puffs, eyelash curler, nail polish, and mascara. See accession number 1990.0193.
Provenance:
Most of the materials in the collection were donated to the Center for Advertising History by the Noxell Corporation, 1990. All storyboards and videoscripts, and a large collection of business records and proofsheets were donated by George Poris in June 1990. All mechanicals were donated by Art Weithas in June 1990. (These contributions are noted in the finding aid).
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Researchers must handle unprotected photographs with gloves. Researchers must use reference copies of audio-visual materials. When no reference copy exists, the Archives Center staff will produce reference copies on an "as needed" basis, as resources allow.
Color advertisement (reproduction of photograph) of model Maggie Eckhart wearing fantastic fuschia hat; image of Bill Blass sitting in director's chair beside model.
Local Numbers:
AC0374-0000290.tif (AC Scan: detail, model)
AC0374-0000290a.tif (AC Scan: detail, Bill Blass)
AC0374-0000290m.tif (AC Scan: full advertisement)
General:
In Box 25, Folder 4.
Restrictions:
Unrestricted research use on site by appointment. Photographs must be handled with cotton gloves unless protected by sleeves.
This series contains newspaper and magazine clippings, reports and scholarly articles about the history and development of Noxzema Chemical Company and the Noxell Corporation, the four advertising agencies handling Noxell accounts, and the cosmetics industry.
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Researchers must handle unprotected photographs with gloves. Researchers must use reference copies of audio-visual materials. When no reference copy exists, the Archives Center staff will produce reference copies on an "as needed" basis, as resources allow.
Collection Rights:
Copyright and trademark restrictions.
Collection Citation:
Cover Girl Advertising Oral History & Documentation Project, 1959-1990, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Sponsor:
The project was supported in part by a gift from the Noxell Corporation.
Collection is open for research. Researchers must handle unprotected photographs with gloves. Researchers must use reference copies of audio-visual materials. When no reference copy exists, the Archives Center staff will produce reference copies on an "as needed" basis, as resources allow.
Collection Rights:
Copyright and trademark restrictions.
Collection Citation:
Cover Girl Advertising Oral History & Documentation Project, 1959-1990, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Sponsor:
The project was supported in part by a gift from the Noxell Corporation.
Collection is open for research. Researchers must handle unprotected photographs with gloves. Researchers must use reference copies of audio-visual materials. When no reference copy exists, the Archives Center staff will produce reference copies on an "as needed" basis, as resources allow.
Collection Rights:
Copyright and trademark restrictions.
Collection Citation:
Cover Girl Advertising Oral History & Documentation Project, 1959-1990, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Sponsor:
The project was supported in part by a gift from the Noxell Corporation.
Collection is open for research. Researchers must handle unprotected photographs with gloves. Researchers must use reference copies of audio-visual materials. When no reference copy exists, the Archives Center staff will produce reference copies on an "as needed" basis, as resources allow.
Collection Rights:
Copyright and trademark restrictions.
Collection Citation:
Cover Girl Advertising Oral History & Documentation Project, 1959-1990, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Sponsor:
The project was supported in part by a gift from the Noxell Corporation.
Collection is open for research. Researchers must handle unprotected photographs with gloves. Researchers must use reference copies of audio-visual materials. When no reference copy exists, the Archives Center staff will produce reference copies on an "as needed" basis, as resources allow.
Collection Rights:
Copyright and trademark restrictions.
Collection Citation:
Cover Girl Advertising Oral History & Documentation Project, 1959-1990, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Sponsor:
The project was supported in part by a gift from the Noxell Corporation.
Collection is open for research. Researchers must handle unprotected photographs with gloves. Researchers must use reference copies of audio-visual materials. When no reference copy exists, the Archives Center staff will produce reference copies on an "as needed" basis, as resources allow.
Collection Rights:
Copyright and trademark restrictions.
Collection Citation:
Cover Girl Advertising Oral History & Documentation Project, 1959-1990, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Sponsor:
The project was supported in part by a gift from the Noxell Corporation.
Collection is open for research. Researchers must handle unprotected photographs with gloves. Researchers must use reference copies of audio-visual materials. When no reference copy exists, the Archives Center staff will produce reference copies on an "as needed" basis, as resources allow.
Collection Rights:
Copyright and trademark restrictions.
Collection Citation:
Cover Girl Advertising Oral History & Documentation Project, 1959-1990, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Sponsor:
The project was supported in part by a gift from the Noxell Corporation.
Collection is open for research. Researchers must handle unprotected photographs with gloves. Researchers must use reference copies of audio-visual materials. When no reference copy exists, the Archives Center staff will produce reference copies on an "as needed" basis, as resources allow.
Collection Rights:
Copyright and trademark restrictions.
Collection Citation:
Cover Girl Advertising Oral History & Documentation Project, 1959-1990, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Sponsor:
The project was supported in part by a gift from the Noxell Corporation.
Collection is open for research. Researchers must handle unprotected photographs with gloves. Researchers must use reference copies of audio-visual materials. When no reference copy exists, the Archives Center staff will produce reference copies on an "as needed" basis, as resources allow.
Collection Rights:
Copyright and trademark restrictions.
Collection Citation:
Cover Girl Advertising Oral History & Documentation Project, 1959-1990, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Sponsor:
The project was supported in part by a gift from the Noxell Corporation.
Collection is open for research. Researchers must handle unprotected photographs with gloves. Researchers must use reference copies of audio-visual materials. When no reference copy exists, the Archives Center staff will produce reference copies on an "as needed" basis, as resources allow.
Collection Rights:
Copyright and trademark restrictions.
Collection Citation:
Cover Girl Advertising Oral History & Documentation Project, 1959-1990, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Sponsor:
The project was supported in part by a gift from the Noxell Corporation.
34.05 Cubic feet (consisting of 60 boxes, 14 half boxes, 9 folders, 38 oversize folders, 12 map case folders, plus digital images of some collection material.)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Ephemera
Business ephemera
Date:
1832-1966
Summary:
A New York bookseller, Warshaw assembled this collection over nearly fifty years. The Warshaw Collection of Business Americana: Patent Medicines 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 primarily of advertising cards, pamphlets, leaflets, booklets, calendars, post cards, printed advertisements , medical newspaper articles, blotters, almanacs, cookbooks, scattered correspondence on letterhead stationery, medical journals, labels, bills/receipts, business cards, import/export documents, recipe books, reports, reviews, editorials, lectures, family manuals, notices, circulars, memorandum & account books, order forms, lithographs, photographs, caricatures song books and articles from manufacturers of proprietary medicines and wholesale and retail drug dispensers. There is a substantial amount of material from each company relating to the medical treatment of various diseases. Companies with a large amount of material include James C. Ayer, Foster, Milburn Company, C. T. Hood, Johnson and Johnson, Lehn and Fink, Lyons Manufacturing Company, Miles Medical Company, Parke Davis, Lydia Pinkham, Power Taylor Drug Company, Rumford Chemical Works, S. T. W. Stanford and Son, Seabury and Johnson, W. H. Schieflein and Company, E. R. Squibb and Sons and H.H. Warner.
Included within the collection are pamphlets on various disease entities, societies and institutes, chiropractic, homeopathy, hygiene and health and martial behavior. Doctors are listed in a separate section. Most of the material is organized by name of company. The first 51 boxes contain material from manufacturers of proprietary medicines and is arranged in alphabetical order. This material consists mostly of advertising cards, testimonials and various advertising leaflets. Many manufacturers published almanacs and other publication s with health and household hints. This material covers the nineteenth century; however, most of it is undated. Boxes 52 thru 58 are documents from wholesale and retail drug dispensers including invoices, booklets, almanacs and leaflets dating from 1800 thru 1926. Box 59 contains a large ledger with pasted cards and advertising material from various manufacturers, wholesalers and druggists. Medical publications are in boxes 60 to 64 and consist of journals with multiple articles regarding various diseases and their treatment. This material dates from 1859-1937. Contained in boxes 65 and 66 are pharmaceutical publications, state journals, national journals and other pharmaceutical booklets dating from 1856-1933. In box 66 folder number 13 there is a publication by Abbott Laboratories, printed in 1956, is a comprehensive summary of the first 50 years of the Pure Food and Drug act. Also in box 66 folders 14, 15, and 16 are journals of the Homeopathic News from 1895 to 1902, and Homeopathic Envoy dated 1901. In the last folder is an 1804 issue of Phrenology and Physiognomy. The entire box number 67 contains only copies of the Pharmaceutical Era with dates from 1890 to 1903. A collection of medical pamphlets, leaflets and booklets cover a variety of medical problems as well as diagnosis and their medical treatment in boxes 68 and 69. Miscellaneous materials in box 70 include prescription s, photographs, chromolithographs, etchings and engravings and information about the Pasteur Institute and vaccines developed at that facility. In box 71 there are some medical- legal papers and import export documents. Box 72 contains many miscellaneous medical materials. Newspaper clippings, medical economics, U.S. revenue order forms and instructions. Treatment articles and forms for ordering journals and other medical publications. Printing companies, catering to druggists for labels, letterheads and other related printing needs, along with labeling samples are contained in box 73. The last box contains foreign language medical material. In this group are articles and advertising written in Chinese, German, French, Hungarian, Spanish and Swedish.
Additional information may be found in the subject labeled medicine.
This material contains information on diseases, x-ray, instruments, insanity, tuberculosis, cancer, female medicine, medical schools, anesthetics (ether).
Biographical / Historical:
Before the Pure Food and Drug Administration was instituted in 1908 there were no restrictions on the claims or contents of medications available to the public without a physician prescription. This is reflected in the advertisements and testimonials as seen in this material. Many of the companies manufactured and distributed other products such as cosmetics, hair preparations and dyes; therefore researchers interested in chemical substances other than medical treatments would also be interested in this subject. The material dates from ca. 1800-1956 but, the bulk is late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Many diseases in the 19th century were known by names not currently used at this time. Throughout much of the material consumption which is known as tuberculosis was of great concern. Other diseases include kidney ailments (renal disease) referred to as Bright's disease, catarrh referred to the common cold, bronchitis, or sinusitis, gleet discharge from any body area used for example in gonorrhea and syphilis and scrophula glandular diseases many times accompanied by eruptions. Diseases that were considered curable by many of the medications described in this collection were catarrh, Bright's disease, anemia, syphilis, female diseases, gonorrhea, nervousness, tiredness and listlessness, headaches, weight loss, backaches, alcoholism, masturbation, typhoid, malaria, children's diseases and narcotic addiction.
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:
Patent Medicines 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: Patent Medicines, 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).
