6.5 Cubic feet (16 boxes, 188 pieces of original artwork)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Black-and-white photographic prints
Pastels (visual works)
Advertisements
Business records
Date:
circa 1936-1995
Summary:
The collection documents the development and evolution of the Breck Girl, a highly successful and long-lived advertising campaign whose hallmark was its vision of idealized American womanhood through correspondence, photographs, paintings, and print advertisements.
Scope and Contents:
188 pieces of original advertising art (mostly pastel drawings), and photographs, correspondence, and business records, documenting the development and evolution of the Breck Girls advertising campaign. Original advertising art includes portraits of famous models, such as Cheryl Tiegs, Brooke Shields, Kim Basinger, and Erin Gray. Artists represented include Charles Sheldon and Ralph William Williams. The 2006 addendum consists of approximately one sixth of one cubic foot of papers relating to Cynthia Brown's selection as a Breck Girl, 1988 and her induction into the Breck Hall of Fame.
Arrangement:
Collection divided into four series.
Series 1: Company history, 1946-1990
Series 2: Photographs, 1960-1995
Series 3: Print ads, 1946-1980
Series 4: Original artwork, 1936-1994
Biographical / Historical:
Dr. John Breck is credited with developing one of the first liquid shampoos in the United States, in Springfield Massachusetts in 1908; Breck is also credited with introducing the first ph-balanced shampoo, in 1930. During the early years of the business, distribution remained localized in New England, and the product was sold exclusively to beauty salons until 1946. Advertising for the brand began in 1932, but appeared only in trade publications, such as Modern Beauty Shop.
Edward Breck, son of the founder, assumed management of the company in 1936. Breck became acquainted with Charles Sheldon, an illustrator and portrait painter who is believed to have studied in Paris under Alphonse Mucha, an artist noted for his contributions to Art Nouveau style. Sheldon had achieved some measure of fame for his paintings of movie stars for the cover of Photoplay magazine in the 1920s, and had also done idealized pastel portraits for the cover of Parents magazine. He created his first pastel portraits for Breck in 1936, launching what would become one of America's longest running ad campaigns. When the company began national advertising (and mass distribution) in 1946, the campaign featured Sheldon's 1937 painting of seventeen-year old Roma Whitney, a spirited blonde. Ms. Whitney's profile was registered as Breck's trademark in 1951. When he retired in 1957, Sheldon had created 107 oil paintings and pastels for the company. Sheldon was known to favor ordinary women over professional models, and in the early years of the campaign, the Breck Girls were Breck family members, neighbors or residents of the community in which he worked; company lore holds that nineteen Breck Girls were employees of the advertising agency he founded in 1940. A Breck advertising manager later described Sheldon's illustrations as, "illusions, depicting the quality and beauty of true womanhood using real women as models." The paintings and pastels form a coherent, if derivative, body of work which celebrates an idealized vision of American girlhood and womanhood, an ideal in which fair skin, beauty and purity are co-equal.
Ralph William Williams was hired to continue the Breck Girls campaign after Sheldon's retirement. Between 1957 and his death in 1976, Williams modified the Breck Girl look somewhat through the use of brighter colors and a somewhat heightened sense of movement and individuality. The advertising manager during his tenure recalled that at first Williams continued in Sheldon' manner, but in later years, as women became more independent, he would take care to integrate each girl' particular personality; he studied each girl and learned her special qualities. During these years, Breck Girls were identified through the company's sponsorship of America's Junior Miss contests. Williams work includes pastels of celebrities Cybil Shepard (1968 Junior Miss from Tennessee), Cheryl Tiegs (1968), Jaclyn Smith (1971, 1973), Kim Basinger (1972, 1974) and Brooke Shields (1974) very early in their careers.
By the 1960s, at the height of its success, Breck held about a twenty percent share of the shampoo market and enjoyed a reputation for quality and elegance. Ownership of the company changed several times (American Cyanamid in 1963; Dial Corporation in 1990). The corresponding fluctuations in management of the company and in advertising expenditures tended to undermine the coherence of the national advertising campaign. In addition, despite William's modifications, the image had become dated. Attempts to update the image misfired, further limiting the brand's coherence and effectiveness. Finally, increased competition and an absence of brand loyalty among consumers through the 1970s and 1980s helped push Breck from its number one position into the bargain bin. The Breck Girl campaign was discontinued around 1978, although there have been at least two minor revivals, first in 1992 with the Breck Girls Hall of Fame, and again in 1995 when a search was begun to identify three new Breck Women.
Scope and Content: The 188 pieces of original advertising art (62 oil paintings on board, 2 pencil sketches on paper, and 124 pastels on paper) and related photographs, correspondence and business files in this collection document the development and evolution of the Breck Girl, a highly successful and long-lived advertising campaign whose hallmark was its vision of idealized American womanhood. The collection is a perfect fit with other 20th century Archives Center collections documenting the efforts of American business to reach the female consumer market. The Estelle Ellis Collection (advertising and promotions for Seventeen, Charm, Glamour and House & Garden and many other clients) the Cover Girl Collection (make-up), the Maidenform Collection (brassieres), and the Tupperware Collections offer a prodigious body of evidence for understanding the role women were expected to play as consumers in the 20th century.
These advertising images also offer fertile ground for research into the evolution of popular images of American girlhood and womanhood. The research uses of the collection derive primarily from its value as an extensive visual catalog of the ideal types of American women and girls, arising and coalescing during a period in which 19th century ideals of womanhood were being revisited (the depression, the war years, the immediate post-war period) and continuing, with slight modifications and revisions, through several decades during which those historical ideals were being challenged and revised.
Related Materials:
Several items of packaging, 1930s-1980s are held in the former Division of Home and Community Life (now Division of Cultural and Community Life); an 18k gold Breck insignia pin is in the former.
Provenance:
The Dial Corporation through Jane Owens, Senior Vice President, Gift, June 1998.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
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 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.
Zebra Associates (advertising agency). Search this
Extent:
15 Sound tape reels
4 Motion picture films
54 Cubic feet (127 boxes; one oversize folder)
129 Video recordings
70 Cassette tapes
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Sound tape reels
Motion picture films
Video recordings
Cassette tapes
Date:
1942 - 1996
Summary:
Caroline R. Jones (1942-2001), an African American advertising executive, worked for a number of prominent New York ad agencies and founded her own firm in 1986. She is best known for her work in assisting clients in marketing to minority consumers. The collection includes client files, print advertisements, and radio and television commercials created for a wide range of commercial and public service campaigns.
Scope and Contents:
The collection contains creative presentations, business correspondence, internal memoranda, market research, focus group interviews, production documents, print advertisements, and other documentation for numerous clients at J. Walter Thompson, Kabon Consultants, Zebra Associates, Kenyon & Eckhardt, the Black Creative Group, BBDO, Mingo-Jones Advertising, and Caroline Jones Advertising. The collection has very little documentation of Caroline Jones, Incorporated (1996-2001), but some material exists regarding the shift from Caroline Jones Advertising to Caroline Jones, Incorporated during 1995 and 1996.
Also included are articles and speeches by Jones, including many on the subject of targeted marketing to minority consumers; photographs, awards and publicity; and a small body of personal papers from her childhood in Benton Harbor, Michigan and her experiences at the University of Michigan. The years at Caroline Jones Advertising (1986-1995) are most thoroughly documented and include extensive client files on minority consumer market development for major clients.
The audiovisual materials portion of the collection is substantial and includes radio and television ads created by the agencies at which Jones worked and television programs in which she appeared as a guest and a host.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged in seven series.
Series 1: Personal Papers, 1953-1986
Series 2: Business papers, 1965-1995
Subseries 2.1: Speeches, 1972, circa 1983-1994
Subseries 2.2: Articles, 1970-1993
Subseries 2.3: Subject Files, 1967-1995
Subseries 2.4: Publicity, 1965-1995
Subseries 2.5: Business Journals and Datebooks, 1969-1995
Subseries 2.6: Business, Civic, and Political Organizations and Activities, 1968-1993
Subseries 3.7: Mingo, Jones, Guilmenot and Mingo-Jones, 1977-1987
Subseries 3.8: Freelance Work and Miscellaneous, 1964-1985
Series 4: Caroline Jones Advertising Agency Records, 1987-1996
Subseries 4:1: Client Files and Related Research, 1987-1995
Subseries 4.2: Agency Credentials, 1985-1991
Subseries 4.3: New Business, 1987-1994
Subseries 4.4: Correspondence, 1990-1995
Subseries 4.5: Office Materials, 1990-1995
Series 5: Print Ads, 1964-1996
Series 6: Photographs and Slides, 1950s-1995, undated
Subseries 6.1: Slides, undated
Subseries 6.2: Photographs, 1950s-1995
Series 7: Audio Visual Materials, 1970-1997
Subseries 7.1: Audio cassettes, 1984-1994
Subseries 7.2: Open Reel Audio Tapes, 1970-1984
Subseries 7.3 Videotapes, 1987-1997
Subseries 7.3.1: Agency Reels and Compilations, 1989-1994
Subseries 7.3.2: Television Commercials (Brand/Client specific), 1987-1997
Subseries 7.3.3: Director's Show Reels, 1989-1996
Subseries 7.3.4: Television Programs, 1985-1994
Subseries 7.4: Motion Picture Films, 1970s
Biographical / Historical:
Caroline Robinson Jones (1942-2001) was a highly regarded American advertising and public relations executive. Her work recognized the rising economic power and cultural influence of the black middle class after World War II and contributed to a fundamental shift in American advertising, as mainstream national advertisers sought to reach a consumer market that was increasingly recognized as both economically significant and racially and ethnically diverse. The corporate and public service advertising she created to reach minority audiences stands as a record of our nation's continuing dialogue with race and ethnicity, viewed through the dual lenses of consumption and mass culture.
Caroline Marie Robinson was born in Benton Harbor, Michigan, the third of nine children. In 1963, she graduated from the University of Michigan, where she was active in Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, with a bachelor's degree in English and a minor in Science. She married Edward Jones, a loan officer with the Small Business Administration in 1965, and had a son, Anthony. After college, she was hired by the New York offices of J. Walter Thompson, one of the country's oldest, largest and most respected advertising agencies. Like most women hired by the agency at that time, she began working in the secretarial pool, but she was invited to attend the agency's copywriting school, becoming the first African-American person ever to do so. She remained at Thompson for five years as a junior copywriter on accounts including Ponds, Chun King, Scott Paper, and the American Gas Association.
In 1969, she joined Zebra Associates as Vice President and Creative Director. Zebra, a black owned agency with a racially integrated staff, was among a pioneer group of advertising agencies that specialized in tailoring national ad campaigns to the needs and desires of an urban, black consumer market. She was named one of the Foremost Women in Communications in 1970, and won her first advertising awards in 1971, including one for work on the Southern Voter Registration Drive.
In 1972, Jones went to work as Senior Copywriter at Kenyon & Eckhardt. She later became a partner and Creative Director. While at K&E, she met Kelvin Wall, who recruited her as a senior consultant at Kabon Consulting, another black-owned agency with which she was associated from about 1970 until about 1974. From there she went on to co-found the Black Creative Group. In 1975, she achieved another first by becoming the first woman Vice President of a major agency, Batten, Barton, Durstine and Osborn (BBDO).
Jones remained at BBDO until 1977, when she joined Frank Mingo and Richard Guilmenot as principals in a new agency affiliated with Interpublic. That arrangement offered the firm the financial backing of an international advertising and marketing communications giant. Mingo-Jones specialized in tailoring general market campaigns to a black audience, in creating new campaigns for the black market, and, in some cases, repositioning the product or introducing new products to increase market share. Jones played minor roles advising the Carter-Mondale presidential campaign in 1984 (box 31/folder 13), the Mondale-Ferraro campaign (box 34/folder4), and the David Dinkins New York City mayoral campaigns. She also advised the Jesse Jackson presidential campaign and the PLP party of the Bahamas as part of her public relations work for the country (see,for example, notebooks for September,1984, box 79).
In 1986 Caroline Jones left Mingo-Jones to form her own agency, Caroline Jones Advertising, which she restructured in 1994 as Caroline Jones, Inc. and operated until her death in 2001. Her major clients included the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, McDonalds, and Anheuser-Busch. Jones also created public service advertising for the United Negro College Fund, Healthy Start (pre-natal care), and the Partnership for a Drug Free America.
Caroline Jones received many awards including "Woman of the Year" by the Advertising Women of New York in 1990. She served on the boards of the Advertising Council, Long Island University, the Women's Bank of New York, and on the New York State Banking Board. Beginning in he late 1980s, she produced and moderated "Focus on the Black Woman" for WNYC Radio and hosted "In the Black: Keys to Success" for WOR-TV.
Sources
Stuart Elliott, "Caroline Jones, 59, Founder of Black-Run Ad Companies," The New York Times, July 8, 2001.
Judy Foster Davis, "Caroline Robinson Jones: Advertising Trailblazer, Entrepreneur and Tragic Heroine," in Eric H. Shaw, ed., The romance of marketing history : proceedings of the 11th Conference on Historical Analysis and Research in Marketing (CHARM), Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, May 15-18, 2003 Boca Raton, FL : Association for Historical Research in Marketing, 2003. 210-219.
Judy Foster Davis, "'Aunt Jemima is Alive and Cookin'?' An Advertiser's Dilemma of Competing Collection Memories," Journal of Macroeconomics, Vol. 27, No. 1. March 2007 p. 25-37
Materials in the Archives Center, National Museum of American History:
An oral history interview with Caroline Jones is found in Archives Center Collection (AC0367), The Campbell Soup Advertising Oral History and Documentation Project.
Provenance:
The collection was donated to the Archives Center, National Museum of American History in September 1996 by Caroline Marie Robinson Jones.
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.
Papers relating to products developed and marketed by Joseph Enterprises, Inc., including the Chia Pet and the Clapper. The collection includes internal business documentation including correspondence, design drawings, and photographs. Print advertising and packaging samples as well as audiovisual materials make up an important part of the collection. The video collection includes commercials for the Chia and Clapper products as well as clips of product mentions in popular entertainment. In addition, there are two recorded oral history interviews with Joseph Pedott.
Scope and Contents:
The collection documents the Chia Pet, the Clapper, and other products of Joseph Enterprises, Inc. Other materials include packaging and advertising campaigns by Joseph Pedott Advertising & Marketing for other companies.
While fragmentary and limited in extent, these materials illustrate the progress of Joe Pedott's career from a one-man advertising agency to a modest scale, enduring marketing business. The papers include early advertising work for small local clients and for a national client (Eversharp/Parker Pen) and well as early television for a variety of retail products. There is little on unsuccessful products, often just a few advertisements. The materials are complemented by the oral history interviews.
Arrangement:
Collection organized into eight series.
Series 1: Oral History Interviews, September 2004, April 2008
Series 2: Chia Pet, 1981-2005, undated
Series 3: The Clapper, 1976-1985, undated
Series 4: Scribe Ett, 1981, 1984, undated
Series 5: Eversharp Pen Company, undated
Series 6: Various Products, 1985, undated
Series 7: Newspaper Clippings, 1989-2004, undated
Series 8: Audiovisual Materials, 1979-2005, undated
Subseries 8.1, Commercials, 1979-2005
Subseries 8.2, Promotions, 1996-2001
Biographical / Historical:
Joseph Pedott (1932-2023) was born April 14, 1932 in Chicago. He attended the University of Illinois, where he and friend Daryl Peters, began the advertising company, Pedott & Peters. They successfully began producing commercials for automotive and retail companies and made a large amount of money by the time they reached the age of twenty-one. After making a bad business investment the partners focused on completing college. They began building up the company upon graduation.
Pedott and Peters worked together for several years before deciding to dissolve the partnership. Pedott then began working for R. Jack Scott, a Chicago advertising agency. Pedott worked for Scott for just over two years and during that time, out-performed those with more experience in the advertising field. Pedott left Chicago for San Francisco in 1956. He worked briefly at a small firm on commission before forming his own agency, Joseph Pedott Advertising & Marketing. Pedott's firm was innovative in advertising techniques. The company was the first to use "dealer tagging," a technique used at the ends of television commercials. During the last five seconds of the commercial consumers would learn where the advertised item could be purchased.
While attending a Chicago house wares show Pedott noticed the Chia Pet. He spoke with the product owner and learned that while the product was selling well, the owner was losing money on every Chia sold. Pedott bought the name and concept and reworked the manufacturing of the product after a trip to Mexico to witness first hand how the Chias were made. Later pedott moved Chia manufacturing to China. Pedott created a new company, Joseph Enterprises, Inc., (JEI) to manufacture the Chias. Joseph Pedott Advertising ran the advertising campaigns for all of JEI's products while continuing to work for non JEI clients.
After improving the quality of the product, the "new" Chia arrived on the market in 1982 and quickly expanded throughout the country, sold largely at drugstores. Today, the Chia Pet has large name recognition among the American public and continues to be a popular gift, especially at Christmas time. The line has expanded beyond the original ram and bull shapes to include a variety of animals (pig, elephant, kitten, dinosaur, etc.) as well as famous cultural icons such as Jerry Garcia, Bugs Bunny and various Looney Tunes characters, and Homer and Bart Simpson. In addition, the Chia Herb Garden entered the market in the mid-1990s.
Pedott's other success, the Clapper, came about through the advertising campaign for the Great American Turn On. Pedott discovered that the original product did not work properly and felt the owners were cheating their customers. JEI bought the product, including the patent, and reworked the electrical wiring to ensure that the company was selling a high quality product. As with the Chia Pet, The Clapper and its advertising, like the Chia, are familiar to a large number of Americans.
Note: Material for this section was taken from Joe Pedott Oral History Interview Abstract, September 20, 2004, Joseph Pedott Papers, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.
Related Materials:
Materials in the National Museum of American History
The Division of Culture and the Arts (now Division of Cultural and Community Life) holds artifacts related to this collection (Accession # 2005.3116) that include:
1. Chia Pet Handmade Clay Decorative Planter with Chia Seeds, Chia pet dog
2. Chia Pet Handmade Clay Decorative Planter with Chia Seeds, Chia pet ram
3. Chia Pet Handmade Clay Decorative Planter with Chia Seeds, Chia pet bull
4. Chia Pet Handmade Clay Decorative Planter with Chia Seeds, Chia-saurus
5. Chia Pet Handmade Clay Decorative Planter with Chia Seeds, Chia Shrek character
6. Handmade Clay Decorative Planter with Chia Seeds, Donkey from Shrek
7. Chia Pet Handmade Clay Decorative Planter with Chia Seeds, Jerry Garcia Chia
8. Bigmouth: A portable, plastic garbage bag holder
9A. CD Mobile antenna with packaging
9B. CB Mobile monitor with box
10. Video recorder with packaging
11. Metal detector with packaging
12. Pen set with frame and packaging
13. Light switch with box
14. Light switch with packaging
15. Jar lid opener with box
16. Tapeless measure with packaging
17A. Pen, engraving
17B. Pen, engraving with packaging
17C. Pen, engraving with packaging
17D. Pen, engraving with packaging
18A. Knife, Pumpkin cutter
18B. Knife, Pumpkin cutter
18C. Knife, Pumpkin cutter
18D. Knife, Pumpkin cutter
18E. Knife with packaging
18F. Pumpkin cutter with packaging
Provenance:
The collection was donated by Joseph Pedott, 2005.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
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.
The collection is divided into six series. It includes mostly printed materials and interviews, and dates from approximately 1976 to 2005. There are wine-related event materials, interview transcripts and audiotapes, printed material and histories from people and institutions representing a wide spectrum of the wine business. Wine-related objects, such vineyard and winery tools, are stored with the Museum's artifact collections; documentary materials are held in the Archives Center.
Materials from each special event are organized into separate series, which contain records generated at the events and interviews. Series one contains the "Red, White and American Records," series two the "Collectors Event," and series three the "Wine Writers Event." Interviews conducted independently of these events are included in series four. All of the interviews have been partially transcribed and include an abstract and various forms of audiotapes and discs. Series five is composed of printed materials that relate to both specific individuals in the wine business and to more general American wine topics. Most of this material consists of photocopies of original articles. There are also files with materials by and about specific wine writers, such as Anthony Dias Blue, William Heinz, and Dick Rosano. Series five also contains an original telex of George Taber's article about the 1976 Paris Tasting. Series six consists of visual materials, including two landscape photographs of an vineyard in Oregon and two videotaped documentaries on Napa.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into seven series.
Series 1: Red, White, and American : Wine in American History and Culture Records, 1976-1996
Series 2: Collections Event, 2001
Series 3: Reflections: A Day in the Life of a Wine Writer Event, 2002
Series 4: Interviews, 1997-2001
Series 5: Printed Materials, 1997-2001
Series 6: Visual Materials, undated
Series 7; Interviews, 2013
Biographical / Historical:
The American Wine History Project began in 1996 with the intention to document the history of American winemaking, mainly for the post-1950 period. While the project includes winemaking areas around the country, the focus has been on northern and central California. The Project explores the convergence of craft, culture, science, technology, and the environment in modern American winemaking. In conjunction with the project, the Smithsonian held a 2-day symposium, "Red, White and American," with a small accompanying exhibition, entitled, "Doubtless as Good: Jefferson's Dream for American Wine Fulfilled," in 1996 and began gathering objects and other documentation.
Since 1997, National Museum of American History staff members have traveled to California to conduct interviews, take photographs and video footage, and gather materials for the Smithsonian collection from grape growers, winemakers, winery owners, and others important to the business, including wine writers and chefs. Some of the materials were generated from events in Napa, such as the collectors and wine writers events, that were held specifically for the purpose of adding documentation to the Smithsonian project. The documentation project is on-going so materials will continue to be added to the collection.
Provenance:
Some of the materials were generated by the Smithsonian Institution, such as those in series 1 through 3. Others were given by separate donors between 1996 and 2002.
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.
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 (now Division of Cultural and Community Life) 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 but a portion of the collection is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
The collection documents the work of Dolores Valdes-Zacky and her advertising firm Valdes-Zacky Associates, who specialize in the Hispanic consumer market.
Scope and Contents:
The collection includes guidebooks on marketing to Hispanics; business records; letters and emails; photographs; an award; case studies; ad campaign proposals; story boards; press releases; print advertisements for the agency and for its clients, as well as for products; a DVD of commercials; newsletters; magazine and newspaper articles. Some items in the collection relate to Valdes Zacky's work with the J. Walter Thompson firm.
Arrangement:
The collection is divided into two series.
Series 1: Background Materials, 1955-1999
Series 2: Advertising and Marketing Materials, 1989-1999
Biographical / Historical:
Dolores Valdes-Zacky started her career in advertising with the J. Walter Thompson agency. She left to start her own firm, Valdes-Zacky Associates in 1987, specializing in tapping the Hispanic consumer market. Some of the agency's clients have been Mitsubishi Motors, Adolph Coors Company, Arrowhead Puritas Waters, Vons Grocery, and the Partnership for a Drug Free America.
Provenance:
Collection donated by Dolores Valdes Zacky, 2016.
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.
The Alka-Seltzer Oral History and Documentation Project is a result of a one year effort supported, in part, by Miles Laboratories, Incorporated. Twenty-four oral history interviews and a variety of related materials were gathered to document Alka- Seltzer advertising, primarily from the mid-1950s to the 1980s. The project covers "Speedy" Alka-Seltzer, "Oh what a relief it is," "The Blahs," "Alka Seltzer on the rocks," and "I can't believe I ate the whole thing" campaigns
Scope and Contents:
Oral histories with individuals associated with Alka-Seltzer and its advertising campaigns are at the core of the Alka-Seltzer Documenation and Oral History Project. Conducted by Smithsonian Institution staff, the oral histories primarily examine Alka-Seltzer's innovative and memorable print and television commercials. Abstracts exist for each interview.The collection also includes background information, archival materials from Miles Laboratories, Inc., television commercials, storyboards, and company publications.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged in 8 series.
Series 1: Research Files, circa 1930-1986
Series 2: Interviewee Files, 1986-1987
Series 3: Oral Histories, 1986-1987
Subseries 3.1: Original Interviews
Subseries 3.2: Reference Cassettes
Subseries 3.3: Master Audio Tapes
Series 4: Miles Archives Materials, 1931-1980
Subseries 4.1: Marketing Research and Sales Data
Subseries 4.2: Alka-Seltzer Storyboards and History (Photocopies)
Subseries 4:3: Miles Advertising History and Oral History Program(photocopies)
Series 5: Company Publications, 1960-1986
Series 6: Photographs, circa 1950-1985
Series 7: Alka-Seltzer Posters, 1967-1986
Series 8: Audiovisual Materials
Subseries 8.1: Original Masters
Subseries 8.2: Reference Videos
Biographical / Historical:
The Alka-Seltzer Oral History and Documentation Project is a result of a one year effort supported, in part, by Miles Laboratories, Incorporated Twenty-four oral history interviews and a variety of related materials were gathered to document Alka- Seltzer advertising, primarily from the mid-1950s to the 1980s. The project covers "Speedy" Alka-Seltzer, "Oh what a relief it is," "The Blahs," "Alka Seltzer on the rocks," and "I can't believe I ate the whole thing" campaigns.
Miles Laboratories, Incorporated, the maker of Alka-Seltzer, and Wade Advertising of Chicago established a light-hearted advertising approach with the iconic puppet "Speedy", which had a tablet for a body and a smaller one for a hat. Speedy came to life through stop motion animation, a technique in which each of the puppet's movements was captured on a separate frame of film. The voice of Richard Beals made "Speedy" a distinctive character.
"Speedy" was a mainstay of Alka Seltzer advertising until 1964, when Miles,Incorporated took the account to Jack Tinker & Partners in New York. The agency's work for Alka-Seltzer embodied what came to be called advertising's "creative revolution," replacing the "talking heads" and "hard sell" of earlier advertising with humor, wit, and engaging storylines, even within the limits of a 30 second television spot. In 1969, the Alka Seltzer account went to Doyle, Dane, Bernbach, an agency which changed the look of print advertising during the early years of the "creative revolution." In 1970, Alka-Seltzer moved agencies to Wells, Rich, Greene, where the product's advertising came under the direction of Mary Wells Lawrence. Ms. Lawrence had worked on the Alka Seltzer account while at Tinker and continued Alka Seltzer's reputation for innovative and captivating work. In 1984 they shifted to McCann Erickson.
Provenance:
Collection donated by Miles Laboratories in 1988 and created by the Smithsonian Institution in 1986 and 1987.
Restrictions:
Researchers may use reference copies only. The interview with Charles Chaplin is restricted and may not be copied or quoted until his death.
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.
The López Negrete Communications Advertising Collection showcases the successful print advertising campaigns the communications agency undertook with major clients like Goya Foods, NationsBank, and Walmart. The advertising posters in this collection exemplify the agency's creativity in building on U.S. Latinos' everyday experiences to market American products and services. Alex and Cathy López Negrete, the founders of López Negrete Communications, made it their mission to use ethnographic approaches to better understand the U.S. Latino market which led to their success as the largest independently-owned Latino advertising agency in the country.
Scope and Contents:
The collection is made up of López Negrete Communications' large posters created as part of the print advertising campaigns for major American corporations and oral history interviews with Javier Gonzalez Herba, Alex López Negrete, and Cathy López Negrete. Transcripts for oral history interviews with Javier Gonzalez Herba and Alex López Negrete are available.
López Negrete Communications' clients include Fiesta Mart, Goya Foods, NationsBank (and its successor, Bank of America), Tyson Foods, and Walmart. The content of the posters serves as an example of the advertising agency's efforts to better understand the U.S. Latino market by engaging with Latinos' everyday experiences through ethnography and direct communication.
Arrangement:
The collection is divided into ten series.
Series 1: Background Materials, 2016
Series 2: Bank of America, 2000-2007
Series 3: Circle K, Totally Bueno, 2003
Series 4: Fiesta Mart, Inc., 2002-2003
Series 5: Goya Foods, Inc., 2003
Series 6: Houston Metropolitan Transit Authority (METRO), El camino a su destino/The Road to Your Destiny, 1988
Series 7: Microsoft, Nosotros vemos/We See, 2002
Series 8: NationsBank, 1994-1998
Series 9: Tyson Foods, 2001-2006
Series 10: Walmart, Inc. 1998-2015
Biographical / Historical:
Originally named Third Coast Marketing, López Negrete Communications was founded in 1985 by Alex and Cathy López Negrete. The advertising agency has been based in Houston, Texas since the beginning but has additional offices in Los Angeles and New York. López Negrete Communications is currently the largest independently-owned Latino advertising agency in the United States. It is known for drawing on the everyday lives and experiences of US Latino consumers in order to work with major corporate clients to market their products through effective communication and empowerment.
Separated Materials:
The Division of Work and Industry holds the following artifacts related to this collection:
Coin, Accession #: 2015.0305.01
Paperweight, Accession #: 2015.0305.02
Provenance:
Collection donated by López Negrete Communications, 2016.
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.
The Marlboro Oral History and Documentation Project is the result of a two-year effort supported in part by a gift from Philip Morris, Inc. Sixty oral history interviews and a variety of television commercials, print advertising, promotional materials, packaging, and industry publications were gathered to document Marlboro cigarette advertising. The bulk of the collection focuses on the period between 1954 and 1986, and examines the "Marlboro man", "Settle Back" and "Marlboro Country" campaigns. The collection is a rich source of information for researchers interested in advertising and marketing history, issues of smoking and health, and the export of both tobacco and American cultural symbols abroad.
The core of the collection is a series of interviews conducted during 1985-1987 by Dr. Scott Ellsworth, an independent scholar and oral historian. The broad range of interviewees included executives of Philip Morris, advertising agency personnel from Leo Burnett, photographers, production staff, sales and marketing personnel, and Marlboro cowboys.
Twenty-seven interviews were conducted overseas, in Argentina, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Hong Kong, Switzerland, and West Germany. Conducted primarily with Marlboro licensee and affiliate staff, the interviews focus on the marketing and advertising history of Marlboro in the six nations. These interviews and others conducted with executives of Philip Morris International in New York City also address the history of Marlboro advertising in Africa, the Middle East, China, Eastern Europe and elsewhere in Europe and Latin America.
The interviews cover events from the 1930s through the 1980s. They focus on the theory and development of Marlboro advertising, its content and creation, and its modifications over the years. The foreign interviews also discuss the structure of the local cigarette marketplace, marketing and advertising techniques, and the use and modification of Marlboro advertising for different cultures.
Finding aids to the oral histories include abstracts of each interview indicating the major topic discussed, a cumulative index to personal names and topics in the interviews, and brief biographical and scope notes.
Arrangement:
Dthe collection is divided into seven series.
Series 1: Research Files, 1943-1987
Series 2, Interviewee Files, 1986
Series 3; Oral History Interviews, 1986
Series 4: Advertising Materials, 1926-1986
Series 5: Promotional items and packaging, 1926-1986
Series 6: Publications and Research Material, 1960-1988
Series 7: Travel Slides Generated by Project Team, 1926-1986
Biographical / Historical:
The history of Marlboro cigarettes offers insight into one of the great advertising and marketing success stories of the 20th century. Marlboro cigarettes were marketed from the Victorian era through the first half of this century as a women's cigarette, with tag-lines that aimed to appeal to female smokers, such as "Marlboro - Mild As May." In 1955, two transformations occurred which would affect both profitability and brand recognition: the addition of an integrated filter and the re-invention of the market through the debut of the "Marlboro Man" advertising campaign. The original Marlboro Man campaign featured close-up images of all kinds of men using the product -- the cowboy was one, along with lifeguards, sailors, drill sergeants, construction workers, gamblers and other types suggestive of a masculine spirit and rugged independence. By 1963, the "Marlboro Country" campaign began. This campaign focused on the cowboy and his symbolic canon: boots, hats, horses, and western landscapes. By the mid-1980s, Marlboro was the best-selling brand in the United States and the world, and the Marlboro cowboy was among the most widely recognized of American cultural symbols. Sold in over 180 nations, both the cigarettes and the ad campaign had become a global phenomena.
Provenance:
The collection was donated to the Archives Center by Philip Morris, Inc. in 1986.
Restrictions:
The materials in the Marlboro Collection are made available for research according to the established practices and principles of the Archives Center and the National Museum of American History.
Rights:
In making these materials available for research, the Smithsonian Institution makes no claims of ownership of the copyrights or related rights. All responsibility for infringement of legal authorship rights and or copyright is assumed by the user of the materials. In addition, the user indemnifies and holds harmless the Smithsonian Institution for all claims, actions, damages, judgments and expenses that may result from use of these materials.
In addition, the donor has imposed restrictions on reproduction or broadcast of collection materials by third parties. The reproduction or broadcast of print ads and television commercials in the collection is subject to prior written consent from: Nancy Lund, Vice President, Marketing,Philip Morris International, 120 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10017;(917) 663-5000
1 Item (Newspaper clipping on paper., 3.5 cm x 8 cm.)
Type:
Archival materials
Advertisements
Clippings
Date:
July 26, 1965
Scope and Contents:
Advertisement for engineers and scientists by Del Mar Engineering Laboratories.
Local Numbers:
AC1249-0000001.tif (AC Scan No.)
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Collection 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.
Model in Maidenform bra reclines on tiger skin rug. Egyptian motifs abound.
Local Numbers:
03058511.tif (AC Scan)
Collection Restrictions:
The collection is open for research use. Only reference copies of audiovisual materials may be used for research.
Collection 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.
The donor has imposed restrictions on reproduction, broadcast or use of the collection for commercial purposes of any kind by third parties. Reproduction, broadcast or other use of the collection for commercial purposes of any kind by third parties is subject to prior written consent. These permissions will be required until July 2047. Please see the repository for further details.
Collection contains sixty-two posters commemorating the Monterey Jazz Festival created and signed by Earl Newman.
Scope and Contents:
Collection consists of a set of sixty-two posters created by Earl Newman to publicize the Monterey Jazz Festival. The prints are numbered and signed by Mr. Newman and feature Ray Charles, BB King, Etta James, Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, and others. They are arranged in chronological order. Folders one through eleven contain the prints. Advertising and the cloth-covered portfolio to hold the poster collection are in folder twelve.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into one series.
Related Materials:
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Duke Ellington Collection, NMAH.AC.0301
William H. Quealy Collection of Duke Ellington Recordings, NMAH.AC.0296
Duke Ellington Oral History Project, NMAH.AC.0368
Billy Strayhorn Ephemera Collection, NMAH.AC.0383
Collection of Duke Ellington Ephemera and Related Audio-visual Materials, NMAH.AC.0386
Robert Udkoff Collection of Duke Ellington Ephemera, NMAH.AC.0388
Frank Driggs Collection of Duke Ellington Photographic Reference Prints, NMAH.AC.0389
New York Chapter of the Duke Ellington Society Collection, NMAH.AC.O390
Felix Grant Collection, NMAH.AC.0410
Carter Harman Collection of Interviews with Duke Ellington, NMAH.AC.0422
Archives Center Collection of Music Transcriptions of Duke Ellington Compositions, Carter Harman NMAH.AC.0430
Jazz Oral History Collection about Duke Ellington, NMAH.AC.0431
Herman Leonard Photoprints, NMAH.AC.0445
Don Brown Collection of Duke Ellington Recordings, NMAH.AC.0472
Betty McGettigan Collection of Duke Ellington Memorabilia, NMAH.AC.0494
Dr. Theodore Shell Collection of Duke Ellington Ephemera, NMAH.AC.0502
Jay McCarter Phonograph Record Collection, NMAH.AC.0541
Tom Whaley Collection, NMAH.AC.0652
William Claxton Photographs, NMAH.AC.0695
Edward and Gaye Ellington Collection of Duke Ellington Materials, NMAH.AC.0704
Andrew Homzy Collection of Duke Ellington Stock Arrangements, NMAH.AC.0740
Benny Carter Collection, NMAH.AC.0757
John Gensel Collection of Duke Ellington Materials, NMAH.AC.0763
W. Royal Stokes Collection of Music Publicity Photoprints, Interviews and Posters, NMAH.AC.0766
Milt Gabler Papers, NMAH.AC.0849
Paquito D'Rivera Music Manuscripts and Photograph, NMAH.AC.0891
Charismic Productions Records of Dizzy Gillespie, NMAH.AC.0979
Floyd Levin Jazz Reference Collection, NMAH.AC.1222
Al Celley Collection of Duke Ellington Materials, NMAH.AC.1240
James Moody Papers, NMAH.AC.1405
Provenance:
The collection was donated to the Archives Center by Earl Newman, 1992 and 2010.
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.
The collection documents the Spiller Company's work in developing print advertising and advertising novelties such as advertisements placed on balloons, blotters, clipboards, calendars, hats, etc. Many of the products they developed advertisements for were toys and novelties. The collection includes design drawings, a notebook, business records, correspondence, photographs, trade literature, point of purchase displays, and newsletters.
Arrangement:
Collection is unarranged.
Biographical / Historical:
Advertising company, Batavia, New York.
Provenance:
Donated to the Archives Center in 2016 by Harley J. Spiller.
Restrictions:
Collection is unprocessed.
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.
