Advertising - Overview
Advertising is meant to persuade, and the themes and techniques of that persuasion reveal a part of the nation's history. The Museum has preserved advertising campaigns for several familiar companies, such as Marlboro, Alka-Seltzer, Federal Express, Cover Girl, and Nike. It also holds the records of the NW Ayer Advertising Agency and business papers from Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Carvel Ice Cream, and other companies. The Warshaw Collection of Business Americana comprises thousands of trade cards, catalogs, labels, and other business papers and images dating back to the late 1700s.
Beyond advertising campaigns, the collections encompass thousands of examples of packaging, catalogs, and other literature from many crafts and trades, from engineering to hat making. The collections also contain an eclectic array of advertising objects, such as wooden cigar-store Indians, neon signs, and political campaign ads.
"Advertising - Overview" showing 87 items.
Page 1 of 9
Listerated Pepsin Gum
- Description (Brief)
- Oval pin with metal pin-back advertising the Common Sense Gum Company's Listerated Pepsin Gum. In red and blue print, it carries the trademark of a pyramid with a "10" inside, and the phrase, "I am germ proof."
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1912
- advertiser
- Common Sense Gum Company
- maker
- Ehrman Mfg. Company
- ID Number
- 2006.0098.0111
- accession number
- 2006.0098
- catalog number
- 2006.0098.0111
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Cascade Flour
- Description (Brief)
- Advertising novelty for Cascade Flour. Image of a smiling man in a bow-tie, with the question "Why?" underneath. A slide-out panel explains "We use Cascade Flour at our house and IT'S FINE."
- Location
- Currently not on view
- maker
- Brown & Bigelow
- ID Number
- 2006.0098.0129
- accession number
- 2006.0098
- catalog number
- 2006.0098.0129
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Sunshine Finishes
- Description (Brief)
- Celluloid notebook. A color image on the cover shows two children entering a home with a container of finish and a paint brush. The reverse has a calendar for the year 1909. The back has a color image of a can of finish advertising Sunshine Finishes. Handwritten marks in ink are on the interior pages.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1909
- maker
- Heath & Milligan Mfg. Company
- ID Number
- 2006.0098.0463
- accession number
- 2006.0098
- catalog number
- 2006.0098.0463
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
L.S. Plaut & Co.
- Description (Brief)
- Celluloid notebook advertising the L. S. Plaut & Company store, "The Beehive, the largest fancy goods store in the state," in red and blue print with an image of a beehive. An image of the Newark, N.J., store is on the back cover. A calendar for the year 1890 and a list of goods for sale are on the inside page.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1890
- advertiser
- L. S. Plaut & Company
- maker
- L. S. Plaut & Company
- ID Number
- 2006.0098.0488
- accession number
- 2006.0098
- catalog number
- 2006.0098.0488
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
"Chic" Helps and Hints
- Description (Brief)
- Promotional booklet with celluloid cover. Red, green, and black print on front. Color image of a woman's face and purple flowers. Black, red, and blue print on back cover. Image of a box of Pennyroyal Pills. Interior contents include calendars for the years 1904-1907; advertisements for Chichester products; beauty and health hints; legal maxims; states' nicknames; and more.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1904
- advertiser
- Chichester Chemical Co.
- maker
- Whitehead & Hoag Company
- ID Number
- 2006.0098.0504
- accession number
- 2006.0098
- catalog number
- 2006.0098.0504
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Decimal Equivalents of SRB Products
- Description (Brief)
- Celluloid mathematical table for decimal equivalents. Square with interior dial, the front bears an image of an wheel with ball bearings. Images of various ball-bearing products are on reverse. It is an advertisment for Standard Roller Bearing Company.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1910
- maker
- Standard Roller Bearing Company
- ID Number
- 2006.0098.0513
- accession number
- 2006.0098
- catalog number
- 2006.0098.0513
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Hale's "Clever Clothes Shop"
- Description (Brief)
- Celluloid envelope with blue print. On one side is an image of a woman's profile and Edward Hoch's attributed quote that begins, "There is so much bad in the best of us ..." An advertisement is on the reverse. The envelope contains a celluloid sleeve and a strip of material. It is an advertising piece for Hale's "Clever Clothes Shop" of Kingston, N.Y.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- after 1905
- advertiser
- Hale, Chas. E
- maker
- Whitehead & Hoag Company
- ID Number
- 2006.0098.0519
- accession number
- 2006.0098
- catalog number
- 2006.0098.0519
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Lumber Scale
- Description (Brief)
- Celluloid lumber and cement scale. It is rectangular with two interior dials and is printed in blue and red. One side calculates the quantity of materials requred to make one cubic yard of rammed concrete. The other side calculates the number of feet boards contained in various sizes of lumber. Lehigh Cement Company was founded in 1897.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- after 1920
- advertiser
- Lehigh Portland Cement Company
- maker
- Whitehead & Hoag Company
- ID Number
- 2006.0098.0523
- accession number
- 2006.0098
- catalog number
- 2006.0098.0523
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
La Lime Qui Dure, Nicholson, U.S.A.
- Description (Brief)
- Flat, rectangular card advertising the Nicholson File Company of Providence, R.I. It has a red front with green border and an image of a nail file with a product box. The reverse is white with red and black print, and has a calendar for 1937. This was likely an ad for a French-speaking country, as the front reads, "La Lime Qui Dure" and "Une Lime Appropriee Pour Tout Travail" meaning "The File that Lasts" and "A File Suited for All Work."
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1937
- maker
- Nicholson File Company
- ID Number
- 2006.0098.0598
- accession number
- 2006.0098
- catalog number
- 2006.0098.0598
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Yale and Holmes
- Description (Brief)
- Two sheets of celluloid fastened together over three rotating discs that display numbers. One disc displays in a window marked "Points," one in "Games" and the other in "Trumps." There is advertising on one side, and the other is printed with an image of a monkey with windows in its eyes and mouth. As the wheels turn, different styles of eyes and mouth appear on the monkey's face.
- This advertising piece for Yale and Holmes Union Suits of Malden, Mass., features an image of a man wearing long underwear.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1905
- maker
- Whitehead & Hoag Company
- ID Number
- 2006.0098.0644
- accession number
- 2006.0098
- catalog number
- 2006.0098.0644
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center