Advertising

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.

Circular hand mirror with an advertisement. on the back. for the Cruver Manufacturing Co., of Chicago.Currently not on view
Description
Circular hand mirror with an advertisement. on the back. for the Cruver Manufacturing Co., of Chicago.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Cruver Manufacturing Company
ID Number
CH.334567
accession number
310799
catalog number
334567
This square button, designed to look like a 3 ½” floppy diskette, has a red background with white text that reads: "Spectrum, The Better Diskette" / Memory Media Products / Tustin, California / U.S.
Description
This square button, designed to look like a 3 ½” floppy diskette, has a red background with white text that reads: "Spectrum, The Better Diskette" / Memory Media Products / Tustin, California / U.S. 1-800-228-0438 / CA 1-800-228-9699 / EUROPE +41 22 734 73 59 / Spectrum diskettes are / made in the U.S.A.”
Location
Currently not on view
date made
c. 1989
ID Number
2009.3071.554
catalog number
2009.3071.554
nonaccession number
2009.3071
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1888
maker
Boston Herald
ID Number
GA.293320.2975
catalog number
293320.2975
accession number
293320
The Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut produced this advertising token around 1863. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer and is still in business today.
Description (Brief)
The Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut produced this advertising token around 1863. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer and is still in business today. Scovill was an early industrial American innovator, adapting armory manufacturing processes to mass-produce a variety of consumer goods including buttons, daguerreotype mats, medals, coins, and tokens.
Obverse: Image of a mortar and pestle, surrounded by a wreath. The legend reads: T. BRIMELOW, DRUGIST, 432 THIRD AVENUE. N-Y./ 1863/ 1.
Reverse: Rim encircled by stars. The legend reads: GOOD FOR ONE GLASS OF SODA.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1863
maker
Scovill Manufacturing Company
ID Number
1981.0296.1526
accession number
1981.0296
catalog number
1981.0296.1526
The Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut produced this advertising token during the early 20th century. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer and is still in business today.
Description (Brief)
The Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut produced this advertising token during the early 20th century. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer and is still in business today. Scovill was an early industrial American innovator, adapting armory manufacturing processes to mass-produce a variety of consumer goods including buttons, daguerreotype mats, medals, coins, and tokens. There are holes in both sides of the token.
Obverse: Image of Robin Hood drawing his bow. The legend reads: ROBIN HOOD SHOES/ FOR BOYS GIRLS/ A GOLD STANDARD SHOE.
Reverse: The legend reads: ROBIN HOOD/ PLAY 5 MONEY/ LUCKY COIN.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
early 20th century
maker
Scovill Manufacturing Company
ID Number
1981.0296.1625
accession number
1981.0296
catalog number
1981.0296.1625
The Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut produced this token during the early 20th century. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer and is still in business today.
Description (Brief)
The Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut produced this token during the early 20th century. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer and is still in business today. Scovill was an early industrial American innovator, adapting armory manufacturing processes to mass-produce a variety of consumer goods including buttons, daguerreotype mats, medals, coins, and tokens.
Obverse: ONE DOLLAR WILL BE PAID FOR 99 OF THESE TOKENS BY THE UNION STORE NO 185 6TH AVENUE NEW- YORK.
Reverse: COMPETITION DEFIED WITHOUT ANY EXCEPTION IN FANCY AND STAPLE DRY GOODS BY THE UNION STORE OF A .WISE.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
early 20th century
maker
Scovill Manufacturing Company
ID Number
1981.0296.1479
accession number
1981.0296
catalog number
1981.0296.1479
The Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut produced this advertising token during the second half of the 19th century. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer and is still in business today.
Description (Brief)
The Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut produced this advertising token during the second half of the 19th century. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer and is still in business today. Scovill was an early industrial American innovator, adapting armory manufacturing processes to mass-produce a variety of consumer goods including buttons, daguerreotype mats, medals, coins, and tokens.
Obverse: Image of a large factory. Legend: THE PIONEER WAGON WORKS OF THE WEST/ ESTABLISHED 1843/ PETER SCHUTTLER CHICAGO.
Reverse: Image of a wagon. Legend: JOHN J. MAXEY. DENVER , COL./DEALER IN AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS/AGT. FOR THE SHUTTLER WAGON.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
late 19th century
maker
Scovill Manufacturing Company
ID Number
1981.0296.1620
accession number
1981.0296
catalog number
1981.0296.1620
The Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut produced this advertising token during the second half of the 19th century. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer and is still in business today.
Description (Brief)
The Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut produced this advertising token during the second half of the 19th century. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer and is still in business today. Scovill was an early industrial American innovator, adapting armory manufacturing processes to mass-produce a variety of consumer goods including buttons, daguerreotype mats, and tokens.
Obverse: Image of a wagon. Legend: HERMAN HAAS, CHEYENNE, WYO. TER./ DEALER IN AGRICULTURAL IMPLMENTS/ AGT. FOR THE SCHUTTLER WAGON
Reverse: Image of a factory. Legend: THE PIONEER WAGON WORKS OF THE WEST/ ESTABLISHED 1843/ PETER SCHUTTLER CHICAGO
Location
Currently not on view
date made
late 19th century
maker
Scovill Manufacturing Company
ID Number
1981.0296.1629
accession number
1981.0296
catalog number
1981.0296.1629
The Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut produced this transportation token around 1852. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer and is still in business today.
Description (Brief)
The Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut produced this transportation token around 1852. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer and is still in business today. Scovill was an early industrial American innovator, adapting armory manufacturing processes to mass-produce a variety of consumer goods including buttons, daguerreotype mats, medals, coins, and transportation tokens.
Obverse: Bust of Professor Johnson facing right. The legend reads: PROFESSOR JOHNSON 317 BOWERY/ 1852.
Reverse: Image of an eagle with shield, gripping arrows in one talon and an olive branch in the other. The legend reads: UNITED STATES/ STARCH POLISH.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1852
maker
Scovill Manufacturing Company
ID Number
1981.0296.1480
accession number
1981.0296
catalog number
1981.0296.1480
This advertising badge was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut during the middle of the 19th century. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer that is still in business today.
Description (Brief)
This advertising badge was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut during the middle of the 19th century. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer that is still in business today. Scovill was an early industrial American innovator, adapting armory manufacturing processes to mass-produce a variety of consumer goods including buttons, daguerreotype mats, coins, and campaign medals. John Robbins was using the imagery and iconography of George Washington to advertise his store.
Obverse: Tintype photograph of George Washington.
Reverse: Text reads: JOHN D. ROBBINS, TOYS, Fancy Goods, and FIREWORKS, 37 John Street, N.Y.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
mid 19th century
depicted
Washington, George
maker
Scovill Manufacturing Company
ID Number
1981.0296.1173
accession number
1981.0296
catalog number
1981.0296.1173
The Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut produced this advertising token during the early 20th century. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer and is still in business today.
Description (Brief)
The Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut produced this advertising token during the early 20th century. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer and is still in business today. Scovill was an early industrial American innovator, adapting armory manufacturing processes to mass-produce a variety of consumer goods including buttons, daguerreotype mats, medals, coins, and tokens.
Obverse: Image of a chopping block. The legend reads: 23 SPRING ST./NEW YORK
Reverse: Central image of Mittnacht’s Safe. The legend reads: G.M. MITTNACHT’S EAGLE SAFE.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
early 20th century
maker
Scovill Manufacturing Company
ID Number
1981.0296.1520
accession number
1981.0296
catalog number
1981.0296.1520
The Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut produced this advertising token during the mid 19th century. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer and is still in business today.
Description (Brief)
The Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut produced this advertising token during the mid 19th century. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer and is still in business today. Scovill was an early industrial American innovator, adapting armory manufacturing processes to mass-produce a variety of consumer goods including buttons, daguerreotype mats, medals, coins, and tokens.
Obverse: The legend reads: LEWIS L. SQUIRE & SONS/ SHIP CHANDLERS AND ROPE MAKERS./ 283 FRONT ST. NEW YORK.
Reverse: The legend reads: DEALERS IN ANCHORS OILS PAINTS BLOCKS & C./ OAKUM SPIKES NAVAL STORES/ IMPORTERS OF CHAIN CABLES.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
mid 19th century
maker
Scovill Manufacturing Company
ID Number
1981.0296.1516
accession number
1981.0296
catalog number
1981.0296.1516
The Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut produced this souvenir coin in 1965. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer and is still in business today.
Description (Brief)
The Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut produced this souvenir coin in 1965. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer and is still in business today. Scovill was an early industrial American innovator, adapting armory manufacturing processes to mass-produce a variety of consumer goods including buttons, daguerreotype mats, medals, and coins.
Obverse: Bust of P.T. Barnum facing right.
Reverse: Image of an eagle. The legend reads: The Annual Barnum Festival/ 1965/ BRIDGEPORT CONNECTICUT YANKEE COIN CLUB/ COIN-O-RAMA
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1965
depicted
Barnum, P. T.
maker
Scovill Manufacturing Company
ID Number
1981.0296.1612
accession number
1981.0296
catalog number
1981.0296.1612
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.
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 Appropriée Pour Tout Travail" meaning "The File that Lasts" and "A File Suited for All Work."
Description
One side of this celluloid card has a calendar for 1937 and an advertisement for the Nicholson File Company in Providence, R.I. The other side has an image of a Nicholson file, “La Lime Qui Dure.”
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
A promotional notebook with a celluloid cover. Distributed by retailer John M. Crouse of Finesville, N.J., it advertises products of the Berg Company of Philadelphia, Pa.
Description (Brief)
A promotional notebook with a celluloid cover. Distributed by retailer John M. Crouse of Finesville, N.J., it advertises products of the Berg Company of Philadelphia, Pa. The pages contain calendars, blank memo pages, and a wide range of information on Berg's products.
The front shows the image of a man wearing a sandwich board advertising "Berg's Pure Ingredient Guanos and Bone Manures."
The advertisment contains a picture of a bull with the caption, "From the farm thou art, Unto the farm thou shalt return." It is a play on the biblical verse, Genesis 3:19: "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return."
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1906
maker
Whitehead & Hoag Company
ID Number
2006.0098.0911
accession number
2006.0098
catalog number
2006.0098.0911
The Hamons family business exemplifies the culture of roadside communities that sprang up as long-distance automobile travel increased. Carl and Lucille Hamons lived on Carl's mother's farm until the late 1930s, when they moved to the town of Hydro, Oklahoma.
Description
The Hamons family business exemplifies the culture of roadside communities that sprang up as long-distance automobile travel increased. Carl and Lucille Hamons lived on Carl's mother's farm until the late 1930s, when they moved to the town of Hydro, Oklahoma. In 1941 they used Carl's inheritance to purchase a gasoline station with seven tourist cabins at Provine, a sparsely settled crossroads on Route 66 one mile southwest of Hydro. Neighboring businesses included a Texaco station and the Hill Top Café. Carl drove a truck for a living, and Lucille operated the gas station and cabins. They lived in the second story of the gas station; Lucille prepared breakfast and sandwiches for travelers on a hotplate in the first story. Lucille lived in the gas station until her death in 2000.
Social interaction in communities like Provine differed greatly from traditional villages. Strangers on the move were brought together briefly in a remote, ephemeral setting. This was a culture of mobility; motor travel was the only reason for Provine's existence. In her autobiography, Lucille describes the isolation of her gas station home, her frequent interaction with travelers on Route 66, and her travel-oriented duties and services in addition to running the gas station and cabins. She helped travelers in financial straits by accepting objects for payment or by purchasing their cars and putting the travelers on a bus. During World War II, when rubber and metal were in short supply, she sold tires and parts stripped from the used cars that she had bought.
Lucille witnessed the second wave of migration on Route 66 in the early 1940s, when midwesterners sought defense jobs in California, as well as postwar vacation trips and household moves. In recent years, as interest in the historical and cultural aspects of Route 66 has grown, Mrs. Hamons has been celebrated as the "Mother of the Mother Road." Her gas station was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997. Cheryl Hamons Nowka, who was born in the second story of the gas station, created a Lucille Hamons web site in the mid-1990s.
date made
1941
maker
Gillingham Sign Company, Weatherford, Oklahoma
ID Number
2001.0327.01
accession number
2001.0327
Round Liberty Loan pin with metal pin-back. The pin is blue with a white “V” in the center. White text reads “Liberty Loan.” A red, white, and blue plastic ribbon is attached to the pin. Blue text on the white portion reads “Volunteer.”Liberty Loans were part of the U.S.
Description (Brief)
Round Liberty Loan pin with metal pin-back. The pin is blue with a white “V” in the center. White text reads “Liberty Loan.” A red, white, and blue plastic ribbon is attached to the pin. Blue text on the white portion reads “Volunteer.”
Liberty Loans were part of the U.S. government’s effort to sell war bonds (also known as Liberty Bonds) during World War I to defray the expense of war. These bonds were issued by the U.S. Treasury. The First Liberty Bond Act was passed by Congress on April 24, 1917, and the bonds began issuance shortly thereafter.
Much like the use of military insignia to identify its wearer (by association with an organization) and his/her achievements, these pins and buttons were meant to be worn by Americans on the home front during World War I to show their membership in an organization and/or their contribution to a particular war effort, such as the United War Work Campaign. The pins and buttons displayed the wearer’s patriotism and generosity and undoubtedly also served to prompt others to become similarly involved in the various war efforts.
SOURCE:
Treasury Department, Liberty Loan Acts (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1921). books.google.com/books?id=4qFAAAAAYAAJ.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1917
maker
American Art Works
ID Number
2006.0098.0266
accession number
2006.0098
catalog number
2006.0098.0266
This small, cardboard box has a multicolored design of a scene of two squirrels in a woodland area. This box was used to store and market Fry's Concentrated Cocoa.J. S. Fry & Sons was a British chocolate company owned by Joseph Storrs Fry and his family.
Description
This small, cardboard box has a multicolored design of a scene of two squirrels in a woodland area. This box was used to store and market Fry's Concentrated Cocoa.
J. S. Fry & Sons was a British chocolate company owned by Joseph Storrs Fry and his family. In 1759, Joseph Fry started making chocolate, with Joseph S. Fry gaining control in 1795. That same year, he patented a modified Watt steam engine used to grind cacao beans. This marked the beginning of the mechanization of chocolate production. In 1847, Fry’s made the first molded chocolate eating bar by removing excess cocoa butter, then slowly adding it back into the melted chocolate. In 1919, J. S. Fry & Sons merged with Cadbury’s, and by the early 1980s, the Fry name was removed from company packaging.
Chocolate had been known and treasured by Native Americans in Central and South America for thousands of years prior to the arrival of the first Spanish explorers in the late 1400s and early 1500s. Cacao beans were so highly prized by Mayans and Aztecs that they were used as currency in many areas of the Americas. When first taken back to Europe by the Spanish, the chocolate drink continued to be produced exclusively for the enjoyment of royalty or the extremely wealthy. As the cacao bean gradually made its presence known throughout Europe, it still remained trapped in this exclusive section of society well into the 19th century.
The chocolate trade to North America began more than 300 years ago, primarily centered in or near major port cities of the time, such as New York City, Boston, Philadelphia and Newport, RI. Due to lower transportation costs, chocolate was often less expensive in the Americas than in Europe and therefore had a broader consumer base. The Industrial Revolution radically changed chocolate production and helped propel it into the hearts and stomachs of the working class. Instead of being a labor intensive product, it became entirely machine made reducing costs even further in the late 19th and early 20th century. During this time, chocolate went from being something a person drank to being something to eat, finally becoming a treat for the masses.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
J. S. Fry & Sons
ID Number
ZZ.RSN80525Z81
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.
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
This yellow and brown container once held W. H. Baker's drinking cocoa. The front contains a multi-colored design of a woman sipping chocolate.William Henry Baker formed his cocoa business in 1893 near Winchester, Virginia. There were at least two legal battles between W. H.
Description
This yellow and brown container once held W. H. Baker's drinking cocoa. The front contains a multi-colored design of a woman sipping chocolate.
William Henry Baker formed his cocoa business in 1893 near Winchester, Virginia. There were at least two legal battles between W. H. Baker and Walter Baker & Co (or Baker’s Chocolate) of Dorchester, Massachusetts. Baker’s believed W. H. Baker was fraudulently trying to capitalize on the Baker name and intentionally mislead customers who had intended to buy Baker’s Chocolate but were being sold W. H. Baker’s Chocolate. In each instance, W. H. Baker was required to change his packaging to clearly highlight the difference between Baker's Chocolate and W. H. Baker's Chocolate. When he passed away in 1915, the business passed to his sons, who sold it to another confectionary company which went out of business in the 1930s.
Chocolate had been known and treasured by Native Americans in Central and South America for thousands of years prior to the arrival of the first Spanish explorers in the late 1400s and early 1500s. Cacao beans were so highly prized by Mayans and Aztecs that they were used as currency in many areas of the Americas. When first taken back to Europe by the Spanish, the chocolate drink continued to be produced exclusively for the enjoyment of royalty or the extremely wealthy. As the cacao bean gradually made its presence known throughout Europe, it still remained trapped in this exclusive section of society well into the 19th century.
The chocolate trade to North America began more than 300 years ago, primarily centered in or near major port cities of the time, such as New York City, Boston, Philadelphia and Newport, RI. Due to lower transportation costs, chocolate was often less expensive in the Americas than in Europe and therefore had a broader consumer base. The Industrial Revolution radically changed chocolate production and helped propel it into the hearts and stomachs of the working class. Instead of being a labor intensive product, it became entirely machine made reducing costs even further in the late 19th and early 20th century. During this time, chocolate went from being something a person drank to being something to eat, finally becoming a treat for the masses.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
ZZ.RSN80528Z72
This is a cast iron figure in the shape of Mr. Peanut®, the Planters® Nut and Chocolate Company spokes character. This object weighs over 300lbs and was placed on a fence post surrounding the Planters® factory in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.
Description
This is a cast iron figure in the shape of Mr. Peanut®, the Planters® Nut and Chocolate Company spokes character. This object weighs over 300lbs and was placed on a fence post surrounding the Planters® factory in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. The Planters® company has been using Mr. Peanut® as their trademark since 1916 when they held a contest asking participants to draw a logo they thought best represented the company. A young school boy, Antonio Gentile, drew the winning character, a peanut with arms, legs and in some instances a cane performing different tasks. The drawings were refined by a graphic artist, a top hat, monocle and spats were added and Mr. Peanut® was born.
Planters® was founded in 1906 by Amedeo Obici and his partner, Mario Peruzzi in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Obici got his start working at a local store selling peanuts, before casting out on his own, selling nuts from a cart. Two years later, they incorporated the business as Planters® Nut and Chocolate Company. They eventually moved to Suffolk, Virginia to be closer to the peanut farms. In 1961, the company was sold to Standard Brands, which merged with Nabisco in 1981. In 2000, Kraft Foods acquired Nabisco, but the Planters® brand is still in use today (2014).
date made
1920s
ID Number
2013.0308.01
catalog number
2013.0308.01
accession number
2013.0308
This sign was purchased by a North Beach second-hand shop from a proprietor in the neighboring Chinatown district of San Francisco. It is said to date from between 1890 and 1910.
Description
This sign was purchased by a North Beach second-hand shop from a proprietor in the neighboring Chinatown district of San Francisco. It is said to date from between 1890 and 1910. If that is so, the sign’s survival is quite miraculous: The 1906 earthquake in April of that year caused much damage throughout the city due to spreading wildfires. Residents of Chinatown grabbed what they could easily carry and evacuated the neighborhood ahead of the fires, taking up temporary residence in relief camps in San Francisco and Oakland. Relocating Chinatown permanently to Hunter’s Point or North Beach was discussed, but, with realization of the continued need for the tax base provided by foreign trade between the business community and Asia, Chinatown was ultimately rebuilt at its original location and continued to be not only a major center for the Chinese American community but a popular destination for tourists to the present day.
Translation of this shop sign would help to document a portion of the economic history of this neighborhood. It is likely that the language is Cantonese, the dialect used in Southern China, which was engaged in foreign trade long before military oppression and American labor recruitment in the mid-19th century brought immigrants to “Gun San” or the “Land of the Golden Mountain,” as the Cantonese referred to the West Coast of the United States. Not only did Chinese pan for gold in San Francisco. They labored excavating coal, mercury, and borax, building railway lines and tunnels, and working for fisheries and canneries throughout Far West. Economic depression following the Civil War brought fear, discrimination, and violence to established Chinese communities. Successively restrictive acts of Congress prohibited further Chinese immigration beginning in 1882, with continuing restrictions of civil rights until the Immigration Law of 1965 eliminated such restrictions, bringing a new wave of migration to the United States from Asia.
With dwindling opportunities to earn enough money to return home, Chinese Americans turned to such service industries as laundries and restaurants and specialized increasingly in trade abroad. But this sign also may have advertised availability of herbal medicines, foodstuffs, cookwares, or furnishings desired by the local Chinese American community, which, while changing in population, has survived in San Francisco to the present day.
ID Number
1985.0844.02
accession number
1985.0844
catalog number
1985.0844.02
This yellow, rectangular tin with black lettering and design was used to store and market Huyler's drinking chocolate.In 1846, John Huyler was born to David Huyler who ran a bakery in New York City. By the early 1860s, John was working in his father’s shop, learning the trade.
Description
This yellow, rectangular tin with black lettering and design was used to store and market Huyler's drinking chocolate.
In 1846, John Huyler was born to David Huyler who ran a bakery in New York City. By the early 1860s, John was working in his father’s shop, learning the trade. In 1874, he opened his own store, a confectionary, and within a few years he had opened three more stores. By the time of his death in 1910, he owned 54 store fronts with 14 factories and around 2000 employees supplying his shops.
Chocolate had been known and treasured by Native Americans in Central and South America for thousands of years prior to the arrival of the first Spanish explorers in the late 1400s and early 1500s. Cacao beans were so highly prized by Mayans and Aztecs that they were used as currency in many areas of the Americas. When first taken back to Europe by the Spanish, the chocolate drink continued to be produced exclusively for the enjoyment of royalty or the extremely wealthy. As the cacao bean gradually made its presence known throughout Europe, it still remained trapped in this exclusive section of society well into the 19th century.
The chocolate trade to North America began more than 300 years ago, primarily centered in or near major port cities of the time, such as New York City, Boston, Philadelphia and Newport, RI. Due to lower transportation costs, chocolate was often less expensive in the Americas than in Europe and therefore had a broader consumer base. The Industrial Revolution radically changed chocolate production and helped propel it into the hearts and stomachs of the working class. Instead of being a labor intensive product, it became entirely machine made reducing costs even further in the late 19th and early 20th century. During this time, chocolate went from being something a person drank to being something to eat, finally becoming a treat for the masses.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
AG.77-FT-15.0131
catalog number
77-FT-15.0131
accession number
283681
Frederick Eugene Ives (1856–1937) was a brilliant man interested in patenting his ideas (the first in 1881), but not so much in licensing them. Ives's first three-color single exposure camera was patented in 1899.
Description
Frederick Eugene Ives (1856–1937) was a brilliant man interested in patenting his ideas (the first in 1881), but not so much in licensing them. Ives's first three-color single exposure camera was patented in 1899. Over the next thirty years, Ives patented a variety of cameras and printing processes for color photography. After the Smithsonian hosted a show of Ives's photography company's work in late 1949 or early 1950, Associate Curator Alexander Wedderburn selected five prints for the color photography portion of the Photographic History Collection. This photograph represents the culmination of Ives's long series of patents and work with color photography.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1940s
maker
Ives Color Processes, Inc.
ID Number
PG.004680
accession number
187952
catalog number
4680

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