Advertising

Ivory Soap Ad

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.

Culture: Blacks

"The Shed"

Color print of the yard in front of a carriage shed. Two horses hitched to sulkies stand on either side of a large carriage pulled by two horse. A dog and three men on horseback are in the right foreground.
Description (Brief)
Color print of the yard in front of a carriage shed. Two horses hitched to sulkies stand on either side of a large carriage pulled by two horse. A dog and three men on horseback are in the right foreground. Advertisement for Brewster & Co., manufacturer of carriages.
Description
A color print of yard in front of a white shed with sign: “Hiram Woodruff.” There is a stir of activity as horses are hitched to sulkies. Men ride up on horseback, and two men in formal attire ride out of yard in open buggy with a high dashboard and low wheels, drawn by two horses. Dogs are underfoot. A black stable boy tends a horse. A portion of a white frame farmhouse seen to the right, with trees and grass in the distance.
Known as one of the leading lithography firms of the mid-19th Century, Endicott and Company was formed in 1852 as the successor to William Endicott and Company following the death of George Endicott in 1848 and William Endicott in 1852. The original partners of Endicott and Company were Sarah Endicott (William’s widow) and Charles mills. However, in 1853 the senior partner was Sarah and William’s son Frances Endicott. The company often did work for Currier and Ives and employed the well-known artist Charles Pearson. In 1856 the company was awarded a diploma for the best specimen of lithography at the 28th Annual Fair of the American Institute.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1862
publisher
Brewster & Co.
maker
Endicott and Company
artist
Oertel, Johannes Adam Simon
ID Number
DL.60.3563
catalog number
60.3563

Birch, Wambold & Backus San Francisco Minstrels

This black and white print contains oval bust portraits of three men, along with three smaller heads of black cherubs with wings, a pan flute, and a lyre. Overprinted directly onto the poster in blue ink is the advertisement of the location and dates of some performances.
Description
This black and white print contains oval bust portraits of three men, along with three smaller heads of black cherubs with wings, a pan flute, and a lyre. Overprinted directly onto the poster in blue ink is the advertisement of the location and dates of some performances. The notification printed on top in blue reads: “Newark Opera House, Saturday, June 1st / Birch, Wambold & Backus.” Below the portraits is the statement “San Francisco Minstrels from their / Opera House Broadway & 29th Street, New York, ” which was designed to convey Broadway legitimacy on a trio from New York and New Jersey that first established themselves on the west coast.
Charles Backus (1831-1883), Billy Birch (1831-1897), and D. S. Wambold (1836-1889) belonged to a performing group called the San Francisco Minstrels that was founded in San Francisco in the mid-1860s, in part to make fun of what they viewed as the elitist tastes of San Francisco opera and serious drama fans. They went on to appear on New York-area stages for the next two decades, becoming one of the highest paid minstrel groups of their time. Like other minstrel performers, they performed in blackface and parodied what was considered in the period stereotypical African-American mannerisms and behavior, but they also poked fun at the social and political mores of white society. These performers were said to be a favorite of American author Mark Twain.
Charles Backus was born in Rochester, New York, and moved to San Francisco, California, in 1852. He performed with minstrel groups and circuses in countries around the world, including England, Australia, Egypt, India, and China, before helping form the San Francisco Minstrels with Birch and Wambold in 1864. Known as a talented mimic, his specialties included social parody and imitations of popular actors.
William Birch was a comedian born in Utica, New York, who began appearing in small town minstrel shows in his early teens. He crisscrossed the United States performing with various minstrel groups before helping establish the San Francisco Minstrels, where he was celebrated for his originality and clever word play.
David S. Wambold was born in Elizabethtown, New Jersey. He joined a small minstrel group when he was just 13 years old and toured with other shows in the United States and Europe before helping form the San Francisco Minstrels. His tenor voice made him one of the most highly praised ballad singers of his time.
This lithograph was produced by Henry Atwell Thomas. Henry Atwell Thomas (1834-1904) was an artist, portrait painter, and lithographer especially well known for his theatrical portraits. His New York firm was called H. A. Thomas Lith. Studio until 1887, when it became H. A. Thomas & Wylie Lithographic (sometimes cited as Lithography or Lithographing) Company.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
n.d.
depicted
Birch, William
Wambold, David
Backus, Charles
referenced
San Francisco Minstrels
maker
Thomas, Henry Atwell
ID Number
DL.60.3027
catalog number
60.3027
accession number
228146

John Hart

This black and white print depicts a central bust portrait of John Hart (1833-1904) surrounded by six images of him displaying a variety of facial expressions in blackface.
Description
This black and white print depicts a central bust portrait of John Hart (1833-1904) surrounded by six images of him displaying a variety of facial expressions in blackface. Hart was born in Monongahela City, Pennsylvania and began his minstrel career in 1854 as a member of Eisenbeice’s Minstrels. Known as "Fat" Hart for his portly figure, he toured with a variety of minstrel groups through New York, Pennsylvania, and other states and with performers like Edward Harrigan (1844-1911).
This lithograph was produced by the Metropolitan Printing Company and E. Rothengatter. Emil Rothengatter (1848-1939) was a German-born artist and designer of circus posters who worked in cities including Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Cincinnati, Ohio. In 1896 he won a contest to design the flag of Cincinnati for a work he called “Zero of Burnet Woods.” However, controversy over whether Cincinnati should have a flag delayed the design’s formal adoption until 1940. Emil Rothengatter also wrote a book entitled Art of Poster Making in the United States, published in 1911. He died in New York.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
n.d.
depicted
Hart, John
maker
Metropolitan Printing Company
Rothengatter
ID Number
DL.60.3019
catalog number
60.3019
accession number
228146

James H. Wallick's Bandit King Co.

This colored print is a stereotypical depiction of composer and lyricist Fred Lyons as "Old Bob," seated in a bar and playing a banjo with a donkey named "Calamity Jane" braying at his side.
Description
This colored print is a stereotypical depiction of composer and lyricist Fred Lyons as "Old Bob," seated in a bar and playing a banjo with a donkey named "Calamity Jane" braying at his side. Fred Lyons was a popular 19th Century African American minstrel entertainer who composed many songs including "Paint All De Little Black Sinners White" and “Dem Chickens Roost too High,” published in 1887.
James H. Wallick (ca 1839-1908) was born in Hurley, New York. Sources have suggested varying possibilities for his birth name, including Patrick J. Fubbins, James Henry Wheeler, or James H. Fubbins Wallick. There has also been speculation that he took the last name Wallick to link himself to the actor James William Wallack, Sr. James Wallick appeared in melodramas and circuses before achieving his best-known success in The Bandit King, a touring Wild West show based on the life of outlaw Jesse James, recast as a hero named Joe Howard. Wallick created, produced, and starred in the drama, which offered stock features of the genre like horses, buffalo, and riding and sharpshooting tricks. In addition, the shows sometimes featured Robert J. Ford, James's real-life killer. Wallick’s other productions included The Cattle King and The Mountain King. He made and lost several fortunes over the course of his career and suffered from heavy debt. He committed suicide in 1908.
This chromolithograph was published by the Great Western Printing Company, which was probably based in St. Louis, Missouri.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
n.d.
depicted
Lyons, Fred
Wallick, James H.
maker
Great Western Printing Company
ID Number
DL.60.3035
catalog number
60.3035
accession number
228146

View of the Philadelphia Volunteer Refreshment Saloons

This print contains illustrations of the Union Volunteer Refreshment Saloon and the Cooper Shop Volunteer Refreshment Saloon.
Description
This print contains illustrations of the Union Volunteer Refreshment Saloon and the Cooper Shop Volunteer Refreshment Saloon. Located on a railroad hub linking the North and the South, the saloons were staffed by volunteers and provided relief for Union troops to soldiers on their way to or returning from battlefields in the South. Its services included warm meals, temporary housing, medical services, and washing facilities. Over the course of the war, these saloons assisted more than one million Union military personnel. In the central image of the print, formations of troops march down the road, cheered on by a crowd of civilians. Lines of soldiers wait to enter the Union Volunteer Refreshment Saloon, while another regiment of troops in the street wait to board a Philadelphia, Wilmington, & Baltimore railroad car, bound for the battlefront. The images to the left and right of the central one depict the facility’s washing and cooking departments. In a lower image, men and women volunteers prepare long tables covered in dishes and food. In the lower left image, a group of Zouaves wait in line outside the storefront of William Cooper, who converted his place of business into a refreshment saloon during the war years. A flag outside of the building reads, “Union Now and Forever / Death to Traitors.” The lower right illustration shows the interior of the Cooper saloon. A large American flag is draped across the ceiling and, underneath, long tables are set with dishes. The names of members of the Volunteer Refreshment Committee are listed in the margin below the illustration.
The Philadelphia saloons received support from the United States Sanitary Commission, a relief agency approved by the War Department on June 18, 1861 to provide assistance to sick, wounded, and travelling Union soldiers. Although the leaders of the Commission were men, the agency depended on thousands of women, who collected donations, volunteered as nurses in hospitals, and offered assistance at rest stations and refreshment saloons. They also sponsored Sanitary Fairs in Northern cities, raising millions of dollars used to send food, clothing, and medicine to Union soldiers.
The print was created by James Fuller Queen, a pioneering chromolithographer active in Philadelphia, who served in a Civil War militia between 1862 and 1863. Its printer, Thomas S. Sinclair, was a Scottish immigrant to Philadelphia who worked in the lithographic shop of John Collins, before taking over the business the next year. His firm was profitable into the 1880s, producing maps, city views, certificates, book illustrations, political cartoons, sheet music covers, and fashion advertisements. The scene of the saloons was published by Job T. Williams, the Steward of the Volunteer Refreshment Committee.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1861
lithographer
Sinclair, Thomas
artist
Queen, James
ID Number
DL.60.3800
catalog number
60.3800

Pride of the Island Segars

Black and white advertising print for cigars depicting a horse pulling a jockey and sulky alongside a tobacco field.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Black and white advertising print for cigars depicting a horse pulling a jockey and sulky alongside a tobacco field.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
n.d.
maker
Donaldson Brothers
ID Number
DL.60.3093
catalog number
60.3093
accession number
228146

When a Man Loves a Woman

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1986 - 1991
distributor
Priority Records
user
California Raisins Advisory Board
maker
Priority Records
ID Number
1991.3182.34
catalog number
1991.3182.34
nonaccession number
1991.3182

California Raisin

The California Raisins are sculpted clay figures used as advertising and merchandising characters by the California Raisin Advisory Board. The figures were first developed by Will Vinton Productions in 1986 based on caricatures of African American rhythm-and-blues groups.
Description
The California Raisins are sculpted clay figures used as advertising and merchandising characters by the California Raisin Advisory Board. The figures were first developed by Will Vinton Productions in 1986 based on caricatures of African American rhythm-and-blues groups. The California Raisins are often accompanied by a soundtrack of “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” originally popularized by singer Marvin Gaye. The Raisins released numerous studio albums in the 1980s, starred in a cartoon series, and were nominated for an Emmy for their 1988 “Meet the Raisins” mockumentary. These figures were used in the Claymation advertisements from 1986 through 1991.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1986 - 1991
user
California Raisins Advisory Board
producer
Will Vinton Productions
maker
Will Vinton Productions
ID Number
1991.3182.02
catalog number
1991.3182.02
nonaccession number
1991.3182

Sheet of Four California Cool Dancing Raisins Stickers

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1986 - 1991
user
California Raisins Advisory Board
maker
Will Vinton Productions
ID Number
1991.3182.35
catalog number
1991.3182.35
nonaccession number
1991.3182

Pencil Sketches of the California Raisins

Sixteen original pencil sketches used in the California Raisins advertising campaign, circa 1986 to 1991.
Description (Brief)
Sixteen original pencil sketches used in the California Raisins advertising campaign, circa 1986 to 1991. Four drawings feature the California Raisins characters, eleven are the storyboard for “The Robot” television commercial, and one is a large sheet with multiple sketches of the California Raisins characters with corrections in red ink. The clay-animated California Raisin television commercial series, produced by Will Vinton Productions for the Raisin Growers Association, was a spoof on rhythm and blues groups of the 1960s and 1970s with their highly choreographed stage acts. Marvin Gaye’s hit song, “Heard it Through the Grapevine,” was the theme song for the campaign.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1986 - 1991
user
California Raisins Advisory Board
maker
Will Vinton Productions
ID Number
1991.3182.20
catalog number
1991.3182.20
nonaccession number
1991.3182

California Raisin

The California Raisins are sculpted clay figures used as advertising and merchandising characters by the California Raisin Advisory Board. The figures were first developed by Will Vinton Productions in 1986 based on caricatures of African American rhythm-and-blues groups.
Description
The California Raisins are sculpted clay figures used as advertising and merchandising characters by the California Raisin Advisory Board. The figures were first developed by Will Vinton Productions in 1986 based on caricatures of African American rhythm-and-blues groups. The California Raisins are often accompanied by a soundtrack of “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” originally popularized by singer Marvin Gaye. The Raisins released numerous studio albums in the 1980s, starred in a cartoon series, and were nominated for an Emmy for their 1988 “Meet the Raisins” mockumentary. These figures were used in the Claymation advertisements from 1986 through 1991.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1986 - 1991
user
California Raisins Advisory Board
producer
Will Vinton Productions
maker
Will Vinton Productions
ID Number
1991.3182.03
catalog number
1991.3182.03
nonaccession number
1991.3182

California Raisin

The California Raisins are sculpted clay figures used as advertising and merchandising characters by the California Raisin Advisory Board. The figures were first developed by Will Vinton Productions in 1986 based on caricatures of African American rhythm-and-blues groups.
Description
The California Raisins are sculpted clay figures used as advertising and merchandising characters by the California Raisin Advisory Board. The figures were first developed by Will Vinton Productions in 1986 based on caricatures of African American rhythm-and-blues groups. The California Raisins are often accompanied by a soundtrack of “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” originally popularized by singer Marvin Gaye. The Raisins released numerous studio albums in the 1980s, starred in a cartoon series, and were nominated for an Emmy for their 1988 “Meet the Raisins” mockumentary. These figures were used in the Claymation advertisements from 1986 through 1991.
date made
1986 - 1991
user
California Raisins Advisory Board
producer
Will Vinton Productions
maker
Will Vinton Productions
ID Number
1991.3182.04
catalog number
1991.3182.04
nonaccession number
1991.3182

"Famous Amos" Shirt

In 1975, on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, California, Wally Amos opened his first chocolate chip cookie bakery. For years, this agent for performers such as Marvin Gaye, Bobby Goldsboro, and Dionne Warwicke had loved making cookies, using his Aunt Della's recipe.
Description
In 1975, on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, California, Wally Amos opened his first chocolate chip cookie bakery. For years, this agent for performers such as Marvin Gaye, Bobby Goldsboro, and Dionne Warwicke had loved making cookies, using his Aunt Della's recipe. The little cookies with pecans and lots of chocolate bits were favorites among Amos's Hollywood clients and friends in the entertainment industry. They convinced him to open his own cookie business, giving birth to Famous Amos Cookies.
Within a few years over two dozen Famous Amos cookie outlets had opened across the country. Retail cookie tins featured Wally Amos wearing a trademark straw hat and cotton shirt, clothing that he donated to the Smithsonian in 1980. The hat and shirt had become symbols of grass roots entrepreneurship and a mainstream African-American business.
By the mid–1980s, Famous Amos Cookies had outgrown their founder. The business went through a series of new owners before its purchase by Keebler in 1998. Years earlier Wally Amos had turned to another interest, making personal appearances as a motivational speaker and writer, using the skills he had learned in the entertainment and baking industries to inspire audiences to follow their dreams, wherever they might lead.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1980
referenced
Amos, Wally
ID Number
1980.0886.02
catalog number
1980.0886.02
accession number
1980.0886

Panama Hat

In 1975, on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, California, Wally Amos opened his first chocolate chip cookie bakery. For years, this agent for performers such as Marvin Gaye, Bobby Goldsboro, and Dionne Warwick had loved making cookies, using his Aunt Della's recipe.
Description
In 1975, on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, California, Wally Amos opened his first chocolate chip cookie bakery. For years, this agent for performers such as Marvin Gaye, Bobby Goldsboro, and Dionne Warwick had loved making cookies, using his Aunt Della's recipe. The little cookies with pecans and lots of chocolate bits were favorites among Amos's Hollywood clients and friends in the entertainment industry. They convinced him to open his own cookie business, giving birth to Famous Amos Cookies.
Within a few years over two dozen Famous Amos cookie outlets had opened across the country. Retail cookie tins featured Wally Amos wearing a trademark straw hat and cotton shirt, clothing that he donated to the Smithsonian in 1980. The hat and shirt had become symbols of grass roots entrepreneurship and a mainstream African American business.
By the mid–1980s, Famous Amos Cookies had outgrown their founder. The business went through a series of new owners before its purchase by Keebler in 1998. Years earlier Wally Amos had turned to another interest, making personal appearances as a motivational speaker and writer, using the skills he had learned in the entertainment and baking industries to inspire audiences to follow their dreams, wherever they might lead.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1980
user
Amos, Wally
ID Number
1980.0886.01
accession number
1980.0886
catalog number
1980.0886.01

California Raisins School Friends Collector Album

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1986 - 1991
manufacturer
Antioch Publishing Company
user
California Raisins Advisory Board
publisher
Antioch Publishing Company
ID Number
1991.3182.23
catalog number
1991.3182.23
nonaccession number
1991.3182

When a Man Loves a Woman

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1986 - 1991
distributor
Priority Records
performing artist
Miles, Buddy
composer
Lewis, Calvin
Wright, Andrew
user
California Raisins Advisory Board
producer
Priority Records
ID Number
1991.3182.33
catalog number
1991.3182.33
nonaccession number
1991.3182
maker number
PLS 07254

Three Photographs of The California Raisins

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1986 - 1991
user
California Raisins Advisory Board
maker
Will Vinton Productions
ID Number
1991.3182.36
nonaccession number
1991.3182
catalog number
1991.3182.36

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