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.

Resource Type: Advertisements

Advertisement for the Mille Gade Corson Swimming Girdle

Advertisment for a swimming girdle endorsed by Mille Gade Corson, the first mother to swim the English Channel. The advertisement is white with a peach border and a black and white photograph of Corson wearing the swim girdle.
Description (Brief)
Advertisment for a swimming girdle endorsed by Mille Gade Corson, the first mother to swim the English Channel. The advertisement is white with a peach border and a black and white photograph of Corson wearing the swim girdle. Mille Gade Corson, the second woman to swim the English Channel, three weeks after Gertrude Ederle's record breaking Channel swim, emigrated to the United States from Denmark in 1919 and became a Life Saving Instructor and Lifeguard at the Harlem branch of the YWCA. In 1921 she became the second woman to swim around Manhattan Island and attempted to swim the English Channel in 1923 but was forced to abandon the effort 2 miles from the French coast. After her successful 1926 swim Corson returned to the US to many accolades and performed on the vaudeville circuit as the first mother to swim the English Channel.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1920s
depicted
Corson, Amelia Gade
ID Number
1981.0729.07
catalog number
1981.0729.07
accession number
1981.0729

Picture-takers that reflect the Rainbow

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1929
advertiser
Eastman Kodak Company
maker
Eastman Kodak Company
ID Number
2016.0066.393
catalog number
2016.0066.0393
accession number
2016.0066

Advertisement for the Submarine Bathing Cap featuring Mille Gade Corson

Advertisment for the Submarine Bathing Cap endorsed by Mille Gade Corson, the first mother to swim the English Channel. The advertisement is a black and white photograph of Corson wearing the bathing cap.
Description (Brief)
Advertisment for the Submarine Bathing Cap endorsed by Mille Gade Corson, the first mother to swim the English Channel. The advertisement is a black and white photograph of Corson wearing the bathing cap. Mille Gade Corson, the second woman to swim the English Channel, three weeks after Gertrude Ederle's record breaking Channel swim, emigrated to the United States from Denmark in 1919 and became a Life Saving Instructor and Lifeguard at the Harlem branch of the YWCA. In 1921 she became the second woman to swim around Manhattan Island and attempted to swim the English Channel in 1923 but was forced to abandon the effort 2 miles from the French coast. After her successful 1926 swim Corson returned to the US to many accolades and performed on the vaudeville circuit as the first mother to swim the English Channel.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
late 1920s
depicted
Corson, Amelia Gade
ID Number
1981.0729.09
catalog number
1981.0729.09
accession number
1981.0729

Free! 4 Rolls of Ansco All-weather film

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Ansco
ID Number
2016.0066.410
accession number
2016.0066
catalog number
2016.0066.0410

Here's a Christmas favorite in a new Paris garb

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1930
advertiser
Eastman Kodak Company
ID Number
2016.0066.362
accession number
2016.0066
catalog number
2016.0066.0362

Saturday Evening Post cover

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1959-09
ID Number
2016.0066.411
accession number
2016.0066
catalog number
2016.0066.0411

Just what I wanted - a Kodak

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1923-12
advertiser
Eastman Kodak Company
maker
Eastman Kodak Company
ID Number
2016.0066.386
accession number
2016.0066
catalog number
2016.0066.0386

Reddy Kilowatt Hand Puppet

This hand puppet of the character “Reddy Kilowatt” has lightning bolts for limbs and a light bulb for a nose. First created in 1926 by Ashton B. Collins of the Alabama Power Company, Reddy Kilowatt served as a licensed spokes-character for privately-owned electric utilities.
Description
This hand puppet of the character “Reddy Kilowatt” has lightning bolts for limbs and a light bulb for a nose. First created in 1926 by Ashton B. Collins of the Alabama Power Company, Reddy Kilowatt served as a licensed spokes-character for privately-owned electric utilities. Designed to put a friendly face on electricity, Reddy was used to advance a variety of electrical messages, first encouraging electricity adoption, then electrical safety and efficiency. Collins also used the character to promote his conservative political views. Reddy appeared in print advertisements, animated shorts, films, TV ads, and a variety of licensed merchandise.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
2013.0047.11
accession number
2013.0047
catalog number
2013.0047.11

Coming up - a day to remember - in snapshots!

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
advertiser
Eastman Kodak Company
ID Number
2016.0066.369
accession number
2016.0066
catalog number
2016.0066.0369

Kodak as you go

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1926
advertiser
Eastman Kodak Company
maker
Eastman Kodak Company
ID Number
2016.0066.371
catalog number
2016.0066.0371
accession number
2016.0066

Let your kodak keep the Christmas story

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1921
advertiser
Eastman Kodak Company
maker
Eastman Kodak Company
ID Number
2016.0066.379
catalog number
2016.0066.0379
accession number
2016.0066

Advertisement for Submarine Bathing Cap featuring Mille Gade Corson

Advertisment for the Submarine Bathing Cap endorsed by Mille Gade Corson, the first mother to swim the English Channel. The advertisement is a blue and white photograph of Corson finishing her historic English Channel swim wearing the bathing cap.
Description (Brief)
Advertisment for the Submarine Bathing Cap endorsed by Mille Gade Corson, the first mother to swim the English Channel. The advertisement is a blue and white photograph of Corson finishing her historic English Channel swim wearing the bathing cap. Mille Gade Corson, the second woman to swim the English Channel, three weeks after Gertrude Ederle's record breaking Channel swim emigrated to the United States from Denmark in 1919 and became a Life Saving Instructor and Lifeguard at the Harlem branch of the YWCA. In 1921 she became the second woman to swim around Manhattan Island and attempted to swim the English Channel in 1923 but was forced to abandon the effort 2 miles from the French coast. After her successful 1926 swim Corson returned to the US to many accolades and performed on the vaudeville circuit as the first mother to swim the English Channel.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
late 1920s
depicted
Corson, Amelia Gade
ID Number
1981.0729.08
catalog number
1981.0729.08
accession number
1981.0729

More people buy the Argus C3

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Argus Inc.
ID Number
2016.0066.408
accession number
2016.0066
catalog number
2016.0066.0408

Photographic Simplicity - Bulls-Eye Kodak

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1899-07
advertiser
Eastman Kodak Company
ID Number
2016.0066.357
accession number
2016.0066
catalog number
2016.0066.0357

General Electric Radios

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1946
depicted (sitter)
Sinatra, Frank
ID Number
2015.0215.0022
accession number
2015.0215
catalog number
.0022

Graflex Cameras

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1915-06
ID Number
2016.0066.406
accession number
2016.0066
catalog number
2016.0066.0406

Picture-takers that reflect the Rainbow

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1929-10
advertiser
Eastman Kodak Company
maker
Eastman Kodak Company
ID Number
2016.0066.403
accession number
2016.0066
catalog number
2016.0066.0403

Fan-style mechanical trade card advertisement for Abie's Irish Rose

This fan-style mechanical trade card advertises the original Broadway production of the comedic play Abie’s Irish Rose, one of the most successful and important plays of the 20th century.
Description (Brief)
This fan-style mechanical trade card advertises the original Broadway production of the comedic play Abie’s Irish Rose, one of the most successful and important plays of the 20th century. The card is comprised of three leaf-shaped die cut cardboard sections joined with a metal grommet at the bottom, allowing the user to fan out each of the three pieces. The card is printed in green and pink ink on the front with images of a rose and the title of the play, as well as the name of its author, Anne Nichols. The back is printed with information about the production: “Now Playing at / Republic Theatre / NEW YORK / West 42nd St. / Evenings 8:30 – Mats. Wed. and Sat. 2:30 / THIRD YEAR”.
Abie’s Irish Rose was an enormously popular mixed marriage farce that spoke to contemporary cultural anxieties about immigration, assimilation, and ethnic identity. Written by Anne Nichols, the play tells the story of a couple comprised of a Jewish man and Irish woman navigating familial and societal prejudice while marrying and raising a family in contemporary New York City. The lead characters’ audacious and escalating lies to hide their relationship from their bigoted fathers culminates in an absurd climax of multiple marriages and religious reconciliation. The show premiered May 23, 1922 at the Fulton Theatre and ran for 2,327 performances before closing at The Republic in 1927, making it the longest running play in Broadway history until surpassed by Hello, Dolly in the 1960s. The sentimental comedy was seen by an estimated 11 million audience members in its Broadway and national touring productions.
Abie’s Irish Rose was adapted for film in 1928 and again in 1946, a weekly radio show in the 1940s, and revived on Broadway in 1937 and 1954. Nichols sued Universal Studios for plagiarism for making the 1926 film The Cohens and Kellys, a film with a similar plot premise. In the landmark 1930 US Court of Appeals case Nichols v. Universal Pictures Corp., Judge Learned Hand wrote the opinion for the court, holding that copyright protection cannot be extended to stock characters in a story in the case of non-literal copying of a dramatic work.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1925
ID Number
2023.0082.01
accession number
2023.0082
catalog number
2023.0082.01

I take off my hat to the new Kodak cameras

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1953
advertiser
Eastman Kodak Company
maker
Eastman Kodak Company
ID Number
2016.0066.375
catalog number
2016.0066.0375
accession number
2016.0066

You press the button - It does the rest

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
advertiser
Eastman Kodak Company
ID Number
2016.0066.370
accession number
2016.0066
catalog number
2016.0066.0370

Kodak as you go

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1925-07
advertiser
Eastman Kodak Company
maker
Eastman Kodak Company
ID Number
2016.0066.372
catalog number
2016.0066.0372
accession number
2016.0066

The Toast of the Nation

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
2011.0257.03
accession number
2011.0257
catalog number
2011.0257.03

Take a Kodak with you

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1924
advertiser
Eastman Kodak Company
ID Number
2016.0066.366
accession number
2016.0066
catalog number
2016.0066.0366

Let your kodak keep the Christmas story

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1921-12
advertiser
Eastman Kodak Company
maker
Eastman Kodak Company
ID Number
2016.0066.377
catalog number
2016.0066.0377
accession number
2016.0066

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