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.

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
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 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
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
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
late 19th century
ID Number
DL.59.1369R
catalog number
59.1369R
accession number
111627
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 various consumer goods including buttons, daguerreotype mats, and tokens.
Obverse: Wagon. Legend: MFR. OF FARM, FREIGHT, & SPRING WAGONS/ FIRST PREMIUM PARIS 1867 PHILADELPHIA 1876/ GEO. A. LOWE. AGT. SALT LAKE CITY.
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
1981.0296.1626
accession number
1981.0296
catalog number
1981.0296.1626
The Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut produced this token during the late 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 token during the late 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: N.W. SHOW CASE MF'G CO./ 59&61 SO CANAL ST, CHICAGO/ 10C.
Reverse: The legend reads: RE'D'M'BLE IN SUMS NOT EX'C'D'G PR CT ON PURCHASE/ GOOD FOR 10C IN MDSE.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
late 19th century
maker
Scovill Manufacturing Company
ID Number
1981.0296.1564
accession number
1981.0296
catalog number
1981.0296.1564
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 wagon. Legend: C.H. DODD & CO. PORTLAND OR./DEALERS IN AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS/ 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
1981.0296.1635
accession number
1981.0296
catalog number
1981.0296.1635
The Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut produced this 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 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 various consumer goods including buttons, daguerreotype mats, and tokens.
Obverse: Image of a wagon. Legend: BYERS BROTHERS/ SHERMAN TEX. DEALERS IN STANDARD FARM MACHINERY SCHUTTLER WAGONS &c &c/ PARIS 1867/ PHILADELPHIA 1876/ PARIS 1878.
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
1981.0296.1631
accession number
1981.0296
catalog number
1981.0296.1631
The Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut produced this advertising token during the second half of the 19th century. Scovill 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. Scovill 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 factory. Legend: THE PIONEER WAGON WORKS OF THE WEST/ ESTABLISHED 1843/ PETER SCHUTTLER CHICAGO.
Reverse: Image of a wagon. Legend: MFR. OF FARM, FREIGHT, & SPRING WAGONS/ FIRST PREMIUM PARIS 1867 PHILADELPHIA 1876/ SMITH&KEATING, ACTS. KANSAS CITY Mo.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
late 19th century
maker
Scovill Manufacturing Company
ID Number
1981.0296.1618
accession number
1981.0296
catalog number
1981.0296.1618
The Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut produced this advertising token during the second half of the 19th century. Scovill 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. Scovill 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 various consumer goods including buttons, daguerreotype mats, and tokens.
Obverse: Image of a wagon. Legend: MFR. OF FARM, FREIGHT, & SPRING WAGONS/ FIRST PREMIUM PARIS 1867 PHILADELPHIA 1876/ THOS C. CARSON ACT. IOWA CITY IA.
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
1981.0296.1622
accession number
1981.0296
catalog number
1981.0296.1622
Trade cards were a popular advertising device in the mid-to-late 19th century, featuring a colorful illustration on one side with advertising copy on the other. The cards were widely distributed for an array of consumer products including proprietary (patent) medicines.
Description
Trade cards were a popular advertising device in the mid-to-late 19th century, featuring a colorful illustration on one side with advertising copy on the other. The cards were widely distributed for an array of consumer products including proprietary (patent) medicines. People enjoyed collecting and scrap-booking the colorful cards which often feautured flowers, animals, children, women, or humerous scenes.
This trade card scrapbook belonged to Franklin T. Buzby (1852 - 1910), a pharmacist in South Bend, Indianna. Among the cards collected here are advertisements for Vroom & Fowlers Shaving Soap, Atmore's Mince Meat, Reynold's Bros. Fine Shoes, and Hoyt's German Cologne.
Location
Currently not on view (Box in 5026 UNIT04/02)
Currently not on view (paper fragments; sewing thread)
date made
ca 1870s-1900
maker
Buzby, Franklin T.
ID Number
MG.258917.02
catalog number
M-11162
258917.02
accession number
258917
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1900
maker
American Steel & Wire Co.
ID Number
DL.59.1369L
catalog number
59.1369L
accession number
111627
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.
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
A specialized metal tool used to insert stencils into the metal frame of an addressing machine. It has advertising copy on the celluloid handle for Elliott Addressing Machine Co. of Boston, Mass.
Description (Brief)
A specialized metal tool used to insert stencils into the metal frame of an addressing machine. It has advertising copy on the celluloid handle for Elliott Addressing Machine Co. of Boston, Mass. This tool was probably given to customers who purchased the machines.
Description
Sterling Elliott (1852-1922) was born on a farm in Michigan, opened a machine shop in Watertown, Mass., became interested in bicycles, and established The Bicycling World. Then, to handle this amazingly successful weekly publication, he invented, manufactured and marketed an addressing machine. This flat metal tool was used to insert stencils into metal frame of one of those machines. The inscription on the celluloid handle reads “ELLIOTT Addressing Machine Co. / BOSTON, MASS., U.S.A.”
Ref: The Elliott Addressing Machine Co., The Story of a Father and Son or "Unscrewing the Inscrutable" (Massachusetts, 1941).
Location
Currently not on view
date made
after 1900
maker
Whitehead & Hoag Company
ID Number
2006.0098.1383
catalog number
2006.0098.1383
accession number
2006.0098
An advertising novelty for Wray Pump & Register Co., and their selling agent, Brandenburg & Co. It unfolds like a carpenter's rule and has advertising and useful data on engines and tire pressure printed on both sides.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
An advertising novelty for Wray Pump & Register Co., and their selling agent, Brandenburg & Co. It unfolds like a carpenter's rule and has advertising and useful data on engines and tire pressure printed on both sides.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1905
maker
Bastian Brothers Company
ID Number
2006.0098.1103
accession number
2006.0098
catalog number
2006.0098.1103
A stamp holder and pocket calendar of cream celluloid. The inside contains a calendar for 1900. A promotional novelty, it advertises Oak Hall Clothing Co. of Boston.
Description (Brief)
A stamp holder and pocket calendar of cream celluloid. The inside contains a calendar for 1900. A promotional novelty, it advertises Oak Hall Clothing Co. of Boston. The front resembles a stamped envelope.
Oak Hall was a well-known men’s clothing retailer in Boston started by George W. Simmons. The name derives from the new woodwork in the store following an 1842 renovation—a look that became synonymous with high-end men’s clothing stores. Thanks to Simmons's aggressive marketing campaigns, the store was familiar to most residents of New England in the mid-19th century. It is mentioned in works by Nathaniel Hawthorne (“Main Street”) and derisively by Henry David Thoreau (“Ktaadn”), as well as in correspondence by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, who was incensed at the store’s use of advertising poems (written by “Professor Goodfellow”), and patterned on Longfellow's style.
Source: “Oak Hall in American Literature” by Steven Allaback, in American Literature Vol. 46 No.4 Jan. 1975, p. 545-549.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1900
maker
Whitehead & Hoag Company
ID Number
2006.0098.0980
accession number
2006.0098
catalog number
2006.0098.0980
This is a one-sided shop sign made of painted wood and designed to look like a pocket watch. Barthelmes Watchmakers were active during the mid-19th century in Marlborough, Massachusetts.
Description
This is a one-sided shop sign made of painted wood and designed to look like a pocket watch. Barthelmes Watchmakers were active during the mid-19th century in Marlborough, Massachusetts.
date made
1830 - 1870
mid 19th century
ID Number
ME.388196
accession number
182022
catalog number
388196
Photographic exposure scale with celluloid front and paper back. It has an interior celluloid dial, and red and blue print on front. A Light Value Table is printed on the back.
Description (Brief)
Photographic exposure scale with celluloid front and paper back. It has an interior celluloid dial, and red and blue print on front. A Light Value Table is printed on the back. One side of the dial describes various kinds of scenes ("Distance in open landscape, snow scenes with dark objects", "Sea, Dark Clouds", etc.) and the other lists kinds of film and plates. An advertisement for the Rochester Optical & Camera Company; it features the Poco Camera, one of its products.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1889-1903
maker
Rochester Optical & Camera Company
ID Number
2006.0098.0517
accession number
2006.0098
catalog number
2006.0098.0517
Metal match safe with hinged lid. The wrap-around plastic label shows an image of a Chickering grand piano on one side, and a Bradbury upright piano on the reverse. The match safe was an advertising piece for Kranz-Smith Piano Co.
Description (Brief)
Metal match safe with hinged lid. The wrap-around plastic label shows an image of a Chickering grand piano on one side, and a Bradbury upright piano on the reverse. The match safe was an advertising piece for Kranz-Smith Piano Co. of Baltimore, Md.
Description
Match safes were designed to hold friction matches. This one, made of metal covered with celluloid, has an image of a Chickering grand piano on one side, and a Bradbury upright on the other.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1906
advertiser
Kranz-Smith Piano Company
maker
Whitehead & Hoag Company
ID Number
2006.0098.0993
accession number
2006.0098
catalog number
2006.0098.0993
Two sheets of celluloid fastened together over three rotating discs that display numbers.
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
Souvenir from the Pan-American Exposition of 1901, held in Buffalo, N.Y., it advertises Libby, McNeill & Libby foods. Die-cut from celluloid sheet stock and decorated with a pansy motif, the back of the card contains a list of Libby's canned meats.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Souvenir from the Pan-American Exposition of 1901, held in Buffalo, N.Y., it advertises Libby, McNeill & Libby foods. Die-cut from celluloid sheet stock and decorated with a pansy motif, the back of the card contains a list of Libby's canned meats.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1901
maker
Whitehead & Hoag Company
ID Number
2006.0098.0664
accession number
2006.0098
catalog number
2006.0098.0664
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: Image of a dandelion. The legend reads: UNITED WE STAND/ DIVIDED WE FALL.
Reverse: The legend reads: JAMES B. CHILDS/ CLOTHING HATS, CAPS & TRUNKS/ WOOSTER OHIO.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
mid 19th century
maker
Scovill Manufacturing Company
ID Number
1981.0296.1517
accession number
1981.0296
catalog number
1981.0296.1517

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