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.

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1930s-1950s
maker
Keppler, Victor
ID Number
PG.006261.W
catalog number
6261W
accession number
238737
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1930s-1950s
maker
Keppler, Victor
ID Number
PG.006261.X
catalog number
6261X
accession number
238737
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1930s-1950s
maker
Keppler, Victor
ID Number
PG.006261.LL
catalog number
6261LL
accession number
238737
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1930s-1950s
maker
Keppler, Victor
ID Number
PG.006261.T
catalog number
6261T
accession number
238737
Nickolas Muray color carbro photograph ca. 1952. 'Hunt's Tomato Catsup' advertisment. Hunt's 'catsup' bottle overlayed onto a photograph of a butcher block on which a sandwich and a knife are resting.
Description (Brief)
Nickolas Muray color carbro photograph ca. 1952. 'Hunt's Tomato Catsup' advertisment. Hunt's 'catsup' bottle overlayed onto a photograph of a butcher block on which a sandwich and a knife are resting. The writing for the advertisment is blue cursive.
Mount Recto: "10/1944" (pencil).
Mount Verso: Muray stamp in three different locations. McCall's Magazine label. "7/27/44" (pencil). "#4 McCall's Magazine 1944" (pencil). "203/4" (blue pencil).
Description
Nickolas Muray was born in Szeged, Hungary on February 15, 1892. Twelve years after his birth, Muray left his native town and enrolled in a graphic arts school in Budapest. Enrolling in art school was the first step on a road that would eventually lead him to study a photographic printing process called three-color carbro. In the course of his accomplished career, Muray would become an expert in this process and play a key role in bringing color photography to America.
While attending art school in Budapest, Muray studied lithography and photoengraving, earning an International Engraver's Certificate. Muray was also introduced to photography during this time period. His combined interest in photography and printmaking led him to Berlin, Germany to participate in a three-year color-photoengraving course. In Berlin, Muray learned how to make color filters, a first step in the craft that would one day become his trademark. Immediately after the completion of the course, Muray found a good job with a publishing company in Ullstein, Germany. However, the threat of war in Europe forced Muray to flee for America in 1913. Soon after his arrival in New York, Muray was working as a photoengraver for Condé Nast. His specialty was color separations and half-tone negatives.
By 1920, Muray had established a home for himself in the up-and-coming artists' haven of Greenwich Village. He opened a portrait studio out of his apartment and continued to work part time at his engraving job. Harper's Bazaar magazine gave Muray his first big assignment in 1921. The project was to photograph Broadway star Florence Reed. The magazine was so impressed with his photographs that they began to publish his work monthly. This allowed him to give up his part time job and work solely as a photographer. It did not take long for Muray to become one of the most renowned portrait photographers in Manhattan. Muray spent much of the early 1920s photographing the most famous and important personalities in New York at the time.
In his spare time Muray enjoyed fencing. In 1927, he won the National Sabre Championship and in 1928 and 1932, he was on the United States Olympic Team. During World War II, Muray was a flight lieutenant in the Civil Air Patrol.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1952
maker
Muray, Nickolas
ID Number
1982.0545.219
accession number
1982.0545
catalog number
82.545.219
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1930s-1950s
maker
Keppler, Victor
ID Number
PG.006261.I
catalog number
6261I
accession number
238737
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1930s-1950s
maker
Keppler, Victor
ID Number
PG.006261.Q
catalog number
6261Q
accession number
238737
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1950
ID Number
PG.004735J
accession number
192657
catalog number
4735J
By the 1920s, commercial signs and billboards turned the roadside into an advertising medium. Allan Odell, sales manager of the family-owned Burma-Vita Company, created serial roadside rhymes in 1926 to advertise the company’s brushless shaving cream.
Description
By the 1920s, commercial signs and billboards turned the roadside into an advertising medium. Allan Odell, sales manager of the family-owned Burma-Vita Company, created serial roadside rhymes in 1926 to advertise the company’s brushless shaving cream. He was inspired by a string of signs leading to a service station in Illinois, each sign promoting a product or service available at the station. The earliest Burma-Shave signs boosted sales significantly; the sign program spread so rapidly that the company began a nationwide contest, resulting in dozens of selections annually. Some verses merely extolled the Burma-Shave product, while others made light of facial hair, shaving, and intimacy with the opposite sex. Gradually the company introduced “public service announcements” in the form of humorous reminders to drive safely or suffer the consequences. This rhyme is a commentary on the serious problem of drinking and driving. Verses of this type cautioned motorists to be aware of the risks of expanded personal mobility and drive safely and responsibly.
date made
1959
maker
Burma-Vita Company
ID Number
2005.0121.01
catalog number
2005.0121.01
accession number
2005.0121
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1930s-1950s
maker
Keppler, Victor
ID Number
PG.006261.L
catalog number
6261L
accession number
238737
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1950
ID Number
PG.004735D
accession number
192657
catalog number
4735D
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1930s-1950s
maker
Keppler, Victor
ID Number
PG.006261.H
catalog number
6261H
accession number
238737
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1930s-1950s
maker
Keppler, Victor
ID Number
PG.006261.P
catalog number
6261P
accession number
238737
Nickolas Muray color carbro photograph ca. 1952.
Description (Brief)
Nickolas Muray color carbro photograph ca. 1952. Advertisement for 'Hunts Tomato Catsup.' It consists of a photograph of an open faced sandwhich smeared with 'catsup.' Overlayed is another photograph of a Hunts bottle of catsup.
Photo Recto: Signed and dated by artist in lower right corner (pencil). Mount Recto: "5" (pencil). Verso: "9, Hunts Tomato Sauce" (pencil).
Description
Nickolas Muray was born in Szeged, Hungary on February 15, 1892. Twelve years after his birth, Muray left his native town and enrolled in a graphic arts school in Budapest. Enrolling in art school was the first step on a road that would eventually lead him to study a photographic printing process called three-color carbro. In the course of his accomplished career, Muray would become an expert in this process and play a key role in bringing color photography to America.
While attending art school in Budapest, Muray studied lithography and photoengraving, earning an International Engraver's Certificate. Muray was also introduced to photography during this time period. His combined interest in photography and printmaking led him to Berlin, Germany to participate in a three-year color-photoengraving course. In Berlin, Muray learned how to make color filters, a first step in the craft that would one day become his trademark. Immediately after the completion of the course, Muray found a good job with a publishing company in Ullstein, Germany. However, the threat of war in Europe forced Muray to flee for America in 1913. Soon after his arrival in New York, Muray was working as a photoengraver for Condé Nast. His specialty was color separations and half-tone negatives.
By 1920, Muray had established a home for himself in the up-and-coming artists' haven of Greenwich Village. He opened a portrait studio out of his apartment and continued to work part time at his engraving job. Harper's Bazaar magazine gave Muray his first big assignment in 1921. The project was to photograph Broadway star Florence Reed. The magazine was so impressed with his photographs that they began to publish his work monthly. This allowed him to give up his part time job and work solely as a photographer. It did not take long for Muray to become one of the most renowned portrait photographers in Manhattan. Muray spent much of the early 1920s photographing the most famous and important personalities in New York at the time.
In his spare time Muray enjoyed fencing. In 1927, he won the National Sabre Championship and in 1928 and 1932, he was on the United States Olympic Team. During World War II, Muray was a flight lieutenant in the Civil Air Patrol.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1952
maker
Muray, Nickolas
ID Number
PG.007925
catalog number
7925
accession number
258415
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1930s-1950s
maker
Keppler, Victor
ID Number
PG.006261.N
catalog number
6261N
accession number
238737
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1930s-1950s
maker
Keppler, Victor
ID Number
PG.006261.K
catalog number
6261K
accession number
238737
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1930s-1950s
maker
Keppler, Victor
ID Number
PG.006261.O
catalog number
6261O
accession number
238737
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1930s-1950s
maker
Keppler, Victor
ID Number
PG.006263.L
catalog number
6263L
accession number
238737
A Nickolas Muray 3-color carbro photograph of hands holding three large tomatoes ca. 1940s. Campbell Soup advertisment.Verso: Four Muray stamps. "Campbell Soup Ad" (black pencil). "32" (black pencil).Nickolas Muray was born in Szeged, Hungary on February 15, 1892.
Description (Brief)
A Nickolas Muray 3-color carbro photograph of hands holding three large tomatoes ca. 1940s. Campbell Soup advertisment.
Verso: Four Muray stamps. "Campbell Soup Ad" (black pencil). "32" (black pencil).
Description
Nickolas Muray was born in Szeged, Hungary on February 15, 1892. Twelve years after his birth, Muray left his native town and enrolled in a graphic arts school in Budapest. Enrolling in art school was the first step on a road that would eventually lead him to study a photographic printing process called three-color carbro. In the course of his accomplished career, Muray would become an expert in this process and play a key role in bringing color photography to America.
While attending art school in Budapest, Muray studied lithography and photoengraving, earning an International Engraver's Certificate. Muray was also introduced to photography during this time period. His combined interest in photography and printmaking led him to Berlin, Germany to participate in a three-year color-photoengraving course. In Berlin, Muray learned how to make color filters, a first step in the craft that would one day become his trademark. Immediately after the completion of the course, Muray found a good job with a publishing company in Ullstein, Germany. However, the threat of war in Europe forced Muray to flee for America in 1913. Soon after his arrival in New York, Muray was working as a photoengraver for Condé Nast. His specialty was color separations and half-tone negatives.
By 1920, Muray had established a home for himself in the up-and-coming artists' haven of Greenwich Village. He opened a portrait studio out of his apartment and continued to work part time at his engraving job. Harper's Bazaar magazine gave Muray his first big assignment in 1921. The project was to photograph Broadway star Florence Reed. The magazine was so impressed with his photographs that they began to publish his work monthly. This allowed him to give up his part time job and work solely as a photographer. It did not take long for Muray to become one of the most renowned portrait photographers in Manhattan. Muray spent much of the early 1920s photographing the most famous and important personalities in New York at the time.
In his spare time Muray enjoyed fencing. In 1927, he won the National Sabre Championship and in 1928 and 1932, he was on the United States Olympic Team. During World War II, Muray was a flight lieutenant in the Civil Air Patrol.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1940s-1950s
commissioner
Campbell Soup Company
maker
Muray, Nickolas
ID Number
PG.69.247.11
catalog number
69.247.11
accession number
287542
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1930s-1950s
maker
Keppler, Victor
ID Number
PG.006261.V
catalog number
6261V
accession number
238737
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1930s-1950s
maker
Keppler, Victor
ID Number
PG.006261.U
accession number
238737
catalog number
6261U
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1930s-1950s
maker
Keppler, Victor
ID Number
PG.006263.C
catalog number
6263C
accession number
238737
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1930s-1950s
maker
Keppler, Victor
ID Number
PG.006269.A
catalog number
6269A
accession number
238737
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1945-1950
maker
Harriet Hubbard Ayer
Harriet Hubbard Ayer
ID Number
1998.0320.003

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