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.

In the mid-1960s, novelist and counterculture guru Ken Kesey used this 38" x 68" plywood sign as an announcement board and invitation card to promote the activities of his "Merry Pranksters" (an itinerant band of free thinkers) during their memorable cross-country rides on an old
Description
In the mid-1960s, novelist and counterculture guru Ken Kesey used this 38" x 68" plywood sign as an announcement board and invitation card to promote the activities of his "Merry Pranksters" (an itinerant band of free thinkers) during their memorable cross-country rides on an old bus named "Further." Kesey and his band drove Further from northern California to Washington, D.C., and New York, ostensibly to attend Kesey book parties. In the process they used the bus rides to encourage people to discuss anything with them, to try anything, to perform civic pranks of various sorts, and to otherwise call attention to alternative ways of thinking about the issues of the day.
Like the bus, the sign is a colorful smorgasbord of offerings from the Pranksters and visitors to the bus. Splashes of day–glo paint are overlaid with newspaper clippings, political cartoons, doodles, yarn, and the names of influential West Coast figures from the counterculture movements of the 1950s and 1960s. During a 1992 visit to the Kesey farm in rural Oregon to examine the remains of Further, the Smithsonian found this signboard in the loft of a chicken coop, covered with dust and feathers. A family of foxes occupied the rear seat of Further, moldering in a field, so Kesey decided to donate this sign instead of the bus.
Date made
1960s
user
Kesey, Ken
ID Number
1992.0413.01
accession number
1992.0413
catalog number
1992.0413.01
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
This cup is a plastic Tony the Tiger™ coupon or box-top premium, a prize used to incentivize purchase, made in 1964 by F. F. Mold & Die Works, Inc. Tony the Tiger™ made his advertising debut in 1952 as the cartoon mascot for Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes®.
Description
This cup is a plastic Tony the Tiger™ coupon or box-top premium, a prize used to incentivize purchase, made in 1964 by F. F. Mold & Die Works, Inc. Tony the Tiger™ made his advertising debut in 1952 as the cartoon mascot for Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes®. The Kellogg’s company was formed in 1906 by Will Keith Kellogg and the introduction of Kellogg’s Corn Flakes®. Since then, Kellogg’s has grown into a multi-national company, owing much of its success on growing and expanding their product base as consumer demands changed through the years.
date made
1964
maker
F. F. Mold & Die Works, Inc.
ID Number
2012.0076.30
accession number
2012.0076
catalog number
2012.0076.30
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1960s
photographer
Uzzle, Burk
ID Number
PG.72.12.040
accession number
2003.0044
catalog number
72.12.40
The Buckeye State was built at Shousetown, Pa., south of Pittsburgh. In 1849 the hull was completed and hauled up the Ohio River to Pittsburgh to be finished. Under the supervision of David Holmes, the Buckeye State was completed in February 1850.
Description
The Buckeye State was built at Shousetown, Pa., south of Pittsburgh. In 1849 the hull was completed and hauled up the Ohio River to Pittsburgh to be finished. Under the supervision of David Holmes, the Buckeye State was completed in February 1850. It was owned and operated by the Pittsburgh & Cincinnati Packet Line, which ran it regularly on the Ohio River between Cincinnati and Pittsburgh. The company owned six or seven steamers at a time, and ran daily departures between the two cities. By the mid-1840s the Pittsburgh & Cincinnati Packet Line was praised by a Pittsburgh newspaper editor as “the greatest convenience . . . ever afforded the citizens on the banks of the Upper Ohio.”
On May 1, 1850 the Buckeye State left Cincinnati for Pittsburgh and completed the trip in a record 43 hours. Under Capt. Sam Dean, the steamer made 24 stops along the route, needing coal once and wood three times. One hundred years later, the Buckeye State still held the record for the fastest trip ever made by a steamboat between Cincinnati and Pittsburgh.
In 1851, showman P. T. Barnum organized a race between the Buckeye State and the Messenger No. 2 as a publicity stunt to advertise Swedish opera singer Jenny Lind’s American tour. Steamboat racing was growing in popularity, and so a race was the perfect promotion. Although Lind and Barnum were aboard the Messenger No. 2, the Buckeye State won the race. The Buckeye State continued its service up and down the Ohio for six more years until it was retired and dismantled in 1857.
date made
1963
construction completed on Buckeye State
1850-02
Buckeye State retired
1857
participated in a steamboat race
1857
owned and operated by
Pittsburgh & Cincinnati Packet Line
supervised construction of Buckeye State
Holmes, David
captain of the Buckeye State
Dean, Sam
maker
Boucher-Lewis Precision Models, Inc.
ID Number
TR.322425
catalog number
322425
accession number
247839
This object is a left-handed, stainless steel French fry scoop with a black plastic handle.
Description
This object is a left-handed, stainless steel French fry scoop with a black plastic handle. On the reverse, writing etched into the scoop says “Bagging Scoop.” This scoop, used by left-handed employees, was designed to dispense a precise amount of French fries to create uniformity between servings in the quickest, most efficient way possible.
The McDonald’s Corporation is one of the most recognizable hamburger restaurants in the United States. As of 2011, the McDonald’s Corporation and franchisees were operating in 119 countries with 1.9 million employees, making it the 4th largest employer in the world.
In 1940, Richard (Dick) and Maurice (Mac) McDonald opened the first McDonald’s Bar-B-Q drive-in restaurant in San Bernardino, California. In 1948, the brothers redesigned their menu, centering on the 15 cent hamburger. In 1954, Ray Kroc, a Multimixer (milkshake machine) salesman, became interested in the McDonalds brothers’ high volume restaurant. He worked out a deal with the brothers to be their franchising agent and opened the first franchise location in Illinois the following year. Under Kroc’s direction, the company grew to become the giant we know today.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
mid 1960s
maker
Prince Castle
ID Number
1991.0324.04
catalog number
1991.0324.04
accession number
1991.0324
This object is a right-handed, stainless steel French fry scoop with a black plastic handle.
Description
This object is a right-handed, stainless steel French fry scoop with a black plastic handle. On the reverse, writing etched into the scoop says “Bagging Scoop.” This scoop, used by right-handed employees, was designed to dispense a precise amount of French fries to create uniformity between servings in the quickest, most efficient way possible.
The McDonald’s Corporation is one of the most recognizable hamburger restaurants in the United States. As of 2011, the McDonald’s Corporation and franchisees were operating in 119 countries with 1.9 million employees, making it the 4th largest employer in the world.
In 1940, Richard (Dick) and Maurice (Mac) McDonald opened the first McDonald’s Bar-B-Q drive-in restaurant in San Bernardino, California. In 1948, the brothers redesigned their menu, centering on the 15 cent hamburger. In 1954, Ray Kroc, a Multimixer (milkshake machine) salesman, became interested in the McDonalds brothers’ high volume restaurant. He worked out a deal with the brothers to be their franchising agent and opened the first franchise location in Illinois the following year. Under Kroc’s direction, the company grew to become the giant we know today.
date made
mid 1960s
maker
Prince Castle
ID Number
1991.0324.03
catalog number
1991.0324.03
accession number
1991.0324
A Nickolas Muray dye transfer photograph of apples. One apple is cut, one is whole. A knife lays across the fruit.Recto: Signed by artist bottom right (pencil). Verso: Muray stamp. Muray label."Apples" (pencil).
Description (Brief)
A Nickolas Muray dye transfer photograph of apples. One apple is cut, one is whole. A knife lays across the fruit.
Recto: Signed by artist bottom right (pencil). Verso: Muray stamp. Muray label."Apples" (pencil). "#50" (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 1964
maker
Muray, Nickolas
ID Number
PG.69.247.14
catalog number
69.247.14
accession number
287542
This is a Kentucky Fried Chicken family bucket used in KFC restaurants around 1969.
Description
This is a Kentucky Fried Chicken family bucket used in KFC restaurants around 1969. The bucket bears the trademark image of Harland Sanders in his Colonel Sanders outfit—white suit and black string tie—as well as the copyrighted tagline “it’s finger lickin’ good.” The KFC Chicken bucket was first created in 1957 by Sanders and his first franchisee, Pete Harman. It contained 15 pieces of chicken, a pint of gravy, and biscuits. The idea was sold as a way for housewives to escape the kitchen dinner and still prepare a great dinner, merely needing to add a salad and a vegetable for a balanced meal.
date made
1969
ID Number
2014.0120.02
catalog number
2014.0120.02
accession number
2014.0120
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1967
ID Number
1988.0239.01
catalog number
1988.0239.01
accession number
1988.0239
This weathervane is topped by a two-sided lithographed steel image of Harland Sanders in his genteel image as “Colonel Sanders”—a white suit, black string tie, and cane.
Description
This weathervane is topped by a two-sided lithographed steel image of Harland Sanders in his genteel image as “Colonel Sanders”—a white suit, black string tie, and cane. The use of the image was meant to reinforce brand loyalty by featuring the company’s iconic founder at restaurants he franchised. The image sat atop the red and white steel cupola made by the Trachte Metal Buildings Company during the 1970s, sold to franchisees to present a unified image.
Harland Sanders began selling his fried chicken at his filling station in North Corbin, Kentucky in 1934. Two years later the governor granted Sanders the honorary title of “Kentucky Colonel,” a title that was renewed in 1950 by Governor Lawrence Weatherby. Around then Sanders adopted the persona of a genteel Colonel with his suit, string tie, and cane. In 1952, Colonel Sanders licensed his chicken to Salt Lake City restaurant owner Peter Harman, and in 1955 he sold his store and traveled the country full-time selling franchises. By 1964 there were more than 600 franchisees, and Sanders sold his interest in the company for $2 million dollars.
date made
1960s
ID Number
2014.0120.01
accession number
2014.0120
catalog number
2014.0120.01
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1961-1962
maker
Ansco
ID Number
1997.0007.01
accession number
1997.0007
catalog number
1997.0007.1
Fold out advertisement for custom campaign novelties distributed by Art Display Service, Inc. in 1956.
Description
Fold out advertisement for custom campaign novelties distributed by Art Display Service, Inc. in 1956.
date made
1964
ID Number
1982.3022.092
nonaccession number
1982.3022
catalog number
1982.3022.092
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
early 20th century
ca 1953 - 1963
ID Number
1988.3053.1
nonaccession number
1988.3053
catalog number
1988.3053.1
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1965-02-22
graphic artist
News Syndicate Co., Inc.
ID Number
2012.3028.01
accession number
2012.3028
The cover of this eight-page pamphlet is blue and black. It reads: HOW THE (/) OTIS KING (/) SPIRAL (/) SLIDE RULE (/) SAVES TIME (/) AND MISTAKES (/) IN ALL (/) CALCULATIONS (/) SIMPLE (/) QUICK (/) ACCURATE.
Description
The cover of this eight-page pamphlet is blue and black. It reads: HOW THE (/) OTIS KING (/) SPIRAL (/) SLIDE RULE (/) SAVES TIME (/) AND MISTAKES (/) IN ALL (/) CALCULATIONS (/) SIMPLE (/) QUICK (/) ACCURATE. The text describes the features and advantages of the Otis King cylindrical slide rule. Drawings demonstrate the three steps required to make calculations. The pamphlet also lists 13 sample problems the Otis King Pocket Calculator could solve, 37 companies that were major customers of the rule, and 50 professions that usefully employed the rule. The back page carries five anonymous testimonials and is stamped in blue ink with the address of the instrument's U.S. distributor: CALCULATOR COMPANY (/) BOX 593 (/) LAKEWOOD, CALIFORNIA 90714.
This pamphlet arrived with 1989.3049.02. See also 1989.3049.03.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1965-1968
maker
Carbic Limited
ID Number
1989.3049.04
nonaccession number
1989.3049
catalog number
1989.3049.04
This wrapper was for a package of trading cards featuring Superman. The set, 66 cards in all, was made by Topps Inc. In 1965.
Description (Brief)
This wrapper was for a package of trading cards featuring Superman. The set, 66 cards in all, was made by Topps Inc. In 1965. It promoted the television program, "Adventures of Superman," using black and white stills taken from the series.
Premiering in 1952, the syndicated "Adventures of Superman" ran for 6 seasons and 104 episodes. The role of Superman was portrayed by actor George Reeves, with Noel Neill as journalist Lois Lane, Jack Larson as cub reporter/photographer Jimmie Olson, and John Hamilton as editor Perry White. Although all episodes initially aired in black and white, the series shot it's final three seasons in color. In 1965 the episodes were broadcast in color for the first time.
The character of Superman first flew into action in 1938. The costumed superhero was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, two Jewish teenagers from Cleveland Ohio, who used, among other things, Classical mythology, philosopher Fredrich Nietzche's concept of the "uber mensch," and the era's popular science fiction and adventure writing, for inspiration.
With his debut in Action Comics #1, Superman became an instant sensation with audiences, inspired by the "Man of Tomorrow's" virtue and heroics at time when the Nation was slowly emerging from the economic catastrophe of the Great Depression and moving closer to World War.
Born on the doomed planet Krypton, Superman was sent to Earth as a child, where our world's yellow sun granted him extraordinary powers such as flight, super-strength, near-invulnerability, as well as other extraordinary abilities including heat and X-Ray vision. As an adult living in the city of Metropolis, the alien, born Kal-El, protects his identity by assuming the persona of Clark Kent, a "mild-mannered" journalist.
Fighting for "Truth and Justice," Superman birthed a cultural fascination with superheroes, and has become one of the most recognizable and influential fictional characters in history. In addition to comic books, the character has been explored in all forms of media, including radio, television, and film, and has been used to promote a variety of successful consumer products, educational initiatives and public service campaigns.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1965
depicted
Reeves, George
ID Number
1987.0213.045
accession number
1987.0213
catalog number
1987.0213.045
This instrument consists of two pieces of blue and white rectangular cardboard, riveted together at the corners. It is marked with a circular logarithmic scale of weight in pounds that ranges from 1 to 250. Inside this is a scale of lengths from 50" to 10".
Description
This instrument consists of two pieces of blue and white rectangular cardboard, riveted together at the corners. It is marked with a circular logarithmic scale of weight in pounds that ranges from 1 to 250. Inside this is a scale of lengths from 50" to 10". A white disc attached below that scale has a scale of heights from 5" to 30" and a scale of widths from 30" to 6". A paper indicator is attached on top of the disc. It contains a scale of densities in cubic inches per pound from 300 to 200 and three steps of instructions. This slide chart is marked: CLIPPER CARGO (/) DIMENSIONAL WEIGHT COMPUTER. It performs the same function as 1996.3029.01.
Unlike the other object, a rectangular piece of white cardboard slides inside the instrument to also permit readings of conversions from kilograms to pounds on the front and readings of pounds to kilograms on the back. This part of the chart is marked: WEIGHT CONVERTER. The bottom of the chart is marked: PAN AMERICAN, with LEADERS IN AIR CARGO on the front and SPACE CAN BE RESERVED on the back. The back also has an advertisement: CLIPPER CARGO (/) Reduces Pilferage (/) Reduces Damage (/) Reduces Inventory (/) Extends your working capital!
The lower left corner of the front is marked: Slide-Chart Copr. 1957, (/) PERRYGRAF Corp., Maywood, Ill. The lower right corner is marked: *T.M. Reg. U. S. Pat. Off. Perrygraf was a very successful producer of promotional slide charts. In 1968, the company was sold to Nashua Corporation and moved to Los Angeles, Calif.
Reference: Walter Shawlee II, "The Wonderful World of Slide Charts, Wheel Charts, and Perrygrafs," Sphere Research Corp., http://sphere.bc.ca/test/perrygraf.html.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1957-1968
maker
Perry Graf Corporation
ID Number
1996.3029.02
nonaccession number
1996.3029
catalog number
1996.3029.02
Pin commemorating the New York World's Fair, held in Queens, 1963-1964. It reads " have seen the Future, General Motors Futurama."Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Pin commemorating the New York World's Fair, held in Queens, 1963-1964. It reads " have seen the Future, General Motors Futurama."
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1939-1940
date made
1964
ID Number
1990.0542.1674
accession number
1990.0542
catalog number
1990.0542.1674
Typescript for the Bob Newhart comedy routine "Abe Lincoln vs. Madison Avenue." The script is typed on three pages of typewriter paper in black ink.
Description (Brief)
Typescript for the Bob Newhart comedy routine "Abe Lincoln vs. Madison Avenue." The script is typed on three pages of typewriter paper in black ink. Newhart wrote the sketch in 1960 for his stand-up comedy act at Houston's Tidelands nightclub; that act was recorded and released as The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart, a popular and acclaimed comedy album that went on to win Newhart two Grammy Awards.
The routine consists of an imaginary conversation between Abraham Lincoln and a Madison Avenue advertising executive. In talking through Lincoln’s upcoming Gettysburg Address, the ad man advises the sixteenth president on his image (“Abe, would you leave the beard on?”), suggests jokes and merchandising tie-ins, and bats down Lincoln’s speech revisions. The ad man’s insincere platitudes, prioritization of style over substance, and obsession with focus group testing poke fun at the popular perception of the advertising world’s asinine commercialism. His frustration with Lincoln’s earnest and thoughtful intelligence, out of its historical context, reads like relatable frustration with a coworker who just doesn’t get the point of a collaborative project. Meanwhile the sketch’s irreverent and ahistorical representation of Lincoln’s dithering deflates the mythology around the venerated leader. The routine even ends with the ad man suggesting that Lincoln “take in a play,” suggesting he may have been responsible for the president’s assassination at Ford’s Theatre. Newhart wrote in his 2006 book I Shouldn’t Even Be Doing This that he was inspired to write the monologue by a 1957 study of the advertising world, The Hidden Persuaders, “which talked about the danger of PR men creating images in presidential campaigns to the degree that you were voting for a personality rather than a leader’s ideology.”
Bob Newhart changed the face of American comedy in his six decade-long career as a stand-up comedian and film and television actor. Newhart’s genial, halting, square delivery obscured a sly, subversive, and quietly revolutionary form of satire. Eschewing the more aggressive and controversial style of “sick comic” contemporaries like Lenny Bruce and Mort Sahl, Newhart’s deadpan, stammering, straight man persona allowed him to subtly excoriate social mores, crassness and greed, hypocrisy, and the absurdities of modern American life. His debut comedy album The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart became first comedy LP ever to hit number one on the Billboard charts, first (of two) comedy album to win a Grammy for Album of the Year, and Newhart became the only comedian to ever win a Grammy as Best New Artist. He began acting in film and television, including two acclaimed and long running sitcoms, The Bob Newhart Show (1972-1978) and Newhart (1982-1990). Newhart has continued to play small roles and make guest appearances into his 90s, including a recurring guest role on The Big Bang Theory that won him an Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series in 2013. Newhart won the 2002 Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, has been inducted into the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame, and earned a 1962 Golden Globe award for Best TV Star as well as his three Grammy Awards in 1961.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1960
around 1960
Associated Name
Lincoln, Abraham
maker
Newhart, Bob
ID Number
2023.0059.01
accession number
2023.0059
catalog number
2023.0059.01
Storyboard for a Wilkins Coffee commercial featuring the characters Wilkins and Wontkins, created by Jim Henson. The storyboard is made of series of four consecutive pencil drawings on custom-printed and perforated paper, with four dialogue boxes beneath.
Description (Brief)
Storyboard for a Wilkins Coffee commercial featuring the characters Wilkins and Wontkins, created by Jim Henson. The storyboard is made of series of four consecutive pencil drawings on custom-printed and perforated paper, with four dialogue boxes beneath. In the commercial, the puppet character Wilkins is hanging wallpaper. When the Wontkins puppet enters the picture and says that he doesn't drink Wilkins Coffee, the Wilkins puppet then pastes Wontkins on to the wall, behind the wallpaper, stating "The place here looks a lot better with all the bad spots covered up!"
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1960
ID Number
2019.0131.01
accession number
2019.0131
catalog number
2019.0131.01

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