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.

Place: New York

Hale's "Clever Clothes Shop"

Celluloid envelope with blue print. On one side is an image of a woman's profile and Edward Hoch's attributed quote that begins, "There is so much bad in the best of us ..." An advertisement is on the reverse. The envelope contains a celluloid sleeve and a strip of material.
Description (Brief)
Celluloid envelope with blue print. On one side is an image of a woman's profile and Edward Hoch's attributed quote that begins, "There is so much bad in the best of us ..." An advertisement is on the reverse. The envelope contains a celluloid sleeve and a strip of material. It is an advertising piece for Hale's "Clever Clothes Shop" of Kingston, N.Y.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
after 1905
advertiser
Hale, Chas. E
maker
Whitehead & Hoag Company
ID Number
2006.0098.0519
accession number
2006.0098
catalog number
2006.0098.0519

Julius Schmid Inc. Stock Cabinet and Dispenser

This mahogany-stained cabinet was designed to be extremely discreet. When the cabinet doors are closed, there is no indication of the products which the cabinet holds.During the 1930s, cabinets like these would have been used in drugstores which sold condoms.
Description
This mahogany-stained cabinet was designed to be extremely discreet. When the cabinet doors are closed, there is no indication of the products which the cabinet holds.
During the 1930s, cabinets like these would have been used in drugstores which sold condoms. This cabinet held condoms specifically manufactured by Julius Schmid, Inc. of New York, New York. The cabinet dates to around 1931.
Behind the cabinet's double doors are five dispensing trays and a shelf at the top. The top shelf would have held tins of Sheik brand condoms, one of the most common brands Schmid manufactured. Small side shelves would have held condom tins for Fourex and Ramses, two other brands Schmid manufactured. Condom tins like these typically held three condoms. The center shelf would have contained larger boxes which held a dozen condoms.
In 1872, the Comstock Act had prohibited interstate commerce in obscene literature and immoral material. Condoms and other forms of birth control fell under the category of “immoral material.” As forbidden material, condoms were rarely advertised openly. However, during the early twentieth century, rising concerns about gonorrhea and syphilis led a growing number of public health advocates to call for condoms to be sold to prevent disease. In 1918, a court case in New York, (The People of the State of New York v Margaret H. Sanger) clarified that existing penal codes allowed physicians to prescribe condoms to prevent disease. Named after Judge Frederick Crane who wrote the opinion in the case, the Crane decision opened the door for condom manufacturers to openly advertise and sell condoms, provided they were sold as a disease preventative.
Throughout most of the twentieth century, Julius Schmid, Inc. dominated the condom market. An immigrant from Germany, Schmid was one of the first American manufacturers to use “cold-cure cement” technique to make condoms. Workers at his factory dipped a glass mold into liquified rubber to create a sheath. The sheath was then vulcanized or hardened at a high temperature, enabling it to retain its shape.
Schmid’s condoms were not only standardized, they were also tested to ensure that they had no tears or holes. While cheap untested condoms were often sold on the street, Schmid made a point to sell his more expensive condoms in drug stores, a tactic which underscored his claim that his condoms were sold “only for protection against disease.” Aggressive marketing, combined with Schmid’s ability to move quickly when laws regulating condom manufacturing and distribution changed, were central to the company’s success.
Schmid was well known for the reliability of its products, and the company exclusively supplied pharmacists with tested and dependable condoms. This allowed pharmacists to sell higher-quality condoms at a significant markup.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
after 1931
ca 1930s
advertiser
Julius Schmid, Inc.
maker
Julius Schmid, Inc.
ID Number
1989.0416.007
catalog number
1989.0416.007
accession number
1989.0416

Leaflet for Agate Iron Ware

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1876
fair dates
1876
ID Number
DL.309976.0027
catalog number
309976.0027
accession number
309976

The Great Kentucky Rifle Team, Champions of the World

This colored print depicts an outdoor scene in which tree trunks spell out the word "FRAYNE." Various figures surrounding the word; some are rescuing people, some are performing stunts with guns, others are being executed as an example of frontier justice.
Description
This colored print depicts an outdoor scene in which tree trunks spell out the word "FRAYNE." Various figures surrounding the word; some are rescuing people, some are performing stunts with guns, others are being executed as an example of frontier justice. In addition to the words “The Great Kentucky Rifle Team,” the print contains a caption reading “The Great Sensation of the Age” at the top and “Chas. A. Wing / Business Manager” at the bottom. The word “Champions” is printed vertically on the left side and “Of the World” runs vertically along the right.
Frank I. Frayne (1839-1891) was an actor and expert marksman born in Danville, Kentucky. He got his start as an actor performing on stages in Cincinnati, Ohio and New Orleans, Louisiana. After the Civil War he headed to the mining regions of the American West, where he became an expert shooter. When he returned to the East, he formed a rifle team and began presenting shows that combined shooting tricks with animal stunts involving dogs, ponies, a bear, a lion and hyenas. One of his most famous presentations was Si Slocum, in which he portrayed a ranch proprietor locked in a vicious battle to keep his land. Frayne used live ammunition for his tricks, which included shooting a pipe out of a ranch hand's mouth, extinguishing a candle with a gunshot, and shooting an apple off another performer's head while standing backwards and sighting his target with a mirror. His act went tragically wrong during an 1882 performance in Cincinnati, Ohio, when Frayne shot and killed his fiancé and partner in a William Tell type performance, actress Annie Von Behren (1857-1882). He claimed his rifle accidentally discharged, and he was absolved of responsibility for the death when an examination of his three foot long single breechloading rifle proved the firearm was damaged and not firing properly.
Charles W. Wing was buisness manager for the Frank Frayne Combination in the 1870's and 1880s.
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.
maker
Metropolitan Printing Company
Rothengatter
ID Number
DL.60.3021
catalog number
60.3021
accession number
228146

Gorman's Original Philadelphia Church Choir Company

This black and white print is a profile bust portrait of actress Emma Henry wearing a plumed hat. The date and place, “Grand Opera House. Saturday Afternoon and Evening, Dec. 13, ’79,” are printed across the top in colored letters.Emma Henry was a successful stage actress.
Description
This black and white print is a profile bust portrait of actress Emma Henry wearing a plumed hat. The date and place, “Grand Opera House. Saturday Afternoon and Evening, Dec. 13, ’79,” are printed across the top in colored letters.
Emma Henry was a successful stage actress. She performed in the comic opera H.M.S. Pinafore at the Broadway Theatre in New York in the spring of 1879. That production was also presented by Gorman’s Philadelphia Church Choir Company and directed by John Philip Sousa. It’s possible that this poster is advertising her appearance in H.M.S. Pinafore later that year at the Grand Opera House which was probably the one in Manhattan which opened originally in 1868 as Pikes Opera House but was renamed a year later.
Gorman's Original Philadelphia Church Choir Company made its debut in the late 1870s with a performance of Gilbert and Sullivan's H. M. S. Pinafore. Composer and conductor John Philip Sousa (1854-1932) directed the production. The group was called the Amateur Opera Company before it changed its name to Gorman's Original Philadelphia Church Choir Company. Under Sousa's direction, the semi-amateur company continued to perform through 1879 in the Philadelphia area and New York. During this time Sousa met his wife, Jane van Middlesworth Bellis (ca 1862-1944), who had an understudy role in the production. The choir was one of several American musical companies that sprang up during that period, inspired by enthusiasm for the light operas of Gilbert and Sullivan.
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
1879 or before
depicted
Henry, Emma
maker
Thomas, Henry Atwell
ID Number
DL.60.3040
catalog number
60.3040
accession number
228146

The Horse Trustee

Black and white print; a broadside announcing that the race horse,Trustee, would stand for mares during the present season at a particular stable.
Description (Brief)
Black and white print; a broadside announcing that the race horse,Trustee, would stand for mares during the present season at a particular stable. A small view of a man holding the reins of a horse is above the text giving the details of the horse's pedigree and performance.
Description
A black and white print of a man holding the reins of a black stallion in a meadow. The broadside announces Trustee will stand for mares.
Trustee was foaled in 1837 from Trustee and Fanny Pollen, a distant mare of Messenger. Trustee’s pedigree is significant because it represents a shift from the traditional method of breeding running stallions to trotting mares to the newer method of breeding proven trotting champions together. He was famous for trotting 20 miles in 35.5 minutes in 1848.
Jared W. Bell was born in 1798 and died in 1870 from Bright’s Disease in New York. He had been married and was a painter by profession.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1849
printer
Bell, Jared W.
ID Number
DL.60.3597
catalog number
60.3597

The Old Reliable Schuttler Wagon. Presented by Peter Schuttler, Chicago

Color print of a wagon train descending a mountain road to a central level area beside a river. A wooden fenced structure is located to the left with tents and a number of parked wagons across from it.
Description (Brief)
Color print of a wagon train descending a mountain road to a central level area beside a river. A wooden fenced structure is located to the left with tents and a number of parked wagons across from it. This is an advertisement for Peter Schuttler, a prominent manufacturer of the wagons out of Chicago. Peter Schuttler was a German immigrant who learned his craft by working for a wagon maker in Sandusky, Ohio. In 1843 he moved to Chicago to start his own business by producing wagons for both the city and for Western travellers. By the 1850's, he had become a leading manufacturer of wagons partially due to the California Gold Rush, producing up to 1800 wagons a year. His son Peter took over the business when he died in 1865.
This image was a copy of a 1875-1880 stereo viewby Thurlow of Manitou Springs.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
n.d.
date made
ca 1885
maker
Clay & Company
ID Number
DL.60.3753
catalog number
60.3753

Maggie Mitchell

This colored print is a signed oval bust portrait with a light green background on a red banner with gold fringe. The portrait depicts auburn haired actress Maggie Mitchell, wearing a white earring, a white dress and a matching hat. .
Description
This colored print is a signed oval bust portrait with a light green background on a red banner with gold fringe. The portrait depicts auburn haired actress Maggie Mitchell, wearing a white earring, a white dress and a matching hat. . The caption stamped at the top of the poster announces the location and date of the performance as “Park Theatre, Tuesday, March 14.”
The Park Theater was built in 1798 on Park Row in Manhattan and was New York City’s premiere performance space in the early 19th Century. It attracted a diverse audience with each class sitting in its preferred section. Working class men sat in the pit; members of the upper class and women in the boxes; the least affluent sat or stood in the balcony. These included immigrants, people of color, and prostitutes.
Maggie Mitchell (1832-1918) has been described as a pioneering example of "the personality actress," a performer whose onstage persona was almost indistinguishable from her image offstage. ( The History of North American Theater). She was born Margaret Julia Mitchell in New York City. As a young girl, she performed in silent roles before making her speaking debut as Julia in The Soldier's Daughter in 1851. Petite and curly haired, with a childlike energy, she was often cast in sentimental comedies and in male or “tomboy” roles, including the title role in a stage adaptation of Oliver Twist. Mitchell's sprightly charm sparked what would later be called a "Maggie Mitchell craze" in Cleveland, Ohio, and she eventually became one of the most celebrated actresses of her era. She appeared in Jane Eyre, Little Barefoot, The Pearl of Savoy, and other dramas, but her best-known role was as a simple country girl in a comedy called Fanchon, the Cricket, adapted from George Sand's story "La Petite Fadette." She made her debut as Fanchon in the early 1860s and continued to perform the part, along with her trademark “shadow dance,” until she was in her fifties. Abraham Lincoln, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow were said to be among her admirers. Maggie Mitchell retired from the theater in 1892.
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.
The collection contains a duplicate of this same print.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
n.d.
depicted
Mitchell, Margaret Julia
maker
Thomas, Henry Atwell
ID Number
DL.60.3049
catalog number
60.3049
accession number
228146

Genl Tom Thumb & Wife, Com. Nutt & Minnie Warren at their marriage at Grace Church, N.Y., Feb. 10, 1863 by Currier & Ives

Color print, central image depicts General Tom Thumb and his bride, Lavinia Warren, flanked by Commodore Nutt and Minnie Warren, at their marriage at Grace Church, N.Y., Feb. 10, 1863.
Description (Brief)
Color print, central image depicts General Tom Thumb and his bride, Lavinia Warren, flanked by Commodore Nutt and Minnie Warren, at their marriage at Grace Church, N.Y., Feb. 10, 1863. This image is surrounded by small views of the midgets in a variety of costumes and roles with the largest of them being a view beneath the central image of a coach and horses labeled "Splendid Equipage of Genl. Tom Thumb & Suite, Cost over $2000."
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1863
depicted
Thumb, Tom
Warren, Lavinia
Warren, Minnie
Nutt, Commodore George Washington Morrison
maker
Currier & Ives
ID Number
DL.60.3492
catalog number
60.3492

Bartley Campbell's Picturesque Drama The Galley Slave by Henry Atwell Thomas, 1879

This black and white lithograph depicts a central scene of an interior with a woman wearing a veil, collapsed in an armchair. Two men standing near her appear to be arguing.
Description
This black and white lithograph depicts a central scene of an interior with a woman wearing a veil, collapsed in an armchair. Two men standing near her appear to be arguing. The central scene rests on an easel and is surrounded by four vignettes, with a circular bust portrait of Bartley Campbell at the top center. The complicated plot involves the betrayal of a well-born woman by her artist husband and her ultimate vindication and revenge.
The names of two actors, Frank Evans and J. J. Sullivan, have been added in colored lettering on the left and right margins. An early playbill contains the names of these actors as cast members for performances of The Galley Slave at Haverly’s Theatre in New York in 1880. The Galley Slave was made into a 1915 film starring Theda Bara.
Bartley T. Campbell (1843-1888), was a journalist, novelist, poet, dramatist, and theatrical manager. He was born to Irish immigrant parents in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and began his writing career at age 15 as a reporter for the Pittsburgh Post . He also worked for newspapers in Louisville, Kentucky, and Cincinnati, Ohio, and founded the Southern Monthly Magazine in New Orleans, Louisiana. After the success of his first melodrama, Through Fire , in 1871, Campbell gave up journalism for playwrighting and experimented with everything from comedies to domestic dramas to military sagas. Several of his works, including The White Slave , focused on racial themes and the plight of mixed race characters. Another of his plays, Siberia , featured many prominent actors of the day and toured in England, Australia, and New Zealand. After an 1876 trip to London, Bartley Campbell began to write the western dramas for which he became especially famous, including The Vigilantes , or, The Heart of the Sierras . He has been described as America's first "first fully professional dramatist" ( The Oxford Companion to American Theatre ), and he also produced and directed plays. Later in life Bartley Campbell suffered from financial and mental problems and died at the State Hospital for the Insane in Middletown, New York.
This lithograph was produced by Henry Atwell Thomas (1834-1904). He 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
1879
referenced
Campbell, Bartley
Sullivan, J. J.
Evans, Frank
maker
Thomas, Henry Atwell
ID Number
DL.60.3065
catalog number
60.3065
accession number
228146

Jenny Lind by Nagel & Weingaertner and C. G. Crehenafter the daguerreotype by M.A. & S. Root,1850.

This black and white lithograph is a 3/4 length portrait of Jenny Lind wearing a formal gown with a lace shawl and holding a handkerchief in her lap. Her signature serves as the title. This print is modeled after a well-known daguerreotype by M. A. and S.
Description
This black and white lithograph is a 3/4 length portrait of Jenny Lind wearing a formal gown with a lace shawl and holding a handkerchief in her lap. Her signature serves as the title. This print is modeled after a well-known daguerreotype by M. A. and S. Root and is on thin, white paper which has been pasted to heavier cream-colored paper.
Jenny Lind (1820-1887) was an opera singer often described as “The Swedish Nightingale” for the range, purity, and melodiousness of her soprano voice. Born Johanna Maria Lind in Stockholm, Lind trained at the Royal Dramatic Theatre, began performing in her teens, and was soon creating a sensation on tours throughout Europe. When she made her London debut in 1847, frenzied theatergoers set off a stampede as they entered the theater. Queen Victoria was among those who attended that opening night performance. The Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen is said to have fallen in love with Lind and to have written fairy tales with her in mind, including “The Nightingale.” She also won the admiration of composers like Robert Schumann, Hector Berlioz, and Felix Mendelssohn, who became a close friend. In addition to Lind’s vocal gifts, she was greatly admired as a model of piety, simplicity, and generosity. In 1849, although only 29 years old, she announced her retirement from opera and turned to performing Romantic and Swedish folk songs. She resumed her operatic career in 1850, when she launched an American tour under the management of the showman P. T. Barnum. He promoted her arrival with such fanfare that she was greeted by a crowd numbering in the thousands when she sailed into New York’s harbor. She traveled across the United States and to Cuba and Canada in the year that followed, often donating her profits to the endowment of free schools in Sweden and other charitable causes. Lind and Barnum ended their partnership in 1851, but she continued to tour on her own for another year.
In 1852, Jenny Lind married her accompanist, Otto Goldschmidt, and continued to appear in occasional European concerts as Jenny Lind Goldschmidt. She died of a cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 67. Although critics have debated whether her talent measured up to her reputation, her legendary popularity lives on in memorials and monuments around the world. She has inspired books, films, and a series of Swedish banknotes, while schools, streets, parks, hospitals, pies, clothing, and cigars all carry her name. Even a clipper ship, the USS Nightingale, and the Gold Rush town of Jenny Lind, California have been named in her honor.
This lithograph was produced by Nagel & Weingaertner and C. G. Crehen. Louis Nagel was born in Germany ca. 1817 and began working in New York as early as 1844. There he was involved in two partnerships, Nagel & Mayer (1846) and Nagel & Weingaertner (1849-1856). In 1857, he moved to San Francisco. Charles G. Crehen (1829-ca 1891) was a portrait painter, lithographer, and printer in New York.
Marcus Aurelius Root (1808-1888) was a photographer and daguerreotypist born in Granville, Ohio. He studied painting and penmanship before turning to daguerreotyping and became one of the early practitioners of the new art. He worked in Mobile, Alabama; New Orleans, Louisiana; St. Louis, Missouri; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and then in 1849 established a gallery in New York with his brother Samuel. The Root brothers were the first to produce daguerreotypes of Jenny Lind. After being disabled in a train accident, Marcus Root devoted himself to writing about photographic history and aesthetics. His book The Camera and The Pencil: Or the Heliographic Art, published in 1864, argued that photographers should be as highly esteemed as artists, and that much more was involved in photography than simply operating a camera. In recognition of his pioneering achievements, Root's daguerreotypes of famous people were included in an exhibition at the 1876 American centennial celebration in Philadelphia.
Samuel Root (ca. 1819-1889) was a daguerreotypist born in Granville, Ohio. He learned the art of daguerreotyping from his brother Marcus and the two opened a gallery in New York in 1849. Samuel Root later moved to Dubuque, Iowa, where he opened another daguerreotype business. He also published photographic books on Dubuque residences and businesses.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1850
copyright holder; publisher
Schaus, William
depicted
Lind, Jenny
maker
Nagel & Weingaertner
Crehen, C.G.
original artist
M.A. & S. Root
maker
Crehen, C.G.
ID Number
DL.60.3066
catalog number
60.3066
accession number
228146

McKee Rankin.

This lithograph is a black and white bust portrait of the performer McKee Rankin.
Description
This lithograph is a black and white bust portrait of the performer McKee Rankin. Below the portrait are the words “Opera House / Friday and Saturday Evenings / January 17th and 18th / Matinee Saturday (2 P?)" on the datebill, which is a label with the location and date of the performance. Unfortunately name of the opera house is missing.
Arthur "McKee" Rankin (ca 1841-1914) was born in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. He made his theatrical debut in 1861 in Rochester, New York, using the name George Henley. He moved on to starring roles on the Philadelphia and New York stage, then headed west to California, where he established a repertory theater in San Francisco. Rankin was married to the actress Kitty Blanchard, and they became known as one of the nation’s most popular husband and wife acting teams. He appeared in a wide variety of roles, including Shakespearean dramas, minstrel shows, melodramas, Broadway productions and motion pictures. He was also a playwright, director, theater owner, and acting coach who became especially celebrated for his frontier dramas. An 1877 play about California miners, titled The Danites, or The Heart of the Sierras , featured a Mormon sect bent on avenging the death of their prophet Joseph Smith. The play has been hailed for injecting a new note of realism into American theater. A later play,49, was inspired by an uncle who joined the California Gold Rush in the mid nineteenth century and worked in a mining camp similar to those where Rankin performed as an actor. Although hailed as a daring and innovative artist, Rankin's risky financial investments and heavy drinking left him impoverished in his later years. Rankin's three daughters all married into noted theater families. Daughter Gladys married Sidney Drew, adopted son of Louisa Lane Drew. His daughter Phylis married Harry Davenport, the son of E. L. Davenport and brother to Fanny Davenport. His illegitimate daughter Doris married Lionel Barrymore, who was a grandson of Louisa Lane Drew.
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
ca 1879
depicted
Rankin, McKee
maker
Thomas, Henry Atwell
ID Number
DL.60.3012
catalog number
60.3012
accession number
228146

"Huyler's Milk Chocolate" Tin

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1881 - 1910
ID Number
DL.263901.0050
catalog number
263901.0050
accession number
263901

"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

The Association's Celebrated and Extensive Menagerie and Aviary from their Zoological Institute in the City of New-York published by Jared W. Bell, 1835

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca. 1835
date made
1835
maker
Bell, Jared W.
ID Number
DL.64.0814
catalog number
64.0814
accession number
252319

Mrs W.J. Florence (Malvina Pray Florence) in the Mighty Dollar by Henry Atwell Thomas, circa 1880

Black and white print; bust portrait of a woman in a feathered hat. (actress Malvina Pray Florence)Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Black and white print; bust portrait of a woman in a feathered hat. (actress Malvina Pray Florence)
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1875-1885
depicted
Florence, Malvina Pray
maker
Thomas, Henry Atwell
ID Number
DL.60.3133
catalog number
60.3133
accession number
228146

Capt. H.L. Thistle's Ambulance

Black and white print of driver and two-wheeled wagon (ambulance) pulled by a horse. Soldiers are following along behind. Details of parts of the ambulance are depicted beneath the main image with keyed descriptions.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Black and white print of driver and two-wheeled wagon (ambulance) pulled by a horse. Soldiers are following along behind. Details of parts of the ambulance are depicted beneath the main image with keyed descriptions.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1840
maker
Graham, Curtis B.
artist
Vaudricourt, A. De
ID Number
DL.60.2585
catalog number
60.2585
accession number
228146

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

Zykes and His Show

This black and white print with tint shows a center tent with banners and a pennant which reads "Zykes." A barker holds the tent flap open as he urges the crowd to come inside. Other people are watching a magician in the foreground.
Description
This black and white print with tint shows a center tent with banners and a pennant which reads "Zykes." A barker holds the tent flap open as he urges the crowd to come inside. Other people are watching a magician in the foreground. On the left side of the print is a tavern with “…boken” painted on the sign above the door. The background contains a waterfall and buildings on top of a cliff. No information is known about Zykes, the show proprietor.
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.
maker
Metropolitan Printing Company
Rothengatter
ID Number
DL.60.3018
catalog number
60.3018
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

Kirlafy Bro's "Michael Strogoff"

This colored print depicts a battlefield covered with dead and dying people. A burnt log cabin stands on the left and a Russian Orthodox church with onion domes (likely St. Basil’s Cathedral) appears in the background on the right.
Description
This colored print depicts a battlefield covered with dead and dying people. A burnt log cabin stands on the left and a Russian Orthodox church with onion domes (likely St. Basil’s Cathedral) appears in the background on the right. The drama Michael Strogoff was based on a novel by Jules Verne about a courier for the Russian Tsar Alexander II. It follows his daring adventures through Siberia, which was under invasion by the Tartars, as he tries to stop the rebellion.
The Kiralfy Brothers, Imre (ca 1845-1919) and Bolossy (ca 1848 -1932), were dancers, directors, and producers of burlesque and variety shows. The Kiralfys were born in Budapest, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and began dancing onstage as children. Although their family name was Konigsbaum, they performed as the Kiralfy brothers to conceal their father's involvement in revolutionary politics. They studied dance at the Opera Ballet in Paris and toured with shows in Europe before making their American debut in George L. Fox's production of Hiccory Diccory Dock in 1869. Inspired by the lavish spectacles they'd seen in Paris, they also began producing shows, which were famous for their large casts, extravagant sets, and bold special effects. A production called The Deluge featured an actual rainfall on stage, while Around the World in Eighty Days included a live elephant and a helium balloon operated by wires. They were also among the early showmen to use electric lighting for their acts, and their 1883 show Excelsior was staged under the direction of Thomas Edison. Their works often featured stories and settings from around the world. The Kiralfys dissolved their partnership in 1887 but continued to stage large scale shows on their own. Imre Kirafly moved to England where he created replicas of historic events like Chicago’s 1893 World’s Columbian Exhibition. Bolossy’s shows included Carnival in Venice, a Portland, Oregon production which featured a lake connected to a canal.
This chromolithograph was produced by Henry Atwell Thomas and C. Kendrick. 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. No information available about C. Kendrick other than he appears to have partnered with Thomas on numerous print projects in 1878 and 1879.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
n.d.
date made
1878-1879
maker
Thomas, Henry Atwell
Kendrick
ID Number
DL.60.3034
catalog number
60.3034
accession number
228146

Bottle Opener

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1920 - 1925
ID Number
DL.59.1374G
catalog number
59.1374G
accession number
111627

Maggie Mitchell

This colored print is an oval bust portrait of actress Maggie Mitchell on a banner. She is wearing a white hat and white dress.
Description
This colored print is an oval bust portrait of actress Maggie Mitchell on a banner. She is wearing a white hat and white dress. The caption stamped at the top of the poster announces the location and date of the performance as “Park Theatre, Tuesday, March 14.”
The Park Theater was built in 1798 on Park Row in Manhattan and was New York City’s premiere performance space in the early 19th Century. It attracted a diverse audience with each class sitting in its preferred section. Working class men sat in the pit; members of the upper class and women in the boxes; the least affluent sat or stood in the balcony. These included immigrants, people of color, and prostitutes.
Maggie Mitchell (1832-1918) has been described as a pioneering example of "the personality actress," a performer whose onstage persona was almost indistinguishable from her image offstage. ( The History of North American Theater). She was born Margaret Julia Mitchell in New York City. As a young girl, she performed in silent roles before making her speaking debut as Julia in The Soldier's Daughter in 1851. Petite and curly haired, with a childlike energy, she was often cast in sentimental comedies and in male or “tomboy” roles, including the title role in a stage adaptation of Oliver Twist. Mitchell's sprightly charm sparked what would later be called a "Maggie Mitchell craze" in Cleveland, Ohio, and she eventually became one of the most celebrated actresses of her era. She appeared in Jane Eyre, Little Barefoot, The Pearl of Savoy, and other dramas, but her best-known role was as a simple country girl in a comedy called Fanchon, the Cricket, adapted from George Sand's story "La Petite Fadette." She made her debut as Fanchon in the early 1860s and continued to perform the part, along with her trademark “shadow dance,” until she was in her fifties. Abraham Lincoln, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow were said to be among her admirers. Maggie Mitchell retired from the theater in 1892.
This chromolithograph 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.
The collection contains a duplicate of this same print (DL.60.3049)
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
n.d.
depicted
Mitchell, Margaret Julia
maker
Thomas, Henry Atwell
ID Number
DL.60.3030
catalog number
60.3030
accession number
228146

A Good Race, Well Won.; Hartford Races

A color print of an advertising poster. The scene is a race track in front of a judge’s stand. The winning horse, still hitched to his sulky and driver, is getting a blanket thrown over his back. Other horses covered in blankets are being led away. Men push the sulkys.
Description
A color print of an advertising poster. The scene is a race track in front of a judge’s stand. The winning horse, still hitched to his sulky and driver, is getting a blanket thrown over his back. Other horses covered in blankets are being led away. Men push the sulkys. The driver of the winning horse gestures to the judges in the stand with his whip. The spectators are dressed in sporty suits and converse on the track in groups of three or four. The surrounding area has wooded hills.
Worth was a noted comic and genre artist. He was born in February of 1834 in New York City. He sold his first comic sketch to Nathaniel Currier in 1855 and later became one of the most popular of the artists whose work was lithographed by Currier and Ives. Though best known for his comics he also did make may racing scenes. He lived for many years on Long Island, though eventually he moved to Staten Island. Worth died in 1917.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1889
maker
Currier & Ives
Worth, Thomas
ID Number
DL.60.3229
catalog number
60.3229

Our collection database is a work in progress. We may update this record based on further research and review. Learn more about our approach to sharing our collection online.

If you would like to know how you can use content on this page, see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use. If you need to request an image for publication or other use, please visit Rights and Reproductions.