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.

Popsicle Advertising Token

The Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut produced this token during the early 20th 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 early 20th 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 Popsicle on a stick, the stick reads “Popsicle Patented.” The legend reads: POPSICLE/5 ICLES/EASY TO EAT.
Reverse: Image of a cowboy on a bucking horse. The legend reads: BRONC.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
early 20th century
maker
Scovill Manufacturing Company
ID Number
1981.0296.1473
accession number
1981.0296
catalog number
1981.0296.1473

Henry Fussell Advertising Token

The Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut produced this advertising token during the early 20th 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 early 20th 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 two parasols. The legend reads: MANUFACTURER OF SUNSHADES & C./ CHEAP FOR CASH.
Reverse: The legend reads: HENRY B. FUSSELL/ NO. 2 N. FOURTH ST N.W. CORNER OF MARKET ST. PHILADELPHIA.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
early 20th century
maker
Scovill Manufacturing Company
ID Number
1981.0296.1510
accession number
1981.0296
catalog number
1981.0296.1510

I. W. Harper Whiskey Advertising Token

The Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut produced this advertising token during the early 20th 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 early 20th 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: I. W. HARPER/ NELSON COUNTY/ KY.
Reverse: The legend reads: GOLD MEDAL WHISKEY.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
early 20th century
referenced
I. W. Harper
maker
Scovill Manufacturing Company
ID Number
1981.0296.1507
accession number
1981.0296
catalog number
1981.0296.1507

Straight’s Shoe Store Advertising Token

The Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut produced this advertising token around 1863. 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 around 1863. 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 walking elephant wearing shoes. The legend reads: STRAIGHT'S ELEPHANTINE SHOE STORE/ 398 BROADWAY/ 1863.
Reverse: The legend reads: REDEEMED AT MY SHOE STORE/ 398 BROADWAY ALBANY N.Y.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1863
maker
Scovill Manufacturing Company
ID Number
1981.0296.1540
accession number
1981.0296
catalog number
1981.0296.1540

Schuttler Wagon Advertising Token

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

Barker & Illsley Hardware Store Token

The Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut produced this token during the early 20th 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 early 20th 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: BARKER & ILLSLEY HARDWARE/ NAILS & STOVES/ 277 STATE ST CHICAGO.
Reverse: Floral wreath around the rim. The legend reads: BUSINESS CARD.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
early 20th century
maker
Scovill Manufacturing Company
ID Number
1981.0296.1500
accession number
1981.0296
catalog number
1981.0296.1500

Munyon's Homeopathic Home Remedies Counter Display

The American Art Works of Coshocton, Ohio produced this Munyon Home Remedy Company counter display case during the early 20th century.
Description
The American Art Works of Coshocton, Ohio produced this Munyon Home Remedy Company counter display case during the early 20th century. The metal box features a photograph of James Munyon holding his right index finger aloft and proclaiming in a banner below: “I would rather preserve the health of the nation than be its ruler.” Decorative panels on the sides of the box read: “The World’s best known remedies for over a quarter of a century” and “A separate Munyon Remedy for each disease.”
James M. Munyon (1848 - 1918) established his homeopathic medicine company in the early 1890s. Remedies included in this display box: Constipation Pellets, Morrowbone Nux Iron, Hay Fever Remedy, Bladder Remedy, Blood Remedy, Catarrh Remedy, Cold and Cough Remedy, Female Remedy, General Debility Remedy, Grippe Remedy, Heart Remedy, Kidney Remedy, Liver Remedy, Nerve Remedy, Neuralgia Remedy, Asthma Pellets, Colic and Crying Baby Remedy, Constipation Ointment, Cough Remedy, Croup Remedy, Fever Remedy, Headache Remedy, Laxative Paw-Paw Pills, Leucorrhea Tablets, Malaria and Chills and Fever Remedy, Measles Remedy, Pleurisy Remedy, Remedy for Rheumatic Fever, Sore Throat Remedy, Special Liquid Blood Cure, Stomachic Triturates, Vitalizer, Worm Remedy.
After the passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act in 1906, the Federal Government investigated many of Munyon's products. In 1911 they were judged "misbranded," and subsequently Munyon removed the name "Cure" from his homeopathic remedies.
This object is one of 39 objects from the Estate of Robert W. Vinson donated to the Smithsonian in 1958. Robert William Vinson (1872-1958), known as “Doc” or “Doc Willie” Vinson, ran Vinson’s Pharmacy in Rockville, Maryland, from the early 1900s until 1957. The store was built in the 1880’s and located on the corner of Montgomery Avenue and Perry Street, across from the Montgomery County Court House, and was reported to be a popular gathering place for local politicians. It closed after Mr. Vinson’s death and many objects and furnishings, some dating to the years prior to Mr. Vinson’s ownership, were donated to the Montgomery County Historical Society Stonestreet Museum, as well as to the Smithsonian. An ornate 1914 soda fountain from the drugstore was installed in the Rockville public library. Highlights in the Smithsonian collection include glass apothecary bottles, a "Konseal" Filling and Closing Apparatus, and two pharmacy counter displays: “Munyon’s Homeopathic Home Remedies” and “German Household Dyes.”
Reference: Buglass, Ralph. Rockville, 2020. Print. (Images of America Series)
date made
ca 1918
maker
Munyon Home Remedy Company
The American Art Works
ID Number
MG.M-07379
catalog number
M-07379
accession number
220980

Outdoor scene of corn rows

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

Childs' Century Cocoa Tin

This red, rectangular tin with gold and black design was used to store and market Childs' Century Cocoa and Chocolate. The container no longer has a lid.Childs’ Century was a grocery chain that was started in the late 1800s or early 1900s.
Description
This red, rectangular tin with gold and black design was used to store and market Childs' Century Cocoa and Chocolate. The container no longer has a lid.
Childs’ Century was a grocery chain that was started in the late 1800s or early 1900s. Around 1917, Childs’ Century became part of American Stores Company.
Chocolate had been known and treasured by Native Americans in Central and South America for thousands of years prior to the arrival of the first Spanish explorers in the late 1400s and early 1500s. Cacao beans were so highly prized by Mayans and Aztecs that they were used as currency in many areas of the Americas. When first taken back to Europe by the Spanish, the chocolate drink continued to be produced exclusively for the enjoyment of royalty or the extremely wealthy. As the cacao bean gradually made its presence known throughout Europe, it still remained trapped in this exclusive section of society well into the 19th century.
The chocolate trade to North America began more than 300 years ago, primarily centered in or near major port cities of the time, such as New York City, Boston, Philadelphia and Newport, RI. Due to lower transportation costs, chocolate was often less expensive in the Americas than in Europe and therefore had a broader consumer base. The Industrial Revolution radically changed chocolate production and helped propel it into the hearts and stomachs of the working class. Instead of being a labor intensive product, it became entirely machine made reducing costs even further in the late 19th and early 20th century. During this time, chocolate went from being something a person drank to being something to eat, finally becoming a treat for the masses.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
1990.0018.119
catalog number
1990.0018.119
accession number
1990.0018

AGFA Lapel Pin

This rectangular lapel pin has a butterfly clutch clasp. The silver background underlies an image of a purple footprint as well as black text reading: AGFA. A red "Agfa" logo is in lower right-hand corner.
Description
This rectangular lapel pin has a butterfly clutch clasp. The silver background underlies an image of a purple footprint as well as black text reading: AGFA. A red "Agfa" logo is in lower right-hand corner. The reverse is silver-colored metal, printed with "ASI 52230"; the clasp is silver-colored metal.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
2009.3071.679
catalog number
2009.3071.679
nonaccession number
2009.3071

Button, Advertising, Percussion Software

This semi-circular shaped button has a background that transitions from pale yellow in the center to darker yellow along the curved edge.
Description
This semi-circular shaped button has a background that transitions from pale yellow in the center to darker yellow along the curved edge. The red text across the top border reads: "Achieve Domino Enlightenment." The black text across the bottom edge reads: "Percussion 2006." In the center is a black and green logo. The button is decorated with six lights around the curved edge, which flash red, green, and blue when the dial on the reverse is tightened.
Percussion Software was founded in 1994 in Woburn, MA by Alan Matthews, Barry Reynolds, and John Devine. They created add-ons for Lotus Notes.
Reference:
https://www.percussion.com/about-us/
[Last accessed 6-5-2019]
Location
Currently not on view
date made
c 2006
ID Number
2009.3071.610
catalog number
2009.3071.610
nonaccession number
2009.3071

Advertising Button, IBM, Graphics Interface Kit/2

This circular button has a white background with red text in varying shades. This reads: Graphics Interface Kit/2. The button shows two red rectangles with arrows connecting them in a circular shape. It also has the IBM logo in maroon.
Description
This circular button has a white background with red text in varying shades. This reads: Graphics Interface Kit/2. The button shows two red rectangles with arrows connecting them in a circular shape. It also has the IBM logo in maroon. Text written in black ink on the reverse side of the button reads: PC Expo NY 6/28/93.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
c 1993
maker
IBM
ID Number
2009.3071.020
catalog number
2009.3071.020
nonaccession number
2009.3071

Micrografx "Chili for Children" Information Card

This rectangular card gives information about the event "Micrografx Chili for Children 1994." The front has a white background with red text reading "MICROGRAFX CHILI FOR CHILDREN" above an image of two red chili peppers with green stalks on a blue background with black border.
Description
This rectangular card gives information about the event "Micrografx Chili for Children 1994." The front has a white background with red text reading "MICROGRAFX CHILI FOR CHILDREN" above an image of two red chili peppers with green stalks on a blue background with black border. Black text beneath reads: A RECIPE FOR HOPE. Green text reads: 6pm on November 15, 1994 at the Thomas & Mack Arena, (UNLV). A black banner shape beneath this has white text reading: Benefiting the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The back has a small map of the area above black text giving information about shuttle buses to and from UNLV. The words "IBM", "Intel," and an unidentified word are handwritten in black ink.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1994
ID Number
2009.3071.833
catalog number
2009.3071.833
nonaccession number
2009.3071

Advertising Button, IBM

This circular button has white text on a black background. It reads: IBM SERVERS THE ENGINES OF E-BUSINESS. The IBM logo appears in blue. The reverse has circuitry for lighting up a small light on the front.Currently not on view
Description
This circular button has white text on a black background. It reads: IBM SERVERS THE ENGINES OF E-BUSINESS. The IBM logo appears in blue. The reverse has circuitry for lighting up a small light on the front.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
c 1990s
maker
IBM
ID Number
2009.3071.021
catalog number
2009.3071.021
nonaccession number
2009.3071

Microsoft Button, Microsoft Making It Easier

This rectangular button has white text on a purple background that reads: Microsoft. MAKING IT EASIER. A mark in black ink on the reverse reads: Atlanta Comdex Spring 5/93.Currently not on view
Description
This rectangular button has white text on a purple background that reads: Microsoft. MAKING IT EASIER. A mark in black ink on the reverse reads: Atlanta Comdex Spring 5/93.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
c 1993
maker
Microsoft Corporation
ID Number
2009.3071.266
catalog number
2009.3071.266
nonaccession number
2009.3071

Kraft Velveeta Dinner Instamatic Camera

Cameras promoting products, causes, exhibitions, celebrities, and organizations have been available since dry plates and roll film made mass snapshot photography possible.
Description
Cameras promoting products, causes, exhibitions, celebrities, and organizations have been available since dry plates and roll film made mass snapshot photography possible. Some examples include 1920s official Boy Scout and Girl Guide cameras, 1939 Worlds fair cameras, and cameras featuring movie stars such as Hopalong Cassidy and Roy Rodgers. In addition camera manufacturers have often produced special promotional cameras featuring commemorative logos or gold plating that have sold at a premium to collectors.
Cameras bearing advertising slogans like the Velveeta Shells & Cheese dinner promotional camera shown here have appeared in thousands of different varieties. The camera shown here uses 110 film that was introduced by Kodak in 1972. Many simple point and shoot promotional cameras appeared in the 1970s using 110 film. The promotional camera lives on today in the form of 35mm one time use cameras with advertising printed on the outer cover.
From its invention in 1839, the camera has evolved to fit many needs, from aerial to underwater photography and everything in between. Cameras allow both amateur and professional photographers to capture the world around us. The Smithsonian’s historic camera collection includes rare and unique examples of equipment, and popular models, related to the history of the science, technology, and art of photography.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1970s
ID Number
2004.0130.01
accession number
2004.0130
catalog number
2004.0130.01

Button, Gain RAM Now! Ask Me How!

This circular button has black text on a white background that reads: Gain RAM Now! Ask Me How!. In the center, black text that reads: OUT OF MEMORY is encircled in red with a slash through it. A mark in black ink on the reverse reads: NW 2/92.Currently not on view
Description
This circular button has black text on a white background that reads: Gain RAM Now! Ask Me How!. In the center, black text that reads: OUT OF MEMORY is encircled in red with a slash through it. A mark in black ink on the reverse reads: NW 2/92.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
c 1992
ID Number
2009.3071.238
catalog number
2009.3071.238
nonaccession number
2009.3071

Button, User Friendly

This circular button has light blue text on a dark blue background that reads: User Friendly.Currently not on view
Description
This circular button has light blue text on a dark blue background that reads: User Friendly.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
c 1990s?
ID Number
2009.3071.443
catalog number
2009.3071.443
nonaccession number
2009.3071

Intel 386 and Intel 486 Keychain

This hexagonal keychain has a plastic case and a metal split ring attachment. On both sides, the image is split into two sections, divided and bordered by gold lines.
Description
This hexagonal keychain has a plastic case and a metal split ring attachment. On both sides, the image is split into two sections, divided and bordered by gold lines. On one side, the upper section has a black and white patterned backgroud with black and white text reading: i386. Further text reads: TODAY'S CHOICE. The lower section of this side has a black background with purple and gray mountain images, with a white line running through and white text reading: intel. This side has an Intel 386 chip attached to it. On the other side, the upper section has a black and white patterned background with black text reading "TOMORROW'S VISION" and black and white text reading: "i486." The lower section has a black background with purple and gray mountain images, with a white line running through and white text reading: intel. This side has a smaller, square Intel 486 chip attached to it. The split ring attachment is of silver-colored metal.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
2009.3071.820
catalog number
2009.3071.820
nonaccession number
2009.3071

Advertising Button, Berkeley Macintosh Users Group (B M U G)

This square button, designed to look like a 3 ½” floppy diskette, has a blue background. At the top, in a yellow rectangle, is a blue image of a clock tower and blue text that reads: "BMUG Disk / BMUG / 1442A Walnut St.
Description
This square button, designed to look like a 3 ½” floppy diskette, has a blue background. At the top, in a yellow rectangle, is a blue image of a clock tower and blue text that reads: "BMUG Disk / BMUG / 1442A Walnut St. #62 / Berkeley, CA 94709 / (415) 849 9114.” On the reverse is a black card with a metal pin.
Berkeley Macintosh Users Group (B M U G).
Reference: [last accessed 2019-08-14]
InfoWorld, June 29, 1987.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
c. 1993
ID Number
2009.3071.552
catalog number
2009.3071.552
nonaccession number
2009.3071

Button, Software Publishers Association, DON'T COPY THAT FLOPPY

This square button has a yellow background with blue text that reads: "DON'T COPY THAT FLOPPY." It has a blue silhouette image of floppy disk in center.
Description
This square button has a yellow background with blue text that reads: "DON'T COPY THAT FLOPPY." It has a blue silhouette image of floppy disk in center. Across the top and bottom is a dark blue with yellow text that reads: "Software Publishers Association" across the top and "1-800-388-7478" across the bottom.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
2009.3071.588
catalog number
2009.3071.588
nonaccession number
2009.3071

Lapel Pin, Compact Disc Data Storage

This rectangular lapel pin has a butterfly clutch clasp. On the silver background is black text that reads: COMPACT disc DATA STORAGE. The reverse is made from black plastic and the clasp is of gold-colored metal.Currently not on view
Description
This rectangular lapel pin has a butterfly clutch clasp. On the silver background is black text that reads: COMPACT disc DATA STORAGE. The reverse is made from black plastic and the clasp is of gold-colored metal.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
2009.3071.669
catalog number
2009.3071.669
nonaccession number
2009.3071

Action Technologies Button, Are You Coordinated?

This circular button has white text on a red background that reads: Are You Coordinated? In red text on a grey background it reads: Action Technologies Inc.
Currently not on view
Description
This circular button has white text on a red background that reads: Are You Coordinated? In red text on a grey background it reads: Action Technologies Inc.

Location
Currently not on view
date made
c 1990s
ID Number
2009.3071.432
catalog number
2009.3071.432
nonaccession number
2009.3071

Plantation Mint Straws Candy Tin

This white, cylindrical tin with green and pink writing and a pink design once contained Plantation Mint Straws, made by Plantation Chocolate Company of Philadelphia.Sweet treats have been a part of the human diet nearly since the beginning of human existence.
Description
This white, cylindrical tin with green and pink writing and a pink design once contained Plantation Mint Straws, made by Plantation Chocolate Company of Philadelphia.
Sweet treats have been a part of the human diet nearly since the beginning of human existence. The type of treat has changed over time, but human desire for sweetness has not. Candy can be hard or chewy, may or may not contain chocolate and can be sweet or sour. Sugar cane was introduced to Europeans when crusaders brought the substance back from the Middle East, and it was with these Europeans that sugar gained its highly prized status as an art form and a gift to be given away on special occasions. A status that persists to this day when a suitor gives their beloved chocolate for Valentine’s Day.
At one time, small family owned confectionary shops dominated the American landscape. Opening a candy making business was a relatively low cost investment, all one needed was a kitchen and a basket to sell their treats from on the street. As demand grew, they could grow their business. Today, many of these small businesses have been absorbed into large corporations who command a much greater market power. Breath mints gained popularity because of how they felt cool and refreshing in the mouth while also freshening one’s breath. Peppermint was also considered a digestive aid, and mint leaves and breath mints were often chewed after a meal.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
AG.77-FT-15.0292
catalog number
77-FT-15.0292
accession number
283681

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