Advertising - Overview
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.
"Advertising - Overview" showing 2 items.
- No Image Available
Sterling Drug, Inc. Records, 1867-1995
- Notes
- Sterling Drug was founded in 1901 by William E. Weiss and Albert H. Diebold of Wheeling, West Viginia, to manufacture and sell a pain-relieving preparation called "Neuralgine". The company's original name was Neuralgyline. Within a few years, Weiss and Diebold realized that expansion required more product lines and that these would be best obtained by acquisition. This policy continued throughout the life of the organization. At least 130 companies were acquired between 1902 and 1986. Weiss and Diebold changed the name of the company in 1917 to Sterling Drug, Inc. Sterling Drug benefited from World War I. Because supplies of drugs from Germany were cut off by the Allied blockade, they set up the Winthrop Company to manufacture the active ingredients. After the war, Sterling acquired the American Bayer Company. They established a separate subsidiary, the Bayer Company, to market Bayer Aspirin. During the 1930s, Winthrop made Sterling a leader in the pharmaceutical field with such renowned products as Luminal, the original phenobarbitol; Salvarsan and Neo-Salvarsan, the first effective drugs in the treatment of syphillis; Prontosil, the first of the sulfa drugs; and Atabrine, the synthetic antimalarial that replaced quinine during World War II. The company expanded overseas in 1938, and eventually operated about seventy plants in about forty countries. Sterling was especially profitable in Latin America. In 1988, in order to avoid a hostile takeover by Hofmann-LaRoche, Sterling became a division of Eastman Kodak and remained one until 1994 when Kodak decided to dispose of its health-related businesses
- Summary
- The collection contains domestic and foreign advertising for both pharmaceutical and consumer health care products; sales and marketing materials for pharmaceuticals aimed at physicians, such as brochures, package inserts, reports, catalogs, price lists, manuals; the company's business and administrative papers, including annual reports, news releases, clippings, newsletters and publications, financial and corporate files, histories, memorabilia, and photographs
- Cite as
- Sterling Drug, Inc. Records, 1867-1995, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
- Date
- 1867
- 1867-1995
- 20th century
- creator
- Sterling Drug, Inc
- Creator
- Winthrop Chemical Company
- Bayer Company
- donor
- History Factory Chantilly, Virginia
- Subject
- Eastman Kodak Co
- Local number
- 2001.3045 (NMAH Acc.)
- Data Source
- Archives Center - NMAH
- No Image Available
Alan and Elaine Levitt Advertisement Collection, 1920 - 1960s
- Notes
- Alan Levitt owned and operated Sherman Pharmacy, Sherman, New York, 1973-1985. The pharmacy was originally opened May 9, 1895. He and his wife Elaine donated a number of pharmaceutically related objects and archival materials, primarily advertising
- Summary
- Advertising materials relating to pharmaceutical and other supplies as part of the stock of retail pharmacies from 1920 to the early 1960s, mostly advertisements for cigars, cigarettes, Coca-Cola, Kodak, veterinary supplies, and patent medicines
- Cite as
- Alan and Elaine Levitt Advertisement Collection, 1920-early 1960s, National Museum of American History
- Date
- 1920
- 1970
- 1920 - 1960s
- 1920-1970
- 20th century
- collector
- Levitt, Alan
- Levitt, Elaine
- Medical Sciences, Division of, NMAH, SI
- Subject
- Sherman Pharmacy (Sherman, N.Y.)
- Eastman Kodak Co
- Local number
- 1988.3039 (NMAH Acc.)
- Data Source
- Archives Center - NMAH