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.

Search term: *:* Set Name: Advertising Online visual material: Yes Museum / Unit: NMAH Museum / Unit: NMAH-AF Museum / Unit: NMAHLC YT Museum / Unit: NMAH BL Museum / Unit: NMAH YT Museum / Unit: ACAH Resource Type: Signs (declaratory or advertising artifacts) Clear All

Signboard, Pass the Acid Test

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 Leading Newspaper of New England, The Boston Herald

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1888
maker
Boston Herald
ID Number
GA.293320.2975
catalog number
293320.2975
accession number
293320

"Hamons Court" Neon Sign

The Hamons family business exemplifies the culture of roadside communities that sprang up as long-distance automobile travel increased. Carl and Lucille Hamons lived on Carl's mother's farm until the late 1930s, when they moved to the town of Hydro, Oklahoma.
Description
The Hamons family business exemplifies the culture of roadside communities that sprang up as long-distance automobile travel increased. Carl and Lucille Hamons lived on Carl's mother's farm until the late 1930s, when they moved to the town of Hydro, Oklahoma. In 1941 they used Carl's inheritance to purchase a gasoline station with seven tourist cabins at Provine, a sparsely settled crossroads on Route 66 one mile southwest of Hydro. Neighboring businesses included a Texaco station and the Hill Top Café. Carl drove a truck for a living, and Lucille operated the gas station and cabins. They lived in the second story of the gas station; Lucille prepared breakfast and sandwiches for travelers on a hotplate in the first story. Lucille lived in the gas station until her death in 2000.
Social interaction in communities like Provine differed greatly from traditional villages. Strangers on the move were brought together briefly in a remote, ephemeral setting. This was a culture of mobility; motor travel was the only reason for Provine's existence. In her autobiography, Lucille describes the isolation of her gas station home, her frequent interaction with travelers on Route 66, and her travel-oriented duties and services in addition to running the gas station and cabins. She helped travelers in financial straits by accepting objects for payment or by purchasing their cars and putting the travelers on a bus. During World War II, when rubber and metal were in short supply, she sold tires and parts stripped from the used cars that she had bought.
Lucille witnessed the second wave of migration on Route 66 in the early 1940s, when midwesterners sought defense jobs in California, as well as postwar vacation trips and household moves. In recent years, as interest in the historical and cultural aspects of Route 66 has grown, Mrs. Hamons has been celebrated as the "Mother of the Mother Road." Her gas station was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997. Cheryl Hamons Nowka, who was born in the second story of the gas station, created a Lucille Hamons web site in the mid-1990s.
date made
1941
maker
Gillingham Sign Company, Weatherford, Oklahoma
ID Number
2001.0327.01
accession number
2001.0327

Holiday Inn

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1975
associated institution
Holiday Inns, Inc.
maker
Holiday Inns, Inc.
ID Number
1983.0021.01
accession number
1983.0021
catalog number
1983.0021.01

Cambio Palomba Mangiant Co.

Plastic sign with background image of ruins and a smoking volcano. In the foreground, an image of a red haired woman in a square frame is propped against an urn. The card is printed in black, with paper backing and a stand.
Description (Brief)
Plastic sign with background image of ruins and a smoking volcano. In the foreground, an image of a red haired woman in a square frame is propped against an urn. The card is printed in black, with paper backing and a stand. A white paper label is marked "Crystaloid." It was made for Cambio Palomba Mangiant Company, Furriers and Ladies Tailors.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
after 1906
advertiser
Cambio Palomba Mangiant Company
maker
Whitehead & Hoag Company
ID Number
2006.0098.0747
accession number
2006.0098
catalog number
2006.0098.0747

"Buy Now, Pay Later" Sign

Collected from a roadside in Baltimore, Maryland,this sign was used by national home builder Lennar Corporation to promote sales.
Description
Collected from a roadside in Baltimore, Maryland,this sign was used by national home builder Lennar Corporation to promote sales. In the early 2000s the wide availability of low interest rate loans enticed many people to purchase homes that they might otherwise not have been able to afford. The initially attractive mortgages proved disastrous for some when the low teaser rate reset to a higher market rate. The problem was compounded as the housing bubble burst during the economic downturn of 2008, and many home owners found themselves "underwater" (owing more that what they had paid.) Foreclosures skyrocketed to record highs as home owners, unable to pay the monthly mortgage on their "buy now and pay later" loans and unable to sell their houses and pay off the loan, sought relief.
ID Number
2013.0300.01
accession number
2013.0300
catalog number
2013.0300.01

T. Johnson Tavern Sign

date made
1804
ID Number
CL.65.0978
accession number
256396
catalog number
65.0978

Burma-Shave Advertising Signs

By the 1920s, commercial signs and billboards turned the roadside into an advertising medium. Allan Odell, sales manager of the family-owned Burma-Vita Company, created serial roadside rhymes in 1926 to advertise the company’s brushless shaving cream.
Description
By the 1920s, commercial signs and billboards turned the roadside into an advertising medium. Allan Odell, sales manager of the family-owned Burma-Vita Company, created serial roadside rhymes in 1926 to advertise the company’s brushless shaving cream. He was inspired by a string of signs leading to a service station in Illinois, each sign promoting a product or service available at the station. The earliest Burma-Shave signs boosted sales significantly; the sign program spread so rapidly that the company began a nationwide contest, resulting in dozens of selections annually. Some verses merely extolled the Burma-Shave product, while others made light of facial hair, shaving, and intimacy with the opposite sex. Gradually the company introduced “public service announcements” in the form of humorous reminders to drive safely or suffer the consequences. This rhyme is a commentary on the serious problem of drinking and driving. Verses of this type cautioned motorists to be aware of the risks of expanded personal mobility and drive safely and responsibly.
date made
1959
maker
Burma-Vita Company
ID Number
2005.0121.01
catalog number
2005.0121.01
accession number
2005.0121

All the Latest Books

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
GA.293320.2974
accession number
293320
catalog number
293320.2974

Ashton-Tate Window Sign, dBase IV on Board

This square adhesive window sign has a silver background with a black border and black text in the center that reads: dBASE IV ON BOARD. The upper corner shows a red logo with black text that reads: ASHTON-TATE.
Description
This square adhesive window sign has a silver background with a black border and black text in the center that reads: dBASE IV ON BOARD. The upper corner shows a red logo with black text that reads: ASHTON-TATE. On the reverse are two strips of brown paper covering adhesive strips, with a white non-adhesive section between them.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
2009.3071.794
catalog number
2009.3071.794
nonaccession number
2009.3071

Netware-Novell Window Sign

This square window sign has a sucker cup attached at the top corner. Around the red background is a white border. White text at the center reads "NetWare Spoken Here" and (in smaller letters) "NOVELL." The reverse is plain white plastic.Currently not on view
Description
This square window sign has a sucker cup attached at the top corner. Around the red background is a white border. White text at the center reads "NetWare Spoken Here" and (in smaller letters) "NOVELL." The reverse is plain white plastic.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
2009.3071.792
catalog number
2009.3071.792
nonaccession number
2009.3071

Knifemaker's Shop Sign

Traditional American shop signs often incorporated objects made or sold by the shopkeepers, both to promote the wares and to help language-challenged customers understand what the shops offer.
Description
Traditional American shop signs often incorporated objects made or sold by the shopkeepers, both to promote the wares and to help language-challenged customers understand what the shops offer. This 1920s free-standing, wood–framed oilcloth window sign from the knife shop of Russian–immigrants Joseph and David Miller in the Lower East Side of New York City uses four implements and a legend in Yiddish to advertise their commercial offerings.
The sign reads:
Do iz Millers a brentsh [Here are Miller's forgings]
Di Miller halafim un mohel messer [The Miller ritual slaughter blades and circumcision knives]
zaynen di beste un sheynste [are the best and most beautiful]
in der gantser velt [in the whole world]
garantirt keyn mol nit tsu rosten [Guaranteed never to rust]
The Miller shop, at 25 Canal Street, made ritual Jewish cutlery for the shochet (butcher) and for the mohel (circumcisionist), using extreme care in the hand fabrication of each instrument. The large rectangular knife (gasos halef) on the sign was used to slaughter cattle, the small rectangular knife (ofos halef) was for poultry; the curved implement is a circumcision clamp (mohel mashinke); and the double sided knife is a circumcision knife (mohel messer). In compliance with Jewish tradition, great emphasis is placed upon cleanliness, speed, efficiency, and the minimization of pain in the use of these instruments.
This sign, together with knife catalogs and customer correspondence to the Millers from shochets, mohels, and rabbis from around the world, are 1992 gifts of Irene Galdston, daughter of Joseph Miller. The actual knifemaking tools used in the Miller shop are also in the Museum's collections.
Location
Currently not on view
shop owner
Miller, David
Miller, Joseph
ID Number
1992.0391.01
accession number
1992.0391
catalog number
1992.0391.01

Tavern Sign

This inn owner took visible pride in his country’s new national identity. The image displayes a bald eagle with a puffed chest displaying the Great Shield of 13 red, white and blue stripes representing the unified states of the young nation.
Description
This inn owner took visible pride in his country’s new national identity. The image displayes a bald eagle with a puffed chest displaying the Great Shield of 13 red, white and blue stripes representing the unified states of the young nation. One talon holds an olive branch; the other talon holds 13 arrows. His beak holds a scroll inscribed “E Pluribus Unum” (out of many, one). The original artistic rendering proposed by William Barton to Congress met disapproval by Benjamin Franklin and other political leaders. But following congressional approval in 1782 of the image as the Great Seal of the United States, images of bald eagles and colorfully striped shields could be found everywhere in the nation’s visual landscape, from coinage to ships’ figure heads, furnishings to textiles, and on signs such as this one.
Taverns were not new to this country at the time this sign was painted. Puritans had first sought to regulate consumption of liquor in the 17th century through building of “Ordinaries” or “Public Houses.” By the 18th century, such inns were known as “Taverns,” a familiar and welcome sight for travelers traversing coach, or post, roads. Such “Houses of Entertainment” not only provided comfort and convenience to long-distance travelers but sociability for locals. Not only were food and liquor sales offered, but also a variety of music, games, stories, humor, as well as more serious news and opinion-sharing, providing a sense of home beyond the home as well as mental escape.
Date made
1800 - 1830s
ID Number
CL.65.0974
accession number
256396
catalog number
65.0974

Pawnbroker’s Sign

This is a copper pawnbroker’s sign, most likely hung outside a pawnshop in upstate New York during the Depression Era.
Description
This is a copper pawnbroker’s sign, most likely hung outside a pawnshop in upstate New York during the Depression Era. Pawning, or putting an item up as collateral for a short period of time, has been in practice since at least the 5th century in China, and gained popularity in Europe during the Middle Ages. Pawnshop owners during the Middle Ages began using this symbol, the three spheres, to designate the type of service they offered since around this same time. The three spheres most likely represent three (gold) coins, but spheres are more recognizable than flat objects when using them for signage. Immigrants arriving to the United States during the early years most likely brought and continued this tradition from Europe.
ID Number
2012.0156.01
accession number
2012.0156
catalog number
2012.0156.01

sign

A poster supporting Ron Paul who sought the Republican nomination for President in the 2008 primary. Paul served as a Texas Representative in the House of Representatives from 1976-2013, non- consecutively.Currently not on view
Description
A poster supporting Ron Paul who sought the Republican nomination for President in the 2008 primary. Paul served as a Texas Representative in the House of Representatives from 1976-2013, non- consecutively.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
2008
associated date
2008
referenced
Paul, Ron
ID Number
2008.0043.202
catalog number
2008.0043.202
accession number
2008.0043

Hurricane Clean-up Yard Sign

No sooner had Katrina departed New Orleans in August 2005 than waves of hurricane clean-up signs went up in neighborhoods hard-hit by the storm, offering house-gutting services, mold removal, drywall replacement, and even building removal.
Description
No sooner had Katrina departed New Orleans in August 2005 than waves of hurricane clean-up signs went up in neighborhoods hard-hit by the storm, offering house-gutting services, mold removal, drywall replacement, and even building removal. The work was hazardous, involving the mucking out of homes and the handling of mountains of demolition debris and sodden household belongings. Many homeowners undertook their own clean-up, but much was performed by immigrant laborers attracted to the region by the promise of hard work and good wages.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
2006
Associated Date
2006
maker
June, Eric
ID Number
2006.3067.01
catalog number
2006.3067.01
nonaccession number
2006.3067

Open Work Net Banners

A broadside advertising banners in support of Democratic nominees William Jennings Bryan and Adlai Stevenson.Currently not on view
Description
A broadside advertising banners in support of Democratic nominees William Jennings Bryan and Adlai Stevenson.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1900
depicted (sitter)
Bryan, William Jennings
Stevenson, Adlai
ID Number
2010.0073.01
catalog number
2010.0073.01
accession number
2010.0073
catalog number
2010.0073.01

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