The Howard Scott Papers span the years 1921-1984, although the bulk of materials covers the period from the 1930s to the 1950s, documenting Scott's career in outdoor advertising as a billboard designer and graphic artist. The papers include correspondence (including two letters from Norman Rockwell), newspaper and magazine clippings, awards, and school yearbooks relating to Scott's personal and professional life, in addition to photographs, sketches, lithographs and reprints of outdoor advertising images for clients such as Amoco, Chesterfield (Liggett and Myers), Esso and Mobil oil products, DeSoto, Ford, and Nash automobiles, H.J. Heinz Co., Lever Brothers, Pabst and Schlitz beers, World War II-era programs such as the USO and Navy recruitment, and the 1939-1940 World's Fair. The collection is arranged into four series--the General Papers Series, the Photographs Series, the Graphic Design, Artwork and Sketches Series, and the Memorabilia Series.

The General Papers Series includes correspondence, biographical information, clippings, sketches, school yearbooks, publications and certificates of recognition. Included are articles about "Elmer," the character created by Scott to help promote the 1940 World's Fair.

The Photographs Series includes approximately 100 prints and transparencies depicting billboard images for a variety of products, such as Esso oil and gasoline, Heinz ketchup, Knickerbocker beer, Swan (Lever Brothers) soap and Twenty Grand cigarettes. Several of the photographs show models in poses which served as the basis for billboard images. Some of the images are signed by artists other than Scott. In addition, approximately 20 photographs depict Scott at various ages, and at work in his studio.

The Graphic Design, Artwork, and Sketches Series includes sketches and proof sheets for billboards and outdoor advertising campaigns created by Scott, as well as a sampling of outdoor poster work by other artists. Major clients include Chesterfield cigarettes; Knickerbocker, Pabst and Schlitz beers; DeSoto, Ford and Nash automobiles; Amoco and Mobil gas and oil; along with a sampling of World War II poster designs including Navy recruiting and the USO. Media include pencil and ink sketches, watercolors, lithographs, and oil paintings. A large mixed media painting depicts an award-winning outdoor design for Ford, with the slogan "He's Doing Fine...He Bought a Ford V-8."

The Memorabilia Series includes awards and trophies that Scott won for his advertising artwork and reflects the esteem with which Scott's work was held by his peers in the outdoor advertising industry.

Closely related collections include: the Outdoor Advertising Association of America (OAAA) Archives; the Garrett Orr Papers; the John Paver Papers; the Strobridge Lithographing Company Advertisements; the Outdoor Advertising Association of America (OAAA) Slide Library; the War Effort Mobilization Campaign Poster Collection; and the R.C. Maxwell Records.

Margaret Fishback was an advertising copywriter for Macy's, Cecil & Presbrey, Warwick & Legler, Young & Rubicam, Doyle Dane Bernbach, and a number of freelance clients. A poet, columnist, and author of prose work, she contributed frequently to national magazines and published several books. The Margaret Fishback Papers span the years 1863 through 1978 and document Fishback's dual careers in advertising and writing as well as her personal life. The collection includes correspondence, layouts, drafts, galley proofs, radio scripts, working copy of advertising text, poetry, prose, published material, appointment books, scrapbooks, photographs, and other materials. Clients represented in the papers include Borden's, Chef Boy-Ar-Dee, Clairol, General Foods, Gourmet Foods, Gimbels, Macy's, Martex, Moore-McCormack Lines, Norcross, Norsk, Pabst, and Simmons Beautyrest.

The Margaret Fishback Papers span the years 1863 through 1978 and document Fishback's dual careers in advertising and writing as well as her personal life. The collection includes correspondence, layouts, drafts, galley proofs, radio scripts, working copy of advertising text, poetry, prose, published material, appointment books, scrapbooks, photographs, and other materials. Clients represented in the papers include Arrow, Borden's, Chef Boy-Ar-Dee, Clairol, General Foods, Gimbels, Gourmet Foods, Macy's, West Point Pepperell (Martex), Moore-McCormack Lines, Norcross, Norsk, Pabst, Simmons Beautyrest, and Wrigley. Materials that predate Fishback's birth consist of a small collection of 19th-century prints and illustrations.

The collection is organized into three series: Personal Files, Writings, and Advertising.

The Personal Files Series chiefly documents Fishback's personal life through personal correspondence, datebooks, diaries, and photographs. Also included are a number of items collected by Fishback such as etiquette books, newspaper clippings, church bulletins, and travel memorabilia. Biographical data, chiefly news articles, provide secondary source material about Fishback and her family.

The Writings Series documents Fishback's writing career, containing her published works as well as a large amount of work in unpublished form. Writings include articles and light poetry written for national news and general-interest publications such as Collier's, Liberty, Life, Look, the New York Times, New Yorker, Saturday Evening Post, and Time. Writings also include Fishback's contributions to women's magazines such as Cosmopolitan, Family Circle, Glamour, Good Housekeeping, Judge, Mademoiselle, McCall's, War Brides, Woman's Day, and Woman's Home Companion. A large number of Fishback's poems were reprinted as compilations; Fishback also compiled her own work in several scrapbooks. Materials represent Fishback's writings for children, including a promotional booklet for Martex and an English translation of a German poetry book. In addition to general prose and poetry, this series also includes materials collected and produced for a column entitled "Woman-Talk," which Fishback wrote for Liberty from 1943 to 1947. Also included are short stories, greeting card work, letters to magazine and newspaper editors, speeches for various events such as author talks and advertising conventions, and other miscellaneous writings. General files document the administrative aspects of Fishback's writing career. These files contain correspondence, chiefly between Fishback and various editors and publishers, as well as financial and legal materials.

The Advertising Series documents Fishback's advertising work for R.H. Macy and Co. Department Store, as well as work for advertising agencies and freelance work. Included in this series are advertisements in various stages of production: notes, drafts, proofs, and tear sheets. Administrative materials, such as correspondence, often accompany the advertisements. Also represented in this series is evidence of Fishback's professional affiliations, particularly with the Advertising Women of New York (AWNY). Materials generated or collected in the process of preparing for speaking engagements with professional societies are also included. The series also includes a small collection of trade literature, chiefly books on advertising topics written by other authors.

Large-format print materials have been removed from their original series locations and relocated to Oversize Materials. Relocated items have been replaced in the Detailed Description of the Collection by dummy folders enclosed in brackets.

Retired advertising executive. Collection documents Sosna's long career as an advertising executive and consultant, and contains materials from a wide variety of formats, including correspondence, writings, printed material, advertisement proofs and clippings, sketches, scrapbooks, slides, negatives, and film. The collection primarily provides a record of advertising campaigns Sosna developed as a copy supervisor, creative director, and advertising executive at Gershuny Associates, Leo Burnett, Grant Advertising, Doherty Clifford Steers & Shenfield, Sullivan Stauffer Colwell & Bayles, Norman Craig & Kummel, and J.M. Mathes, from 1948 to 1973; the collection has limited material relating to the specific agencies for which he worked. In addition, the collection documents Sosna's later writings, lectures, and seminars as an independent consultant in retail and supermarket advertising from the 1970s through 2001, including a complete run of the Supermarket Advertising Newsletter (1981-2000) and a copy of his book Dodge #9: How to Never Make a Mistake: Achieving Success in a World That Is Always Looking for Someone to Blame (2001). Major advertising campaigns represented in the collection include: American Tobacco Company (Bull Durham and Silva Thins cigarettes); Bristol-Myers Company; Bulova Corporation; Dr Pepper Co.; Food Fair/Pantry Pride; Hoover Company; Ladies' Home Journal; Martex; Pabst Brewing Company; Procter & Gamble; Pure Oil Company; and Joseph Schlitz Brewing Co. The collection also documents Sosna's role as supervisor of the Peace Corps advertising campaign in its first two years, from 1961 to 1963. Peace Corps materials include print advertisements; "Volunteer Radio Kits" distributed to broadcasters; one promotional film originally aired on American television; and a letter from Robert Sargent Shriver, Jr., first director of the Peace Corps.

The Sheldon B. Sosna Papers span the years 1922 to 2001, with the bulk of the material dating from 1948 to 1991. The collection documents Sosna's long career as an advertising executive and consultant, and contains materials from a wide variety of formats, including correspondence, writings, printed material, advertisement proofs and clippings, sketches, scrapbooks, slides, negatives, and film. The collection primarily provides a record of advertising campaigns Sosna developed as a copy supervisor, creative director, and advertising executive at Gershuny Associates, Leo Burnett, Grant Advertising, Doherty Clifford Steers & Shenfield, Sullivan Stauffer Colwell & Bayles, Norman Craig & Kummel, and J.M. Mathes, from 1948 to 1973; the collection has limited material relating to the specific agencies for which he worked. In addition, the collection documents Sosna's later writings, lectures, and seminars as an independent consultant in retail and supermarket advertising from the 1970s through 2001, including a complete run of the Supermarket Advertising Newsletter (1981-2000) and a copy of his book Dodge #9: How to Never Make a Mistake: Achieving Success in a World That Is Always Looking for Someone to Blame (2001). Major advertising campaigns represented in the collection include: American Tobacco Company (Bull Durham and Silva Thins cigarettes); Bristol-Myers Company; Bulova Corporation; Dr Pepper Co.; Food Fair/Pantry Pride; Hoover Company; Ladies' Home Journal; Martex; Pabst Brewing Company; Procter & Gamble; Pure Oil Company; and Joseph Schlitz Brewing Co. The collection also documents Sosna's role as supervisor of the Peace Corps advertising campaign in its first two years, from 1961 to 1963. Peace Corps materials include print advertisements; "Volunteer Radio Kits" distributed to broadcasters; one promotional film originally aired on American television; and a letter from Robert Sargent Shriver, Jr., first director of the Peace Corps. The collection is organized into six series: Correspondence, Writings and Speeches, Printed Materials, Advertisements, Scrapbooks, and Visual Materials.

The Correspondence Series includes limited business correspondence, advertising strategy memoranda, and mailings and solicitations specifically related to Sosna's supermarket consulting. The Writings and Speeches Series includes scripts of lectures and seminars Sosna delivered on retail and supermarket advertising throughout the United States from 1983 to 1994, limited market and client reports, and an account of his work with President Kennedy and Robert Sargent Shriver, Jr. on an early promotional film for the Peace Corps. The Printed Materials Series includes Sosna's professional writings on advertising (including an installment of "Sosna on Advertising," a long-standing column featured in Grocery Marketing Magazine); a copy of his 2001 book Dodge #9: How to Never Make a Mistake; client materials (letterhead, brochures, mailings, including Peace Corps promotional materials); conference programs; and magazines. Most notably, the series includes a complete set of the Supermarket Advertising Newsletter, a monthly serial which Sosna wrote, edited, and published from January 1981 through December 2000. The Advertisements Series includes original page proofs, newspaper and magazine clippings, and concept sketches for client advertisements, with an emphasis on consumer/home products, cigarette, beer, and apparel industries. The Scrapbooks Series includes six scrapbooks of advertisement clippings, original page proofs, client brochures, and catalog mailings, primarily documenting clients in women's apparel and consumer/home products. The Visual Materials Series includes over 700 seminar slides originally used in Sosna's presentations on supermarket advertising, a set of color negatives documenting the "Pabst Red Beer" advertising campaign, and the only existing copy of a promotional film for the Peace Corps which Sosna wrote, produced, and edited. Large-format materials (clippings, proofs, sketches) have been removed from their original series location and relocated to Oversize Materials locations.

Other materials related to this collection may be found in the J. Walter Thompson Company Archives: Competitive Advertisements Collection and the J. Walter Thompson Company Archives: Corporation Vertical Files. For materials specifically relating to the agencies Norman, Craig & Kummel and the Leo Burnett Company, consult the Robert S. Smith Papers and the Kensinger Jones Papers, respectively. For materials relevant to American Tobacco Company advertising, see the James Buchanan Duke Papers, the Benjamin Newton Duke Papers, and the John M. W. Hicks Papers. For materials on beer advertising for the Pabst Brewing Company and Schlitz Brewing Company, see the Howard Scott Papers. Materials relevant to Procter & Gamble Company advertising may be found in the D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles Advertisements, the D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles Archives, and the Wells Rich Greene, Inc. Records. Additionally, materials relating to Peace Corps advertising may be found in the David B. McCall Papers.