Advertising ephemera collection, 1832-2004

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Collection is open for research.
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Summary

Abstract:
The collection documents short-term, time-sensitive and event-specific aspects of marketing and sales promotion. Advertising campaigns ordinarily seek to promote sales, increase market share, and strive to maintain the enduring integrity of a brand name. Ephemeral marketing products work within a more limited frame that terminates at the end of an event or with the issue of a superseding edition: a dated catalog of products; new book announcements; festival programs; an advertisement for an auction or sales event; limited-time premiums such as silverware or collector cards included with a purchase. The collection includes articles; broadsides; brochures; business and trade cards; catalogs; circulars; clippings; direct-to-consumer mailings; event programs; manuals; maps; memoranda to sales agents; premium offers; price lists; religious literature; sales bulletins and announcements; souvenirs; travel and tourism literature; and other materials. Topical areas include: Agricultural and industrial machinery; banking and finance; building materials; business, correspondence, and other schools; clothing and footwear; death care (cemeteries, funeral supplies, gravestones, etc.); fairs and festivals; food; furniture; hair care; hardware; household appliances and furnishings; insurance; livestock; musical instruments; real estate; sewing goods; sporting goods; textiles; toiletries; transportation (airlines, automobiles, buggies and carriages, railroads, steam and cruise ships). Throughout the collection, images and artwork depict caricatures of Asians, Black and Indigenous people, women, occupations, and social classes that reflect racist, sexist, and classist attitudes and prejudices of the periods represented in the collection. Acquired as part of the John W. Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising & Marketing History.
Extent:
38.0 Linear Feet
Language:
Materials in English, Croatian, Danish, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish.
Collection ID:
RL.00014

Background

Scope and content:

The collection includes articles; broadsides; brochures; business and trade cards; catalogs; circulars; clippings; direct-to-consumer mailings; event programs; manuals; maps; memoranda to sales agents; premium offers; price lists; religious tracts; sales bulletins and announcements; souvenirs; travel and tourism literature; and other materials. Topical areas include: Agricultural and industrial machinery; banking and finance; building materials; business, correspondence, and other schools; clothing and footwear; death care (cemeteries, funeral supplies, gravestones, etc.); fairs and festivals; food; furniture; hair care; hardware; household appliances and furnishings; insurance; livestock; musical instruments; real estate; sewing goods; sporting goods; textiles; toiletries; transportation (airlines, automobiles, buggies and carriages, railroads, steam and cruise ships). Throughout the collection, images and artwork depict caricatures of Asians, Black and Indigenous people, women, occupations, and social classes that reflect racist, sexist, and classist attitudes and prejudices of the periods represented in the collection.

Acquisition information:
Items were purchased by or transferred to the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library in the 1970s, and 1990-2023.
Processing information:

Processed by Ginny Daley and Sarah Hamilton, Completed September 29, 1998; Encoded by Don Sechler;

Updated by Meghan Lyon, December 2008;

Updated to include accession 2014-0175 by Alice Poffinberger, October 2014;

Updated to include accession 8/2014 by Alice Poffinberger, December 2014;

Updated to include accession 2016-0258 by Katrina Martin, September 2016;

Updated to include accession 2023-0008 by Tracy M. Jackson, January 2023;

Reprocessed incorporating additions by Robin Klaus and Richard Collier, December 2024.

Arrangement:

Organized into the following series: Agriculture and Horticulture; Communication Technologies; Construction and Industrial Materials; Energy and Public Utilities; Entertainment and the Arts; Food and Beverages; Hair Care and Toiletries; Household Goods; Institutional Materials; Merchants and General Retail; Printing and Publishing; Professional Services; Transportation; Travel and Tourism Industry.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Contents

Using These Materials

Using These Materials Links:

Using These Materials

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to Duke University. For more information, consult the copyright section of the Regulations and Procedures of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library.

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Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Advertising ephemera collection, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.

Permalink:
https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/m17g6j