The Duplex Advertising Company. Billboard Images and Records spans the period 1964-1993 and documents the outdoor advertising work of this company in the central Texas area, primarily through photographs, negatives and slides of billboards. Many of the images are in color. A large number of the images are of national campaigns advertised in central Texas, as well as billboards, signs and posters of local Texas business services. In addition, a handful of articles written by R. V. Miller, Jr. for a number of publications, as well as other printed material and miscellaneous items from the Duplex Advertising Company, are present. Some of these articles, along with the images themselves, provide examples of commercial art and design in the outdoor advertising arena. The collection includes outdoor advertising images from national clients such as Kentucky Fried Chicken, Chevrolet, Coca Cola, Coors, Wendy's, Hardee's, and Taco Bell, and Texas clients such as Lone Star and Pearl beers.
Related materials may be found in other outdoor advertising collections, including the Outdoor Advertising Association of America Archives, the Garrett Orr Papers, the Howard Scott Papers, the John Paver Papers, the John E. Browning Papers, the R.C. Maxwell Co. Records, and the Strobridge Collection.
Chronology
| Date |
Event |
| 1925 | Duplex Advertising founded by R. V. Miller, Sr. with two partners in Austin, Tex. |
| 1925-1980s | Duplex Advertising-owned billboards stretched across the central Texas area, from San Marcos to Temple. Involved with the manufacture and installation of electric on-premise signage |
| 1960s | The Duplex Advertising Company of Temple, in Temple, Tex., created |
| 1970s | The Duplex Electric Signs company created as a separate entity |
| 1980 | The portion of the business around Austin was sold to the Rollins Outdoor Advertising Company. The Duplex Electric Sign Company was sold to Bajon Signs (Austin, Tex.) |
| 1981 | R. V. Miller, Jr. bought Duplex Advertising Company of Temple from his father and brother (Will). R. V. Miller, Sr. and Will Miller managed the Duplex Land Company and other family interests |
| 1980s-1990s | Duplex added building new structures and acquiring several companies, including Strasburger Enterprises of Temple, and the eastern inventory of Norwood Outdoor Advertising (covering Killeen, Copperas Cove, Gatesville, and Bosque counties) |
| 1990 | Will Miller died |
| 1993 | R. V. Miller, Jr. died |
| 1994 | Duplex Advertising was operated in trust for Miller's heirs, with R. Keith Johnson as president, and Tom Wicker and Dale Schigut as vice-presidents |
| 1998 | Duplex Advertising was sold to Advantage Outdoor. Lamar Outdoor Advertising has since acquired Advantage's holdings |
R. V. (Bob) Miller, Jr. was born in Austin, Tex. in 1932. He served in the US Navy as a photographer's mate and then attended Texas Techonlogical University where he received a BBA in Advertising and an MBA. He began his career in outdoor advertising at San-Tex Advertising, in San Angelo, Tex. From there, Miller founded and worked with the Duplex Advertising Company in Austin, Duplex Electric Signs, and Duplex Advertising Company in Temple, Tex. He also taught courses in economics, advertising, marketing, and statistics. One of his articles included in the collection addresses the application of advertising "realities" in the classroom.
The collection arrived largely arranged according to format, ranging from photographs, negatives, slides to printed materials. The photographs were arranged in two ways: 1) alphabetically (for the most part) by client, and 2) by product type. The majority of negatives were already sleeved and labeled, and are listed in the box list. There were a number of negatives in their original paper sleeves, or loose in envelopes. These items were placed in paper negative sleeves and labeled as best they could be. The slides were organized by varying topic: some are categorized by product/client name (Budweiser, Coke, etc.); while some are arranged by product type (automobiles); and some are under other categories including Construction and Miscellaneous. These various organizational models were retained in processing of the slides. The printed material was simply placed in folders and labeled.
Processed by Lisa C. Chandek-Stark and Lynn E. Eaton.
Completed January 31, 2003.
Encoded by Lynn Eaton, Sarah Van Kirk, and Richard Collier.
Processing of this collection was supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Thanks to Bill James for providing background information for this collection.
