J. Walter Thompson Company. Legal Department microfilmed entertainment contracts, 1924-1957
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Summary
- Creator:
- J. Walter Thompson Company
- Abstract:
- Founded in 1864, the J. Walter Thompson Company (JWT) is one of the oldest and largest enduring advertising agencies in the United States. It is headquartered in New York. The JWT Legal Department microfilmed entertainment contracts include contracts for appearances on radio and television broadcasts; correspondence; folios (typically collections of documents relating to an actor's career, or casting for a broadcast program); letters of terms; notices of cancellations of contracts; photographs; talent releases and other printed documents. Talent featured in the sponsored programming include journalists, motion picture actors, musicians, politicians (such as Wendell Willkie), sports announcers, vaudeville blackface and dance performers, writers and other celebrities. Talent-based and variety shows drew from American and international performers, including African Americans and women. Sponsoring firms include Ballantine, Elgin, Ford, General Cigar, Kodak, Kraft, Lever Brothers, Lorillard, Nash Motors, Nestle, Owens-Illinois, RCA, Seven-Up, Shell, Standard Brands, Swift, Textron, Ward Baking and Wrigley. Acquired as part of the John W. Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising & Marketing History.
- Extent:
- 3.0 Linear Feet
- Language:
- Materials in English.
- Collection ID:
- RL.11870
Background
- Scope and content:
-
The JWT Legal Department microfilmed entertainment contracts include contracts for appearances on radio and television broadcasts; correspondence; folios (typically collections of documents relating to an actor's career, or casting for a broadcast program); letters of terms; notices of cancellations of contracts; photographs; talent releases and other printed documents. Talent featured in the sponsored programming include journalists, motion picture actors, musicians, politicians (such as Wendell Willkie), sports announcers, vaudeville blackface and dance performers, writers and other celebrities. Talent-based and variety shows drew from American and international performers, including African Americans and women. Sponsoring firms include Ballantine, Elgin, Ford, General Cigar, Kodak, Kraft, Lever Brothers, Lorillard, Nash Motors, Nestle, Owens-Illinois, RCA, Seven-Up, Shell, Standard Brands, Swift, Textron, Ward Baking and Wrigley.
- Biographical / historical:
-
Founded in 1864, the J. Walter Thompson Company (JWT) is one of the oldest and largest enduring advertising agencies in the United States. It is headquartered in New York. Beginning in the 1930s, documents from several JWT departments and functions were microfilmed, including Legal Department, Treasurer's Office, As-Broadcast Scripts and Commercials for Radio and Television, Investigations, Publicity Department, Artwork, Consumer Panel, and Radio/Television Department. Documents were microfilmed in no order, and typed and hand-written indices were produced for the microfilms. The present electronic collection guide is based largely on transcriptions of the paper indices produced by the JWT Information Center library staff. It is believed that once microfilmed, most of the original documents were destroyed.
- Acquisition information:
- The J. Walter Thompson Company. Legal Department microfilmed entertainment contracts were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library as a gift in 1986.
- Processing information:
-
Processed by Richard Collier, Dec. 2020
- Arrangement:
-
Organized into the following series: Contracts for Broadcasting; Folios and Contracts; Letters of Terms--Accounts resigned; Radio Contracts.
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Subjects
Click on terms below to find related finding aids on this site. For other related materials in the Duke University Libraries, search for these terms in the Catalog.
- Subjects:
- Advertising agencies -- United States -- History
Radio broadcasting -- United States
Television broadcasting -- United States -- History
Radio advertising -- United States -- History
Television advertising -- United States -- History - Names:
- John W. Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising & Marketing History
Ward Baking Company
Textron, Inc.
Standard Brands Incorporated
Seven-Up Company
Radio Corporation of America
P. Lorillard Company
P. Ballantine & Sons
Lever Brothers Company
Kraft Foods Company
General Cigar Company (Philadelphia, Pa.)
Ford Motor Company
Eastman Kodak Company
Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company
Swift & Company
Shell Oil Company
Nestlé
Nash Motors Company
Willkie, Wendell L. (Wendell Lewis), 1892-1944
Contents
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- Restrictions:
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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], J. Walter Thompson Company. Legal Department microfilmed entertainment contracts, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.
- Permalink:
- https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/m1kb1c