Metropolitan Life Insurance Company literature collection, 1920s-1960s

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Summary

Creator:
Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, History of Medicine Collection (David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library), and John W. Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising & Marketing History
Abstract:
Metropolitan Life Insurance Company was founded in 1863 as the National Union Life and Limb Insurance Company; it opened as Metropolitan Life Insurance Company in 1868. Today the company is known as MetLife. This collection contains printed literature and booklets about medical care, first aid, healthy living, and safety published and distributed by Metropolitan Life, particularly the Welfare Division, to the public in the mid-twentieth century. Acquired as part of the History of Medicine Collection and the John W. Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising, and Marketing History.
Extent:
1.0 Linear Foot
Language:
Materials are in English, except for one booklet in Italian.
Collection ID:
RL.13044

Background

Scope and content:

This collection consists of Metropolitan Life Insurance Company pamphlets and other literature, largely prepared and issued by the company's Welfare Division between the 1930s and 1960s. The booklets were intended for a general public audience. They offer information, guidance, and recommendations on a range of topics, including: disease prevention and treatments; home nurse visits and care; pregnancy and childbirth; infant, child, and teenagers' health and well-being; vehicle and pedestrian safety; worker safety; personal hygiene and healthcare habits; vaccination and preventative medicine; home safety; first aid; and many other topics.

Booklets at times include illustrations but are rarely dated - most dates supplied in the collection guide are approximations based on context clues (such as fashion or footnotes) found in the booklet. The illustrations of people are either cartoons or drawings of white Americans. Some items reference services offered by Metropolitan Life Insurance to policy holders, including visiting nurses and vaccinations. Other items were intended for distribution at schools or by public health organizations.

Acquired as part of the John W. Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising, and Marketing History, and the History of Medicine Collection (Duke University).

Biographical / historical:

Metropolitan Life Insurance Company was founded in 1863 as the National Union Life and Limb Insurance Company; it opened as Metropolitan Life Insurance Company in 1868. Today the company is known as MetLife.

The company was first founded to insure Civil War veterans. By the 1870s, the company faced financial difficulties and was near bankruptcy. Metropolitan Life began selling "workingmen's" and "industrial" insurance policies, whereby agents collected premiums monthly, door-to-door. This approach was very successful and by 1909, the company had become the largest life insurer in the United States.

Industry scandals and government inquiries, combined with identified opportunities to improve policyholders' health (thus increasing profits), led the Metropolitan Life Company to pilot and then establish a Welfare Division in 1909. As well as providing medical care through a visiting nurse service, the division sought to teach and share medical information and advice on public health practices. Metropolitan Life-branded pamphlets and booklets on topics like family and child health, diseases, and safety were freely distributed to individuals, organizations, schools, and agencies.

Acquisition information:
The Metropolitan Life Insurance Company literature collection was received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library as a purchase from Linda Lacy in 2023. Additional materials have been transferred to this collection from the Advertising Ephemera collection.
Processing information:

Processed by Meghan Lyon, December 2023

Accessions described in this collection guide: 2023-0204

Arrangement:

Arranged alphabetically by title.

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 Rubenstein Library's Citations, Permissions, and Copyright guide.

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Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Metropolitan Life Insurance Company literature collection, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.

Permalink:
https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/m16b3q