Walter Weir papers, 1909-1996 and undated, bulk 1950-1990

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Summary

Creator:
Weir, Walter
Abstract:
Walter Weir was an advertising executive, marketing and communications consultant, and professor of advertising. He worked for a number of agencies, including N.W. Ayer & Sons, J. M. Mathes, Lord & Thomas, and Kenyon & Eckhardt. He founded Walter Weir, Inc., which merged into larger firms over the years, was co-owner of Switzerland-based La Borie/Weir S.A., and headed Walter Weir Communications, Inc. Weir also taught advertising at the University of Tennessee and Temple University, wrote three books on advertising, annonymously authored the Creative Man's Corner column in Advertising Age magazine for 25 years, and composed numerous speeches, articles, short stories, poems, songs, and musicals. The Walter Weir Papers span the years 1909 through 1996, the bulk of which cover the 1950s through the early 1990s. The collection consists of audiocassettes, audiotapes, correspondence, course materials, clippings, musical scores, photographs, presentations, proofs, print advertising copy, radio advertisement scripts, songs, speeches, writings, and voiceovers documenting Weir's career in advertising, marketing, consulting, and teaching. The collection also documents Weir's prose, poems, and musicals, as well as his relationship with son Anthony Weir. Agencies and clients represented include the Alexander Proudfoot Company, Green Thumb Corporation, Interhydro AG, Jackson & Perkins Co., La Borie/Weir SA, Ralston Purina, Stratford of Texas, Inc., Walter Weir, Inc., and Walter Weir Communications, Inc. The collection also includes materials relating to Crain Communications Inc., which published Advertising Age, as well as the University of Tennessee and Temple University, and Weir's correspondence with Oscar Hammerstein II.
Extent:
14 Linear Feet
Approximately 7,700 Items
Language:
Material in English and French
Collection ID:
RL.01362

Background

Scope and content:

The Walter Weir Papers span the years 1909 through 1996, the bulk of which cover the 1950s through the early 1990s. The collection consists of audiocassettes, audiotapes, correspondence, course materials, clippings, musical scores, photographs, presentations, proofs, print advertising copy, radio advertisement scripts, songs, speeches, writings, and voiceovers documenting Weir's career in advertising, marketing, consulting, and teaching. The collection also documents Weir's prose, poems, and musicals, as well as his relationship with son Anthony Weir. Agencies and clients represented include the Alexander Proudfoot Company, Green Thumb Corporation, Interhydro AG, Jackson & Perkins Co., La Borie/Weir SA, Ralston Purina, Stratford of Texas, Inc., Walter Weir, Inc., and Walter Weir Communications, Inc. The collection also includes materials relating to Crain Communications Inc., which published Advertising Age , as well as the University of Tennessee and Temple University, and Weir's correspondence with Oscar Hammerstein II.

This collection is organized into six series: Musical , Personal , Professional , Teaching , Writings and Speeches , and Audiovisual Materials .

The Musical Series documents Weir's work on scores and scripts for musical theatre. Much of the correspondence in this series narrates Weir's efforts to produce a musical based on the Frederic Wakeman novel The Hucksters . Includes correspondence with Oscar Hammerstein II.

The Personal Series contains biographical data about Weir and his involvement with family and friends through correspondence, clippings, greeting cards, photographs, and handwritten notes. The bulk of the correspondence documents Weir's personal and professional relationship with his son, Anthony.

The Professional Series documents Weir's career in advertising, marketing, and communications. Advertising copy, clippings, correspondence, proposals, presentations, and legal and financial papers represent Weir's work from the beginning of his career at N.W. Ayer through the evolution of his company, Walter Weir, Inc., as well as through subsequent business ventures, including La Borie/Weir SA, Walter Weir Communications, Inc., and freelance consulting work.

The Teaching Series represents Weir's work, following his official retirement from the advertising industry, as a professor of advertising, marketing and communications at the University of Tennessee and Temple University. Correspondence, course materials, and clippings document this extension of Weir's career from his introduction to and retirement from the academy.

The Writings and Speeches Series includes fiction, poetry, and non-fiction written by Weir on subjects both related and unrelated to advertising. Among these are articles published in Printer's Ink and Advertising Age ; unpublished manuscripts of autobiographies, bound copies of Weir's book How to Create Interest-Evoking, Sales-Inducing, Non-Irritating Advertising; transcripts of talks and addresses Weir gave about advertising throught his career, including an address for the James Webb Young Foundation; and correspondence with Rance Crain of Crain Communications, Inc., publisher of Advertising Age .

The Audiovisual Series includes auiotapes and audiocassettes of advertising-related talks and addresses, notably for the Million Dollar Round Table Tape Cassette Program. In addition, there are radio spots for clients including Mountain Dew, E.F. Hutton, and Merril, Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Beane, as well as samples of voiceovers and radio commercial productions.

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

Biographical / historical:
Date Event
1909 Mar. 27
Born Walter John Weir, Philadephia, PA
1928
N.W. Ayer advertising agency in Philadelphia
Circa 1930-circa 1938
Blackman Agency (later to become Compton Advertising)
1931 Apr. 18
Married Kathryn Ternan
1936 May 3
Anthony Weir (son) born
1938-1941
VP and creative director, J. M. Mathes, Inc.
1941-1942
VP and creative director, Lord & Thomas agency
1942-1945
VP and creative director, Kenyon & Eckhardt
1945-1951
President, Walter Weir, Inc.
1951
Executive VP, Donahue & Coe
Merger with Donahue & Coe
1960
On the Writing of Advertising (McGraw Hill Series in Marketing and Advertising) published
1963
Truth in Advertising and Other Heresies (NY: McGraw Hill) published
1964
Wife Kathryn died.
Merger with Ellington & Co. to create West, Weir & Bartel
1965 Mar. 29
Marries Johanna Rae
1968
Merger with MacManus, John & Adams
1970
Retires to Bequia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines (Caribbean Islands)
1978
Professor of Advertising, University of Tennessee College of Communications
1980
Professor of Advertising, Temple University School of Communications and Theater
1986
Communications advisor, Proudfoot Communications (Alexander Proudfoot Worldwide Family of Cos.)
1993
How to Create Interest-Evoking, Sales-Inducing, Non-Irritating Advertising (Haworth Press) published
1996 Mar. 2
Died.
Acquisition information:
The Walter Weir Papers were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library as a gift in 2002.
Processing information:

Processed by Stacy Lavin,

Encoded by Stacy Lavin, October 2007

Accession 2002-0241 was processed and described in this finding aid.

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.

Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection.

In addition, original audiovisual materials are closed to patron use. Technical Services staff need to produce use copies before contents can be accessed.

Permission is not granted for publication of the contents of folder entitled "N.W. Ayer Oral History Program interview with Walter Weir." The user is responsible for obtaining permission to publish from the interviewers.

All or portions of this collection may be housed off-site in Duke University's Library Service Center. There may be a 48-hour delay in obtaining these materials.

Please contact Research Services staff before visiting the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library to use this collection.

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:

Walter Weir Papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library.

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