Abstract:

Avon Products, Inc. is a manufacturer and direct selling company of beauty products. It is one of the oldest direct selling companies in America. The company was founded in 1886 by David H. McConnell (1856-1937) as the California Perfume Company (CPC). McConnell established a manufacturing headquarters and research laboratory in Suffern, New York, in the 1890s. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, CPC expanded its line of products to include cosmetics, household cleaners, food flavorings, and toiletries. The collection consists of photographs, negatives, slides, films, videos and sound recordings date from 1856 to 2000. The materials depict Avon products, their manufacture, packaging and sale, Avon employees and representatives and the offices, laboratories, factories and other structures owned by Avon Products, Inc. The collection is organized into ten series: Administration, Conferences, Non-sales employees, Domestic locations, International locations, Public relations, Sales managers and representatives, Selling methods and sales aids, Company history and philosophy, and Library, music, and museum.

Abstract:

Campbell Soup Company is a processed food manufacturing corporation based in the United States. Founded in 1869, the Campbell Soup Company primarily sold canned vegetables, soups, and other non-perishable items until 1897, when the development of a method to produce flavorful condensed soup propelled the company to one of the largest food corporations in the world. The collection consists of five films produced by the Campbell Soup Company sales department from 1940 through the 1960s, focusing on sales personnel training and company promotions.

Abstract:

The Coca-Cola Company is a software beverage manufacturer. It was formulated in 1886 by Dr. John Stith Pemberton (1831-1888) as a medicinal syrup for headaches. The company has since evolved into a corporation producing beverages and associated products. This small collection is a 1949 salesman training kit. Researchers interested in merchandise and training procedures regarding the Coca-Cola Company would find this collection useful.

Scope and Contents: This series includes many short films which were produced or sponsored by the Dupont Company and document the history of the company, product information, sales training (both in general and for specific products), management, and safety training. These films seem to have been loaned both within and outside of the company. There are several title lists of DuPont Motion Pictures which include lending policies. Some films were not produced by DuPont, but were used for training DuPont employees. Training films focus on management, sales, safety, and recruitment. The management training films demonstrate how supervisors can motivate their employees for improved work performance, goal setting, and best practices for an employee work appraisal meeting. Of note is a film starring John Cleese titled, How Am I Doing: The Appraisal Interview, which takes a humorous look at how to do performance evaluations; Cleese plays three different bosses, all doing it the wrong way. Sales training films either provide general sales advice or techniques for selling a specific DuPont product such as cellophane or antifreeze. There is a sales orientation film, Portrait of American Life which provides an overview of significant contributions of the chemical industry. Of note is another humorous film starring John Cleese called So You Want to Be a Success at Selling: Part II, The Presentation. A majority of the safety films emphasize the safe handling and transportation of hazardous materials. There is a film related to preventing hearing loss when working with loud machinery and driver's safety. There are a number of safety films related to fire prevention. These films highlight flame retardant fabric such as Nomex and fire extinguishants such as Halon or FE 1301. There is one general recruitment film and one specifically for DuPont’s Automotive Refinishes department. There are many films which focus on providing in-depth information about a specific DuPont product or research. The products most heavily represented have to do with DuPont’s Agrochemical division. Many agrichemical films focus on a specific product such as Lexone, Benlate, Lannate, Lorox, Glean, Harmony, and Compound 12402. Some of these films provide tips on integrated pest management, spraying techniques, safe handling and disposal. Other films discuss the...

Abstract:

Chemists at DuPont’s Parlin, New Jersey laboratory produced a pyroxylin lacquer in 1920 called Viscolac and improved upon it in the following years and renamed it Duco. In the late 1920s Dulux was developed, which was an alkyd finish and had a higher gloss finish; a matte version of Dulux was also developed. This collection is a packet of advertising and sales aids for dealers of DuPont Duco and Dulux paints and finishes.

Abstract:

Harry J. Haon II (1901-1989) and his son Harry J. Haon III (1934-2013) were chemists and lifetime employees of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, and both came to specialize in sales and marketing. The Harry J. Haon family papers are a collection of correspondence, meeting notes/minutes, drawings/maps, journal articles, DuPont publications, papers expressing once classified information about DuPont products, as well as teaching materials for employees who were novice marketing managers, sales personnel and employees in leadership positions. The collection is composed of two series consisting of the papers of Harry J. Haon, II and Harry J. Haon, III. The careers in DuPont of both Haons are well documented.

Abstract:

Kay Brownlee (1912-1971) was employed at the Philadelphia department store B.F. Dewees. She was originally a buyer for women's fashions, but later rose to be personnel director, a post she held until the store closed in the late 1960s. This collection contains personal and family items from Kay Brownlee, records from Brownlee's work as personnel director of B.F. Dewees department store, and documents regarding the operations of the store and its female employees.

Abstract:

MCI Communications Corporation (MCI) was a large telecommunications company. It was organized in October 1963 in Joliet, Illinois, by John D. (Jack) Goeken (1930-2010), as Microwave Communications, Inc. Goeken and his partners were planning to provide point-to-point private line microwave communications between Chicago and St. Louis to small businesses. This large collection documents the activities of the MCI Communications Corporation and its subsidiaries as well as the development of a competitive telecommunications industry in the United States and worldwide. The materials focus on MCI corporate life, public relations, technical operations, and sales and marketing activities. A vast amount of videotapes makes up a significant portion of the MCI collection, however, there are also photographs, slides, digital files, and audio cassette tapes.

Abstract:

'Sponsored film' defines a variety of motion picture productions funded by businesses, organizations, or governments that dictate the film's point of view, audience, and intent. Industrial or business films are a subgenre of sponsored films with content that markets products and ideas, touts a particular company or industry, trains employees, and explains manufacturing or transactional processes around creating and selling products and ideas. The Sponsored and Industrial Motion Picture Film Collection at Hagley is an artificial collection compiled by curators that includes single motion picture films or small sets of films acquired via purchase or donation.

Abstract:

Thomas J. Godson (1894-1992) was an employee of the DuPont Company for thirty four years, primarily working in the Paint and Varnish Division. This collection relfects the career of Godson and includes sales materials, manuals, newsletters and other documents primarily related to DuPont's "Duco" paints.

Abstract:

The Zanol Products Company was a door-to-door consumer goods distributor. Founded in Cincinnati, Ohio circa 1908, Zanol developed its own line of household products which the company sold directly to consumers via door-to-door representatives. This collection consists of one salesman's case containing pamphlets, trade cards, trade catalogs, sewing needle cases, books of blank order forms, and other ephemera from the Zanol Products Company.