Scope and Contents: The Advertising Department was part of the Public Relations Division. Holcombe Parkes (1896-1977) became director of NAM’s Public Relations Division in 1945, after the reorganization of the public relations program. The Advertising Department materials document NAM’s advertising themes after World War II with its focus on decreasing the power of government over the economy. NAM’s targets were the Office of Price Administration (OPA), the federal deficit, and organized labor. Its positions were advertised nationally in newspapers, magazines, and on the radio. NAM’s 1946 advertising campaign attacked the OPA and pushed for the elimination of price control. NAM opposed Congress amending the Price Control Act to extend its duration from June 1946 to March 1947. The attack centered on inflation and the OPA price ceilings, and the advertisements urged consumers to express their opposition to Congress. Additional NAM advertisements in 1946 opposed the federal government’s deficit financing and spending and strikes by labor. The ads also invited readers to contact NAM for booklets with additional information on the subject. The tagline of the ads reads “National Association of Manufacturers — for a better tomorrow for everybody.”The 1947 advertising campaign continued with attacks on organized labor and inflation, and like the 1946 advertising campaign, advertisements appeared in magazines and newspapers. The advertisements regarding labor publicized NAM’s nine-point labor program and supported the Taft-Hartley bill, an act which prohibited unions from engaging in unfair labor practices. The campaign opposed the closed shop and industry-wide bargaining with the urging readers to write to Congress with their opinion. In 1947 and 1948, NAM ran advertisements in magazines targeting specific audiences such as farmers, youth, women, and general interest. The advertisements promoted the positive aspects of the free enterprise system and attempted to dispel the belief that business made excessive profits.This material includes correspondence between NAM and its advertising agency Benton & Bowles, members, and staff; memorandums between Holcombe Parkes and department staff; advertising copies, drafts, and proofs; and comments on the ad campaign schedules (including names of publications, dates, and costs of insertion). The records, which appear to be complete dating from 1946 to 1948, provide detailed information about the work of the...

Abstract:

Batten, Barton, Durstine & Osborn Inc. (BBDO) is a worldwide advertising agency network headquartered in New York City. The company began in 1891 as the George Batten Company. In 1928, it merged with Barton, Durstine & Osborn. With locations in eighty-one countries, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Egypt, Germany, India, Mexico, New Zealand, Russia, Spain, UAE, and seven in the United States, BBDO is among the world’s most awarded advertising agencies. The records cover the entire span of BBDO’s existence, beginning with the George Batten Company in 1891. The collection includes advertisement tear sheets, films, ledgers, marketing reports, personnel files, photographs, press coverage, publications, research reports, slides, and speeches.

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:

Charles H. DeMirjian (1925-) was a packaging design manager with E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company. The record consists of a thirteen-page transcript of a taped interview of DeMirjian conducted by then-director of the Hagley Museum and Library Glenn Porter. In his reminiscences, DeMirjian recounts his training and career history, plus some observations on his mode of work.

Abstract:

DuPont Performance Coatings, Inc. produces and researches advanced automotive coatings and finishes products. In 1993, capitalizing on the growing popularity of NASCAR racing, DuPont sponsored famed driver Jeff Gordon (1971-), whose #24 was adorned with the DuPont logo. The collection consists of advertisements and memorabilia collected by a DuPont employee who followed Jeff Gordon on the NASCAR circuit.

Abstract:

E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company is a chemical company more commonly known as the DuPont Company. It was established in 1802 and began by manufacturing gunpowder, later moving into chemical compounds. At the beginning of the twentieth century, DuPont had the need for more advertising as the company began expanding its product line beyond gunpowders and explosives. Between 1907 and 1909, an Advertising Division was formed within the Sales Department; a separate Advertising Department was established in 1921. This collection consists of background research files on ad campaigns run in individual industrial departments for various products and to promote the company as a whole.

Abstract:

This collection consists of the business records of Ernest Dichter and the several consulting firms through which he operated fully document his role as a pioneer of motivational research, from the beginnings of his career in the United States until a few months before his death.

Abstract:

Ernest Dichter (1907-1991) was one of the pioneers in consumer motivational research. He started his own consulting business in 1946. It was incorporated in New York as the Institute for Research in Mass Motivations, Inc. in 1952 and renamed the Institute for Motivational Research, Inc. in 1955. This collection consists of photographs, negatives, slides, contact sheets, and audio cassettes.

Abstract:

The Insurance & Financial Communicators Association (I.F.C.A.) "is an international organization dedicated to the ongoing professional development of its members in life insurance and related financial services communications." [1] The associations primary objective is to promote the exhange of ideas among its members through educational programs, events, and publications. The primary value of the collection is in its capacity for documenting trends in the marketing of life insurance, and the rationale behind particular advertising campaigns. Case histories and publications aimed at the industry are of most use in this regard. The bulk of the records are of interest only in documenting the internal functions of the organization and the issues which it has perceived as important to the insurance industry.

Abstract:

Louis Forman (1908-2002) was a liquor broker who managed the creation and distribution of several different liquor and whiskey brands, including Michter’s. The collection, which focuses on the development and marketing of Michter’s whiskey, with a secondary emphasis on Forman’s liquor brokering business, primarily consists of advertising campaign materials and artwork, business plans and forecasts, deeds, contracts, information on brewing and distilling processes, union contracts, testimonial letters, and other correspondence.

Abstract:

The Marsay School of Beauty Culture was a cosmetology school that offered at-home training courses and operated out of Chicago, Illinois. The school began advertising in newspapers across the country in 1925. In 1928, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) charged the school with unfair methods of competition. It issued a cease and desist order in 1929, but it appears that the school continued at least into 1930. This is a small collection of correspondence promoting the beauty school's courses between 1926 and 1930. This collection would be useful for researchers interested in cosmetology advertising campaigns and unfair trade practices.

Scope and Contents:

NAM created several self-sustaining organizations. Sometimes they were under the purview of a specific department and other times they were not. In all instances, however, the organizations maintained a separate budget. This series contains the papers of several of these organizations. A detailed description can be found under each organization.

Abstract:

Springs Cotton Mills was a cotton textile manufacturer in Lancaster, South Carolina. It was founded in 1887 by Samuel Elliott White (1837-1911) and became a leader in the textile industry in South Carolina. Springs introduced a distinctive “Springmaid” advertising campaign during the 1940s and 1950s that used sex appeal to advertise the line. The ads feature sexually suggestive illustrations in the pin-up style and make liberal use of double entendres. Sexist attitudes and racial stereotypes are present. This small collection consists of a set of color advertising tearsheets for Springmaid Fabrics.

Abstract:

Commonly referred to as simply "Seagram" or "Seagram's," the Seagram Company, Ltd. was for a time the largest producer and distributor of distilled spirits in the world. The records of Seagram and its subsidiaries trace the company's transformation from a small business run by Samuel Bronfman to a diversified multi-national corporation.