The Hagley Vault

Selections from Hagley Museum and Library's archives and published collections on the history of American business, technology, and innovation.

October 2, 2023
Cover of a wig catalog targeted to Black consumers, showing a photograph of a glamorous woman.

What better way to start of a month made for bewitching than with this 1954 catalog of alluring hair styles from the Humania Hair Goods & Specialty Company?


Founded in New York City in 1910 by Gustave Goldstein, the mail-order company's original business was in the distribution of dolls marketed as featuring 'life-like suntan reproductions in dolls", which were advertised in publications popular with Black readers. The company's catalog soon shifted to include wigs, hair care products and tools, and a variety of personal care products.

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Archive

For posts prior to October 2020, visit the Hagley Vault on Tumblr.

Cover of a wig catalog targeted to Black consumers, showing a photograph of a glamorous woman.
Monday, October 2, 2023
What better way to start of a month made for bewitching ...
What better way to start of a month made for bewitching than with this 1954 catalog of alluring hair styles from the Humania Hair Goods & Specialty Company? Founded in New York City in 1910 by Gustave Goldstein, the mail-order company's original business was in the distribution of dolls marketed as featuring 'life-like suntan reproductions in...
Large architectural arch covered in various guns, inside a large convention center.
Monday, September 25, 2023
We're making a visit today to this display booth by Francis Bannerman Sons ...
We're making a visit today to this display booth by Francis Bannerman Sons, Inc. at a ca. 1910 exhibition at Madison Square Garden. For three generations of Bannermans, the company was a major purveyor of military goods to sportsmen and collectors in New York City. The firm was founded in October 1872 by Francis Bannerman (1851-1918) and his wife...
Black and white fashion photograph of a standing man reading 'Outdoor Life' magazine.
Monday, September 18, 2023
It's starting to feel like Fall might actually arrive this year ...
It's starting to feel like Fall might actually arrive this year here at Hagley Museum and Library. We're welcoming this return of temperate weather by roaming the grounds while we can, and nothing says "Outdoor Life" like Erwin Mill's Everglaze cotton slacks by Bilt-Well of Boston. This 1958 photograph is part of Hagley Library's Joseph Bancroft...
Photograph of a store window display for back to school supplies and clothing.
Monday, September 11, 2023
It might feel like beach weather outside, but school is back in session ...
We've seen both beach weather and spring showers these past few days, but, make no mistake - Fall is coming and it is back to school season! To celebrate, we're sharing a 1943 photograph of a Strawbridge & Clothier department store window, taken at the company's Market Street location. The display urged passersby to find fashion smartness for...
Illustrated postcard depicting the Dutch Mill Restaurant in Madison, Wisconsin
Monday, September 4, 2023
Hagley Library is closed on Monday, September 4th in observation of the Labor Day holiday ...
Hagley Library is closed on Monday, September 4th in observation of the Labor Day holiday. If you're looking for somewhere else to spend the day on Monday, may we recommend Madison, Wisconsin's Dutch Mill Restaurant? This ca. 1929 postcard notes that the restaurant, "open from 5 a.m. to 1 a.m. from June 1st to Labor Day" (and open 6 a.m. to 1 a.m...
Monday, August 28, 2023
According to the internet, we (or someone) will be celebrating "More Herbs, Less Salt Day" on August 29th ...
According to the internet, we (or someone) will be celebrating "More Herbs, Less Salt Day" on August 29th. The holiday was invented by Wellcat Herbs, a small manufacturer of herbal products in Pennsylvania, and a prolific source of made-up internet holidays. Before you ditch the shaker, though, the Morton Salt Company would like a word! The clip...
Hand illustrated drawing of a plan for a fortified settlement.
Monday, August 21, 2023
Considering the benefits of a personal home moat? Hagley Library's Digital Archive is delivering some DIY battlement inspo this week ...
Considering the benefits of a personal home moat? Hagley Library's Digital Archive is delivering some DIY battlement inspo this week with this selection from its newest digital collection. The volume Fortification Régulière de Mr. Maréchal de Vauban probably dates to around the first quarter of 18th century and contains 105 plates of drawings...
Page from a mass mailing letter about the dangers of smoking
Monday, August 14, 2023
One of Hagley Library's newest digital collections offers a curated selection of materials ...
One of Hagley Library's newest digital collections offers a curated selection of materials from our collection of Charles Brelsford McCoy papers (Accession 1815).  Charles "Brel" Brelsford McCoy (1909-1995) served as the president of the DuPont Company from 1967 to 1973 and as chairman of its board of directors from 1971 to 1973. The collection...
Cover of a catalog for dairy cattle feed and medicine titled OH Cow Book. Inset black and white photograph of dairy workers and cattle.
Monday, August 7, 2023
This week will mark the anniversary of America's first full-time appointment of an Inspector of Milk, a position created in the city of Boston ...
This week will mark the anniversary of America's first full-time appointment of an Inspector of Milk, a position created in the city of Boston on August 10th in 1859. The job was created and funded via a state law intended to prevent fraud in the dairy industry; dairy farmers and distributors caught selling poor quality, adulterated, or...
Photocollage advertising a women's baseball game played by employees of the Westinghouse company.
Monday, July 31, 2023
Are you rooting for the Beauties or the Peaches this summer?
Are you rooting for the Beauties or the Peaches this summer? This advertisement for a baseball game played by the women employees of the Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company's South Philadelphia Works was created in 1921. It is part of Hagley Library’s collection of Westinghouse Electric Corporation Steam Division photographs (...
Wanamaker catalog cover for summer 1925 showing illustration of a woman with a parasol and red dress sitting barefoot on a small stone bridge
Monday, July 24, 2023
We're revisiting the summer fashions of 1925 this week ...
We're revisiting the summer fashions of 1925 this week in the Hagley Vault, with a little help from John Wanamaker and a catalog full of "delightful frocks", "prevailing Paris fashions", "smart summer hats", "charming underthings", "bathing togs" and "King Baby's Royal Necessities". Marketing pioneer John Wanamaker (1838-1922) opened his...
Ad featuring an anthropomorphic cellophane in a desert. Text warns of storing cellophane near heat.
Monday, July 17, 2023
I feel ya' buddy ... we're all looking to beat the heat this month ...
I feel ya' buddy ... we're all looking to beat the heat this month, some more than others. For those of you not safely ensconced in Hagley Library's delightfully air-conditioned reading room, stay safe and try not to dry out, seal together, or otherwise go the way of cellophane. Cellophane was invented Jacques E. Brandenberger (1872-1954) in 1908...
Rough black and white sketch of an industrial site.
Monday, July 10, 2023
The newest digital collection to debut in the Hagley Digital Archive focuses on the life and career of Alice Hamilton ...
The newest digital collection to debut in the Hagley Digital Archive focuses on the life and career of Alice Hamilton (1869-1970), a physician, research scientist, and social-welfare reform activist who specialized in the field of occupational health. Hamilton earned her doctorate of medicine degree from the University of Michigan in 1893....
Postcard featuring two yelling children with flags and a gun and fireworks exploding behind them.
Monday, July 3, 2023
Hurrah! The glorious 4th of July! Hurrah!
Hurrah! The glorious 4th of July! Hurrah! Hagley Library is celebrating Indepdence Day this week with a selection from our collection of Fireworks and Firecracker postcards (Accession 2002.240). This small collection offers postcards with views of fireworks or firecrackers. Many, unsurprisingly, are Fourth of July greetings with patriotic or...
Two women on a lawn with a bicycle in front of St. Amour, a du Pont family home.
Monday, June 26, 2023
This week marks a moment in transportation history; on June 26, 1819 ....
This week marks a moment in transportation history; on June 26, 1819 the U.S. Patent Office issued its first patent for a velocipede, a bicycle-like invention created by William K. Clarkson, Jr. of New York. While he received the first U.S. patent, Clarkson wasn't the first to build a predecessor to the modern bicycle. For example, in 1791, Comte...
Cartoon featuring unidentified DuPont Company employee juggling various company research projects
Monday, June 19, 2023
This ca. 1925 cartoon shows an unidentified employee of the DuPont Company ...
This ca. 1925 cartoon shows an unidentified employee of the DuPont Company juggling some of the company's various research projects. While the company began as a manufacturer of gunpowder in 1802, this work soon expanded into various other explosive materials. By 1904, the company had begun to manufacture paint and photographic products. In 1914...

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