The Hagley Vault

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

August 12, 2022
Cyanotype image of a person with two small children playing at the edge of the ocean.

Today's post is an homage to summer weekends at the shore. This ca. 1890 cyanotype image is sourced from a photograph album created by Louis Edward Levy (1846-1919) and Max Levy (1857-1926), two brothers whose parents immigrated to the United States from Bohemia in 1854.


After studying and working in the fields of architecture, mathematics, astronomy, and microscope photography, the brothers worked together to found a photoengraving business in Baltimore in 1875. In 1877, they moved to Philadelphia and reorganized the firm as the Levytype Company. Here, they formally introduced their invention of a new photochemical engraving process, jointly patented on January 4, 1875, which they called “Levy-type”.

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

Cyanotype image of a person with two small children playing at the edge of the ocean.
Friday, August 12, 2022
Today's post is an homage to summer weekends at the shore ....
Today's post is an homage to summer weekends at the shore. This ca. 1890 cyanotype image is sourced from a photograph album created by Louis Edward Levy (1846-1919) and Max Levy (1857-1926), two brothers whose parents immigrated to the United States from Bohemia in 1854. After studying and working in the fields of architecture, mathematics,...
Group of women in flights suits gathered around two men demonstrating the parts of an aircraft motor.
Thursday, August 11, 2022
This photograph from September 17, 1929 shows a class of women learning about airplane motors ...
This photograph from September 17, 1929 shows a class of women learning about airplane motors. Text associated with the item identifies the school as the New York University Ground School for Female Flyers. This item is part of Hagley Library’s Lammot du Pont collection of aeronautical photographs (Accession 1975.360). Lammot du Pont, Jr. (1909-...
Cover of Better Living magazine with a black and white photograph of a woman in a bathing suit on a diving board.
Wednesday, August 10, 2022
Today's #WorkerWednesday features a summer ready employee of the DuPont Company ...
Today's #WorkerWednesday features a summer ready employee of the DuPont Company. This July/August 1957 issue of Better Living magazine featured Barbara Morrow, a product information specialist from the company's Wilmington headquarters. Morrow handled consumer and trade inquiries for the Textile Fibers Department, but for this issue, she modeled...
Black and white image of a woman in a hammock with a book.
Tuesday, August 9, 2022
We're posting this undated (ca. 1888?) glass negative today in celebration of National Book Lovers Day ...
We're posting this undated (ca. 1888?) glass negative today in celebration of National Book Lovers Day, and in the hopes that you, too, all find the time to enjoy some quiet comfort with a good read. This item is part of Hagley Library's collection of William Ferris, II glass plate negatives (Accession 1974.359). William Ferris, II (1822-1909) was...
Photograph of women from the Women's Organization for National Prohibition Reform, posed with signs in front of a bus with men looking out the window
Monday, August 8, 2022
Today, we're joining the women of the Women's Organization for National Prohibition Reform (W.O.N.P.R.) ....
Today, we're joining the women of the Women's Organization for National Prohibition Reform (W.O.N.P.R.), who rallied in Wilmington, Delaware for the repeal of national prohibition laws on this date, August 8th, in 1932. W.O.N.P.R. was founded in 1929 by Pauline Morton Sabin (1887-1955) to advocate for the repeal of Prohibition. By 1932, the...
View of two people on a bridge over an unidentified waterfall, probably at Glen Onoko, possibly the cascade above Sunrise Point.
Friday, August 5, 2022
This undated glass plate negative shows two people on a bridge ....
This undated glass plate negative (likely ca. 1880) shows two people on a bridge over an unidentified waterfall, probably at Glen Onoko, possibly the cascade above Sunrise Point. Glen Onoko was a scenic tourist attraction located nearby Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania (now Jim Thorpe). This image is from Hagley Library's collection of James Zellner...
Pamphlet cover. Black and white photo of a woman displaying a dress on a hanger to another woman seated on a couch.
Thursday, August 4, 2022
I've always said that the worst thing about having to do household chores is ....
I've always said that the worst thing about having to do household chores is that there's not some dude there to tell me I'm doing it wrong. This 1940 pamphlet of household cleaning advice is from the New York City retailing and distributing firm of Park & Tilford, owners of Tintex brand fabric dye. The work contained 127 folksy "handy...
Pamphlet with a black and white photograph of a woman wearing a headset at a switchboard.
Wednesday, August 3, 2022
This September 1948 pamphlet was number 200 in a series ....
This September 1948 pamphlet was number 200 in a series of publications distributed to employees of RCA Victor. The series, which began in March 1938, intended to provide worker education and boost employee morale. This issue's theme was public relations and customer service. The front cover featured telephone operator Barbara Kuhn, who worked in...
Trade card with illustrations of fingernails and text about the meaning of each nail shape.
Tuesday, August 2, 2022
Nailed it! On this date, August 2, in 1791 ...
Nailed it! On this date, August 2, in 1791 the first joint U.S. patent was issued to the father and son team of Samuel Briggs and Samuel Briggs, Jr. of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Briggs' patent, No. #X000013, was for a machine for nail, screw, and gimlet manufacturers and produced cut nails. This trade card offering lessons on "Nails and...
Black and white photograph of a pool full of young people.
Monday, August 1, 2022
We're saying goodbye to July and hello to August ...
We're saying goodbye to July and hello to August with this summertime photograph from 1941 in the company town of Old Hickory, Tennessee. The DuPont Company first established a manufacturing site at Old Hickory during World War I, when it acquired a contract from the War Department of the United States Government for smokeless powder. A plant...
Pamphlet titled 'The Slurry". Illustration of corn kernels and a corn farm.
Friday, July 29, 2022
Move over pink sauce ....
Move over pink sauce, and make way for The Slurry. This 1946 pamphlet from the Semesan Division of the DuPont Company advertised an agricultural process for treating seed corn using Arasan, a chemical disinfectant and insecticide, and a seed corn processor designed to uniformly apply the product in slurry form. This pamphlet is item number...
Pages from a comic-book style bike catalog showing a bike diagram and ad forthe Shwinn Starlet bike.
Thursday, July 28, 2022
Glamorous as your favorite tv stars!
Glamorous as your favorite tv stars! We're feeling starstruck today by this spread from Schwinn bike thrills: 108.92 m.p.h. on a bike!, a ca. 1958 comic-book style catalog from the Schwinn Bicycle Company. This item is call number Pam 2017.0816 in Hagley Library's collection of trade catalogs and pamphlets, and has been included in a selection in...
'Patriotic and Practical' ad for fat rationing during the war. Photograph of Mary Pickford holding a can labeled "Used Fats".
Wednesday, July 27, 2022
Got some extra fat lying around? Feeling patriotic and practical?
Got some extra fat lying around? Feeling patriotic and practical? If so, this ca. 1943 advertisement from the office of Fat Salvage Information is for you! This call for wartime salvaging of inedible fats for military use during wartime is part of Hagley Library's collection of National Association of Manufacturers Records (Accession 1411). The...
Advertising card for soap with an illustration based on a scene from Gilbert and Sullivan's H. M. S. Pinafore, shows children as a sailor (Ralph Rackstraw) with a young maiden (Josephine) on board ship.
Tuesday, July 26, 2022
Today's #TradeCardTuesday is inspired by Gilbert and Sullivan ...
Today's #TradeCardTuesday is inspired by Gilbert and Sullivan's H. M. S. Pinafore. This undated (ca. 1885?) advertisement promoted Higgin's German Laundry Soap. The product was manufactured by the New York City soapmaker Charles S. Higgins beginning in 1880, who sold the rights to the brand and trademark to the Amalga Soap Company in 1890. This...
Gif showing black and white footage of men and women demonstrating ENIAC
Monday, July 25, 2022
On this date, July 25, in 1946 the University of Pennsylvania's Moore School of Electrical Engineering completed work on ....
On this date, July 25, in 1946 the University of Pennsylvania's Moore School of Electrical Engineering completed work on Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC), the world's first successful, all electronic, general digital computer. The date marks the occasion on which the title to the completed ENIAC machine was transferred to the U...
Double spread ad for RCA air conditioners with illustrations of a family in various household rooms
Friday, July 22, 2022
I know what my weekend plans are ...
I know what my weekend plans are. Try to stay safe and cool everyone, and we'll see you again on Monday! This advertisement for RCA room air conditioners from the company's RCA Victor Division was the first installment of the company's first advertising campaign for it's debut into the air conditioner market. The "tune in" campaign launched with...

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