The Hagley Vault

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

Archive

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

The Ford Model A became commercially available on this day in...
  The Ford Model A became commercially available on this day in 1927. After completing construction on the first vehicle of this model on October 20, Ford introduced its follow up to the Model T, generally regarded as the first affordable automobile, on December 2, 1927. The video clip here of footage documenting the release and promotion of…
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We're enjoying a truly modern #TechTuesday with the world's...
We're enjoying a truly modern #TechTuesday with the world's first overhead garage door company. The first design for a sliding overhead garage door was submitted to the U.S. Patent Office by Owen L. Dautrick of the Dautrick-Johnson Manufacturing Company in August, 1921. His business partner, Clarence G. Johnson, was listed as a witness. A second,…
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Be the envy of all this #MotorMonday with an Aerocar...
Be the envy of all this #MotorMonday with a not at all ill-advised flying automobile. The 1949 Aerocar was a product of Aerocar International, and the work of aeronautical engineer Moulton B. "Molt" Taylor (1912-1995) of Longview, Washington. Taylor's design was inspired by a 1946 encounter with Delaware inventor Robert E. Fulton, Jr., who had…
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Whatever your Thanksgiving looks like this year...
Whatever your Thanksgiving looks like this year, we're hoping it's a safe and healthy one. Since there's going to be a lot of telecommunication-turkeys this year, we're sharing this 1949 poster from Japan's Ministry of Telecommunications, which encouraged servicemen and other Americans in occupied Japan to send home radiogram greetings to distant…
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Today's #TechTuesday post comes from a February 1941 issue...
Today's #TechTuesday post comes from a February 1941 issue of Nation's Business: A General Magazine for Businessmen. The issue included an article extolling the ways in which industry and technology was revolutionizing the ways in which our fruits and vegetables were produced, processed, and packaged, be it Turkish bath systems for bananas, pre-…
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On this day in 1899, San Francisco's Palais Royale...
On this day in 1899, San Francisco's Palais Royale Saloon began operating the world's first forerunner to the jukebox. It was an Edison Class M Electric Phonograph, retrofitted with a coin slot invented and patented by entrepreneurs Louis Glass and William S. Arnold, who called their device a "nickel-in-the-slot player". Unlike the machines that…
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We don't host a lot of #FreemasonFridays over here at Hagley,...
We don't host a lot of #FreemasonFridays over here at Hagley, but these gentlemen in their Matheson automobile asked nicely, so we're making an exception. This ca. 1910 photograph is part of our collection of Matheson Automobile Company photographs (Accession 1989.327). This collection includes 135 images dating largely from 1901 to 1912 from the…
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Winter has always been a season for indoor hobbies...
Winter has always been a season for indoor hobbies, and that will be especially true this year. While Hagley Library's Digital Archive contains a wide variety of materials documenting the hobbies and busy work of yesteryear, Henrietta Wolf's miniature city of Congenial, USA is maybe the cutest. This image is sourced from a January 1980 issue of…
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On this date in 1963, Bell Telephone began offering the world's...
On this date in 1963, Bell Telephone began offering the world's first commercial service for an electronic push-button, touch-tone telephone. Service was initially limited to customers in the towns of Carnegie and Greensburg, Pennsylvania. The concept behind the push-button telephone was not new to 1963, however. Various attempts at push-button…
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On this brisk fall day, we're getting on board #TrainTuesday...
On this brisk fall day, we're getting on board #TrainTuesday with a heart set on warmer destinations. This Hill car was photographed on this date, November 17, in 1939. The negative is part of Hagley Library's Pennsylvania Railroad negative collection (Accession 1993.300). Incorporated in 1846, the Pennsylvania Railroad Company became the largest…
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On this date in 1973, NASA launched Skylab 4...
On this date in 1973, NASA launched Skylab 4 from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The three astronauts on board would be the third and final crew aboard the first American space station. Their 84-day mission set a new space endurance record. This image, created on February 7, 1972, was created by NASA, presumably to illustrate its future plans for space…
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What's that you say? Friday the 13th? In 2020. Cool. Cool cool...
What's that you say? Friday the 13th? In 2020. Cool. Cool cool cool. Totally feel good about this. This ca. 1914 photograph shows oil field workers in Drumright, Oklahoma shooting a flaming oil tank with a cannon to prevent it from exploding. This image is part of the Hagley Library's collection of Chamber of Commerce of the United States…
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We're getting a visit from Miss Rheingold this #ThirstyThursday...
We're getting a visit from Miss Rheingold this #ThirstyThursday via the November 1962 cover of The Glass Packer (the magazine of glass packaging). This trade publication was issued through the National Preservers Association from 1928 to 1962. While the Hagley Library's Published Collections department does include this title in its holdings, this…
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We're observing Veterans' Day today with this 1943 catalog...
We're observing Veterans' Day today with this 1943 catalog from Elizabeth Arden. The company created On the Double to help women in uniform to by offering them hair-styling tips and fashionable cuts that accommodated their uniform capsand life in military service. This catalog is is part of the Hagley Library's collection of trade catalogs and…
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Long-distance vacations are still on hold, but we'll always have...
Long-distance vacations are still on hold, but we'll always have #TravelTuesday. This advertising card for the Red Star Line offered travelers lists of agents that they could contact to procure tickets for steamship service between New York City (fine print, Jersey City) and Antwerp. The reverse of the card is particularly excited to let you know…
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On this day, November 9, in 1906, Theodore Roosevelt...
On this day, November 9, in 1906, Theodore Roosevelt became the first sitting U.S. President to make an official trip outside the country while in office. This was a significant departure from traditional presidential etiquette; both the slow pace of travel and the political optics of mingling with European royalty had kept sitting presidents'…