The Hagley Vault

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

October 4, 2022
Black and white photograph of two women in a laboratory testing strands of Lycra fiber.

The DuPont employees in this photograph were part of the company's Lycra production and testing staff. This ca. 1962 photograph shows Jean Craun (foreground) and Florence Clark as testing Lycra fiber as it came off the production line at the company's Waynesboro plant in Virginia.


Photographed for inclusion in the company's magazine, Better Living (where it appeared in this March/April 1962 issue), this image is now part of Hagley Library's DuPont Company Product Information Collection (Accession 1972.371).

Read more...

Archive

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

Comic book cover with illustration of a boy selling 'Grit' newspapers door to door.
Thursday, August 18, 2022
It's been a long week, but that's ok ... we've got the Grit to get through it.
It's been a long week, but that's ok ... we've got the Grit to get through it. This 1959 comic book recruiting young salespersons to distribute Grit door-to-door and become the "luckiest fellas in the country" is a new addition to Hagley's Digital Archive and a personal favorite. Grit, marketed as "America's Greatest Family Newspaper", originated...
Pamphlet advertising a sit-down ironing board. Black and white photo of product in use.
Wednesday, August 17, 2022
From the mightiest pharaoh to the lowliest peasant, who doesn’t enjoy a good sit?
As a wise man once said .... from the mightiest pharaoh to the lowliest peasant, who doesn’t enjoy a good sit? This ca. 1947 catalog from the Proctor Electric Company advertised the company's 'never lift' iron and ironing board, which was designed to be used while seated. It is part of Hagley Library's Marshall B. Johnson research collection of...
Black and white image of a ca. 1850s wood-burning locomotive, with men posed on and around it.
Tuesday, August 16, 2022
Pulling into the station this #TrainTuesday - it's the Lehigh Valley Railroad's 'Delaware', Engine #5 ...
Pulling into the station this #TrainTuesday - it's the Lehigh Valley Railroad's 'Delaware', Engine #5.  This wood-burning locomotive was the first built for the Lehigh Valley Railroad by Richard Norris & Sons of Philadelphia in 1855. This glass negative is undated, but would have been taken between its construction and when the locomotive went...
Cover of pamphlet 'You and Your Telephone '. Photo of a woman using a telephone.
Monday, August 15, 2022
On this date in 1877, inventor Thomas Edison suggested "Hello" to the president ...
On this date in 1877, inventor Thomas Edison suggested "Hello" to the T.B.A. David, president of the Central District and Printing Telegraph Company of Pittsburgh, as the proper telephone greeting for answering the phone. His suggestion would supplant the recommendation by Alexander Graham Bell, which was "Ahoy, ahoy". After Bell Telephone’s...
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...

Pages