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.

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The phenakistiscope was a popular 19th century parlor toy ...
The phenakistiscope was a popular 19th century parlor toy that relied on optical illusion to create one of the earliest forms of animated entertainment. Invented simultaneously in 1832 by physicist Joseph Plateau in Brussels and by mathematician Simon von Stamper in Berlin, the device was marketed under slightly more…
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It's starting to feel like Fall on the Hagley grounds, and we love to see it ...
It's starting to feel like Fall on the Hagley grounds, and we love to see it. So this week, we're sharing this October 1957 issue of Avon Product's Outlook, the company's in-house magazine for its' sales representatives that contained motivational essays, updates on new and discontinued product lines, and instructional materials.…
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September 30th marks the anniversary of the publication of U.S. Patent No. 9020702A, granted in 1902 to chemists ...
September 30th marks the anniversary of the publication of U.S. Patent No. 9020702A, granted in 1902 to chemists William H. Walker, Arthur D. Little and Harry S. Mork. The patent, for the process of "making of cellulose esters" was the first American patent for a man-made fiber. Soon after, the three also received Patent No. 712200A for "…
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It's official! Fall is here!
It's official! Fall is here! We're enjoying the seasonal weather today with a nod to sweater season. This 1960 fashion photograph was commissioned by Joseph Bancroft & Sons Co. to feature a sweater made with the company's Ban-Lon yarn.  This item is part of the Hagley Library’s Joseph Bancroft & Sons Co. Miss America…
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We're keeping it clean this week with a selection from our collections ...
We're keeping it clean this week with a selection from our collections that we think is (laundry) loads of fun. Amazing Facts About Cleanliness and Health was published around 1960 as an advertising giveaway (cover price 10 cents) comic book for All, a Monsanto Company brand of laundry detergent, and promised to…
​We're bringing some better living through chemistry to the cookie pushers in our audience today ....
​We're bringing some better living through chemistry to the cookie pushers in our audience today with this 1965 commercial for Teflon coated cookware from DuPont.  Teflon is a brand name for a synthetic fluoropolymer that was accidentally created in 1938 by DuPont employee Roy J. Plunkett in the company's Chemours Chambers Works…
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Hagley Library is closed for the Labor Day holiday, so we're posting today to celebrate ...
Hagley Library is closed for the Labor Day holiday, so we're posting today to celebrate the efforts and achievements of workers and the American labor movement today with this July 7, 1931 photograph of June Croll (1901-1967), a representative of the Communist-affiliated National Textile Workers Union, speaking at a Jobless March in New…
Oops!
Oops! We're a little late with this week's Hagley Vault post! But we're leaning into it and rolling with that pobody's nerfect spirit with a commercial for the grocery store chain Pick-n-Pay on "flubs". This ca. 1970 advertisement was made General Pictures Corporation, an industrial film studio founded by George Oliva, Jr. in…
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This week marks a historic anniversary in the history of invention and photography ...
This week marks a historic anniversary in the history of invention and photography. On August 19, 1839, the French artist and inventor Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre (1787-1851) announced the invention of the daguerreotype photographic process, the first process to allow an image to be chemically fixed as a permanent picture. His…
Sunny days are here again - don't forget that SPF! 
Sunny days are here again - don't forget that SPF! This week's bright days inspired us to share this 1956 commercial advertising the General Electric sun lamp, an self-tanning bulb that for consumer in-home use. This video is part of Hagley Library's collection of Cinecraft Productions films (Accession 2019.227). Cinecraft…
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We're getting into the Olympic spirit this week ...
We're getting into the Olympic spirit this week with a July 1984 cover of Store Chat magazine, the employee magazine of Strawbridge & Clothier, a department store founded by Justus C. Strawbridge (1838-1911) and Isaac H. Clothier (1837-1921) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This issue covered the company's Anniversary Sale…
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This beauty is reporting for duty today ...
This beauty is reporting for duty today with a ca. 1950 pamphlet from the Buick Motor Division of the General Motors Corporation. Beauty on Duty: Glass Plays Many Roles in the 1950 Buick touted new designs in Buick's windshield and window design that were intended to improve comfort and safety on the road. The pamphlet is…
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This week, we're sharing a 1900 catalog of sales premiums from L.H. Parke & Company ...
This week, we're sharing a 1900 catalog of sales premiums from L.H. Parke & Company for totally normal reasons because everything is fine and great. L.H. Parke & Company was a wholesale distributor and importer of coffee, teas, spices, and other grocery items. The company was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1889, when…
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This week marks a milestone in food history ....
This week marks a milestone in food history; on July 15, 1869, the French chemist Hippolyte Mège-Mouriès received patent number 86489 for margarine. His invention was the result of a contest launched by Emperor Napoleon III, who wanted to find an inexpensive, alternate food product for the butter used by his Navy. Mège-Mouriès won…
It's a hot *everyone* summer again this week, so we're breaking out the short-shorts and hitting the pool ...
It's a hot *everyone* summer again this week, so we're breaking out the short-shorts and hitting the pool with this Spring/Summer 1978 Men's Wear Fashions Forecast from E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company. This advertisement promoted the company's synthetic fibers, featuring men's fashions made from Dacron, Antron and Lycra.…
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We're starting our Fourth of July holiday celebrations early this week ...
We're starting our Fourth of July holiday celebrations early this week with an undated postcard from Hagley Library’s Waldron collection of Christmas and holiday postcards (Acc. 200.223). This collection of over 500 items was donated to the Hagley Library in 1973 by Maxine Maxson Waldron (1898-1982), an artist and educator once employed by…