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The Hagley Vault

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

September 7, 2026

Arch Oboloer (center), NBC author, producer, and director, oversees falling tree sound effects using a real tree and real undergrowth for episode No. 262, 'An American is Born'.

The broadcasting industry has a major milestone to celebrate this week - September 9th marks the 100th anniversary of the formation of the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) as a radio network.

The broadcasting company was formed when the American Telephone & Telegraph Company (AT&T), which had been operating a collection or radio stations in major cities of several states decided to withdraw from the business, and so sold it's radio broadcasting division to the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) for approximately $1 million.

The new network began broadcasting out of New York City on November 15, 1926, with a four-hour program featuring Will Rogers and the Metropolitan Opera. The program was transmitted through twenty-two stations across the nation to homes as far west as Kansas City, Missouri.

This photograph, taken on May 9th, 1940, is from Hagley Library's Cavalcade of America photographs (Accession 1985.259) collection, and takes us…Read more...

Archive

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

Fri, 07/08/2022 - 12:00

Today's #FashionFriday brings us some delightful frocks for informal wear ...

Today's #FashionFriday brings us some delightful frocks for informal wear through summer's sunny hours, courtesy of John Wanamaker's summer 1925 edition of its store catalog, Store and Home. Opened by marketing pioneer John Wanamaker (1838-1922) at 13th and Market Streets in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in April, 1876, Wanamaker’s department store…

Thu, 07/07/2022 - 12:00

This photograph, taken #OTD in 1931, shows June Croll ...

This photograph shows June Croll (1901-1967), a representative of the Communist-affiliated National Textile Workers Union, speaking at a Jobless March that occurred in New York City #OTD, July 7, in 1931. The march, organized by members of the American Workers' Communist Party and the Unemployment Council of Greater New York, as well as…

Tue, 07/05/2022 - 12:00

The Vulcan Iron Works was founded in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, in 1849 ....

The Vulcan Iron Works was founded in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, in 1849 to produce specialty iron products for the local coal industry. It would later establish additional shops in West Pittston and Tamaqua, Pennsylvania. In 1888, Vulcan acquired the Wyoming Valley Manufacturing Company, makers of locomotives. This soon became a major part of…

Tue, 07/05/2022 - 12:00

This #WW2Wednesday post features the pamphlet "American Women at War"...

This #WW2Wednesday post features the pamphlet "American Women at War". This 1942 booklet was sponsored by the National Association of Manufacturers and the National Industrial Information Committee as part of a campaign to confront wartime labor shortages by promoting the temporary employment of women into occupations traditionally held by…

Fri, 07/01/2022 - 12:00

Hagley Library will be closed on Monday, July 4 for the Independence Day holiday ...

Hagley Library will be closed on Monday, July 4 in celebration of Independence Day. In the spirit of the holiday, we're posting this ca. 1920(?) photograph today of employees of the General Motors Corporation, posed in front of a stars and stripes themed banner. This photograph is part of Hagley Library's P.S. du Pont Longwood photograph…

Thu, 06/30/2022 - 12:00

This 1956 photograph and fabric sample shows a cocktail dress by Mary Matise for Jimmae ...

This 1956 photograph and fabric sample shows a cocktail dress by Mary Matise for Jimmae in Everglaze Minicare 'Bengalane' cotton faille by ABC Fabrics. We're featuring it today because you might soon see it somewhere else! We were happy to supply this image to the White House Historical Association's first-ever virtual fashion exhibit,…

Wed, 06/29/2022 - 12:00

Industrial design—the practice of optimizing the function, value, and appearance of products ...

Industrial design—the practice of optimizing the function, value, and appearance of products—is a central component in America’s culture of consumerism as well as the source of many beautiful objects now in the collections of leading art and history museums. It has influenced the public sphere as well as the private economy, doing much to…

Tue, 06/28/2022 - 12:00

Roll up the rugs! Today, we're celebrating the invention of the saxophone, patented #OTD in 1846 ...

Roll up the rugs! Today, we're celebrating the invention of the saxophone, patented #OTD, June 28, in 1846 by the Belgian inventor and musician Antoine-Joseph "Adolphe" Sax (1814-1894), who also invented the less popular saxotromba, saxhorn and saxtuba. This April 1925 advertisement for E.T. Cunningham Inc. radio tubes was one of six in a series…

Mon, 06/27/2022 - 12:00

Let's see ... head (check), neck (check), teeny tiny waist (check) ....

Let's see ... head (check), neck (check), teeny tiny waist (check), yeah, that's all the parts. Send it to print, boys! This image is from an 1893 pamphlet published as a souvenir of the Royal Worcester WCC exhibit at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. The pamphlet touted the company's corsets ("fashion's most approved requisite") for…

Fri, 06/24/2022 - 12:00

We're digging out some old summer vacation photos this Friday ....

We're digging out some old summer vacation photos this Friday. This ca. 1887 glass negative shows Lammot du Pont (1831-1884) with family and friends at a summer home retreat at No. 5 Beach Avenue in Cape May, New Jersey. The people in the photograph are (starting at the rear, left to right) Pierre S. du Pont, Louis du Pont, and Edith Booth; (…

Thu, 06/23/2022 - 12:00

This ca. 1890(?) trade card is from Hagley Library's Fingerman ephemera collection ...

This ca. 1890(?) trade card is from Hagley Library's Fingerman ephemera collection (Accession 2009.213). Assembled by collectors Arlene and Gerald Fingerman, the collection consists of mixed-format ephemera from various endeavors within American culture, primarily the manufacturing and selling of products or services. Advertising…

Wed, 06/22/2022 - 12:00

This #WorkerWednesday photo shows workers in ....

This #WorkerWednesday photo shows workers in the Pennsylvania Railroad Company's B tunnel from Pennsylvania into New York City during its construction in 1905. Between 1855 and 1874, the PRR underwent rapid expansion and emerged as one of the two largest railroad systems in the area east of the Mississippi and north of the Ohio. By the end of that…

Tue, 06/21/2022 - 12:00

Today's #TechTuesday brings us the beauty of color in monochrome ...

Today's #TechTuesday brings us the beauty of color in monochrome. This black and white photograph from ca. 1953 was used to promote RCA's first color television camera, the RCA TK-40. This photograph is part of Hagley Library's collection of RCA News and Information Department photographs (Accession 2464.68). This collection consists of…

Mon, 06/20/2022 - 12:00

This cyanotype of the Maryland Steel Company of Baltimore County's fitting out shop was taken on this date ...

This cyanotype of the Maryland Steel Company of Baltimore County's fitting out shop was taken on this date, June 20, in 1892, shortly after the shipyard was built. In 1887, the Pennsylvania Steel Company constructed a steel plant at Sparrow's Point, Maryland on the mouth of the Patapsco River. Shortly after construction was completed, the plant…

Fri, 06/17/2022 - 12:00

A summer weekend lies on the other side of the workday ....

A summer weekend lies on the other side of the workday, so we're joining our neighbors across time to go have some fun with this undated photograph taken along the Brandywine Creek. This item, probably created between 1890 and 1920, is from Hagley Library's collection of DuPont Company Brandywine powder yards and neighboring…

Thu, 06/16/2022 - 12:00

How are you feeling about your windows this #ThursDIY?

How are you feeling about your windows this #ThursDIY? If you could use a little more beauty in your life, maybe this ca. 1960 guide to window treatments is just the thing you need. Created under the aegis of Mary L. Brandt, General Manager of the Stanley Drapery Hardware division of the The Stanley Works company, the guide featured…