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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Someday soon we all will be together If the fates allowUntil...
Someday soon we all will be together If the fates allowUntil then, we'll have to muddle through somehowSo (try to) have yourself a merry little Christmas now Christmas in 2020 is going to be far from perfect for most of us. But here's to making it work. We hope your holiday and the rest of your 2020 is safe, healthy, and happy. This shabby chic…
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No ugly Christmas sweaters here...
No ugly Christmas sweaters here. We're getting seasonal this #TextileTuesday with operator Howard Lowe and his whole deal. Lowe is seen here in a circa 1945 photograph, doing his thing in the 100-foot long control room of the Belle, West Virginia plant of the DuPont Company's Ammonia Department. Lowe and his colleagues handled production equipment…
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Still struggling with last minute gift ideas? Have all the...
Still struggling with last minute gift ideas? Have all the radios you've seen so far been old, insufficiently masculine, inappropriate for the quiet and reserved man in your life, or just utterly useless for his liquor and cigarette storage needs? Maybe Chicago's Porto-Productscan help you with a little gift psychology. This advertisement was…
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We're getting a #FashionFriday visit today from Miss America...
We're getting a #FashionFriday visit today from Miss America 1954, Evelyn Ay, modeling a custom design by Ialongo in Herbert Meyers Everglaze cotton twill. This 1954 image is part of a series of fashion photographs commissioned by the Joseph Bancroft and Sons Company. In the mid-1930s, the textile manufacturer had begun producing a line of rayon…
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On this day, December 17, in 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright's...
On this day, December 17, in 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright's Wright Flyer made its now-famous first flight just south of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. The world's first successful motor-powered airplane took to the air at 10:35 in the morning, with Orville Wright as its pilot. Traveling at a speed of 6.8 miles per hour, it rose ten feet and…
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As we wait to find out whether today's snow storm will be a...
As we wait to find out whether today's snow storm will be a blizzard or a bust, we're getting into the seasonal spirit with this 1947 photographic negative of a Central Railroad of New Jerseylocomotive making short work of snowfall alongside Clinton Avenue in Plainfield, New Jersey. This item is part of Hagley Library's Herbert Harwood Jr.…
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On this date, December 15, in 1890, the Hunkpapa Lakota...
On this date, December 15, in 1890, the Hunkpapa Lakota political leader Sitting Bull was killed by U.S. agents outside of his home on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation during an attempt to arrest him, as police forces feared he was about to escape the reservation to join the Ghost Dance movement, a religious-political resistance that had…
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It's a drizzly day at Hagley Library but, like much of the...
It's a drizzly day at Hagley Library but, like much of the Northeast this week, we're preparing for snow in the days ahead. Thanks to our Nash dealer, however, we expect to spend those days spotless, wrap free, and smoking all we like. This pamphlet for the 1938 model Nash automobile, which boasted a new and miraculous internal air conditioning…
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This December 12th marks the 120th anniversary of the birth of...
This December 12th marks the 120th anniversary of the birth of William Caroll Pahlmann (1900-1987), one of the leading American interior designers of the mid-twentieth century. Pahlmann is known for his "eclectic" style that combined materials and decorative elements from many time periods and cultures, everything from antiques to modern laminates…
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The bald eagle became America's national symbol on June 20,...
The bald eagle became America's national symbol on June 20, 1782, when the Second Continental Congress approved a design for a national seal created by Charles Thomson, the secretary of Congress, which used the bird as a motif. A previous effort to design a national seal, led by Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, had failed to…
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We're posting this photograph from June, 1957 today in...
We're posting this photograph from June, 1957 today in recognition of the 114th anniversary of the birth of Dr. Grace Hopper, both for her groundbreaking work in computer programming and for her service as a mentor to others in the field. One of the ways that a knowledge of history helps us to think more critically about present-day issues is to…
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Today's #TechTuesday invention is a solar engine from the 1907...
Today's #TechTuesday invention is a solar engine from the 1907 pamphlet The Direct Acting Solar Engine: The Prime Mover of the Immediate Future. When engineer Frank Shuman (1862-1918) built his first solar engine in 1897, he was already an accomplished inventor, having and secured patents related to the production of a wire-supported safety glass…
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The chill in the air this morning leaves no doubt that winter...
The chill in the air this morning leaves no doubt that winter is on its way. We're reflecting today on winters past and future today with this ice-covered tree in the old steer field at Longwood Gardens, photographed in 1922. Today, Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania is a publicly accessible botanical garden covering 1,077 acres. But…
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It's a frugal #FoodieFriday today as we turn to Columbus...
It's a frugal #FoodieFriday today as we turn to Columbus, Ohio's Capital City Dairy Company to help us with those pesky butter bills. This handy little 1914 pamphlet for Columbus brand oleomargarine provided its holder with a handy holder for sewing needles as well as instructions for dying margarine to mimic the appearance of high-quality butter…
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In recognition of International Day of Persons with Disabilities...
In recognition of International Day of Persons with Disabilities day, an international observance promoted by the United Nations since 1992, we're sharing this design prototype for a standing wheelchair, created by Rhode Island School of Design student Peter W. Bressler around 1968. The standing mechanism was triggered by the user lifting the…
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…