Guide to the N W Ayer Advertising Agency Records
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Guide to the N W Ayer Advertising Agency Records NMAH.AC.0059 Mimi Minnick 2002 Archives Center, National Museum of American History P.O. Box 37012 Suite 1100, MRC 601 Washington, D.C. 20013-7012 [email protected] http://americanhistory.si.edu/archives Table of Contents Collection Overview ........................................................................................................ 1 Administrative Information .............................................................................................. 1 Biographical / Historical.................................................................................................... 2 Arrangement................................................................................................................... 12 Scope and Contents........................................................................................................ 6 Names and Subjects .................................................................................................... 14 Container Listing ........................................................................................................... 15 Series 1: Earliest Scrapbooks of Client Advertisements, circa 1870-1885............. 15 Series 2: Proof Sheets, circa 1870-1930............................................................... 16 Series 3: Proof Sheets, circa 1920-1975............................................................. 232 Series 4: 2001 Addendum, circa 1976-2001........................................................ 366 Series 5: Billboards, circa 1952-1956.................................................................. 439 Series 6: Audiovisual Materials, 1945-1992......................................................... 442 Series 7: Radio and Television Materials, 1933-1993, undated........................... 454 Series 8: Chicago Office Print Advertisements, 1954-1989................................. 461 Series 9: Los Angeles Office Materials, circa 1950-1987 ................................... 486 Series 10: Foreign Print Advertisements, 1977-1991, undated............................ 487 Series 11: Cunningham & Walsh, Incorporated, Materials, 1915-1987 , undated .............................................................................................................................. 490 Series 12: Hixson & Jorgensen, 1953-1971, undated.......................................... 502 Series 13: Newell-Emmett, 1942-1957................................................................. 503 Series 14: House Advertisements, 1870-1991, undated...................................... 504 Series 15: Scrapbooks, 1872-1959...................................................................... 515 Series 16: Publications, 1849-2006..................................................................... 516 Series 17: Business Records, circa 1885-1990s................................................. 537 Series 18: Legal Records, circa 1911-1984......................................................... 545 Series 19: Employee Materials, circa 1889-2001, undated.................................. 550 Series 20: History and Background Information about the Company, 1817-1999, undated................................................................................................................. 563 Series 21: Materials Created by other Advertising Agencies, 1945-1978, undated................................................................................................................. 565 Series 22: Addendum of Print Advertisements, circa 1879-1990s, undated......... 566 Series 23: Microfilm of Print Advertisements, circa 1908-1985............................ 602 N W Ayer Advertising Agency Records NMAH.AC.0059 Collection Overview Repository: Archives Center, National Museum of American History Title: N W Ayer Advertising Agency Records Identifier: NMAH.AC.0059 Date: 1817-1851 1869-2006 Creator: Ayer (N W) Incorporated. Extent: 270 Cubic feet (1463 boxes, 33 map-folders, 7 films) Language: Collection is in English. Some print advertisements are in French. Summary: Collection consists of records documenting one of the oldest advertising agencies created in Philadelphia. The company then moves to New York and expanses to international markets. During its history NW Ayer & Sons acquires a number of other advertising agencies and is eventually purchased. The largest portion of the collection is print advertisements but also includes radio and television. NW Ayer is known for some of the slogans created for major American companies. Digital Image(s): Like a Sweet Memory ... [color advertisement; tear sheet] Content: Image(s): N W Ayer Advertising Agency Records Administrative Information Acquisition Information The collection was donated by N W Ayer ABH International, April 15, 1975 and by Ayer & Partners, October 30, 1996. Provenance The proofsheet collection was stored in the agency's Philadelphia headquarters for nearly fifty years. After relocating in New York, the agency decided to offer the proofsheets as a gift to the Smithsonian. They arrived at the National Museum of History and Technology (later the National Museum of American History) in March 1975, where they were in the care of the Museum's curator of mining, Dr. John Hoffman. Upon Hoffman's death in 1983, the collection was transferred to the Archives Center. In 1996 Ayer donated additional materials, including the 19th-century scrapbooks and business records. Related Materials Materials in the Archives Center Warshaw Collection of Business Americana (AC0060) Hills Bros. Coffee Incorporated Records (AC0395) Page 1 of 602 N W Ayer Advertising Agency Records NMAH.AC.0059 Processing Information Processed by Mimi Minnick, archivist, 2002; Kate Richards (intern), April, 2004; Anne Jones (volunteer), August 2010; Ramona Williamson (volunteer), September 2010; Rebecca Wolfe (volunteer), September 2010, supervised by Vanessa Broussard Simmons, archivist. Preferred Citation NW Ayer & Sons, incorporated Advertising Agency Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History Restrictions The collection is open for research use. Physical Access: Researchers must use microfilm copy. Researchers must handle unprotected photographs with gloves. Researchers must use reference copies of audiovisual materials. When no reference copy exists, the Archives Center staff will produce reference copies on an "as needed" basis, as resources allow. Technical Access: Viewing the film portion of the collection without reference copies requires special appointment, please inquire; listening to audio discs requires special arrangement. Do not use original materials when available on reference video or audio tapes. Conditions Governing Use Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Reproduction permission from Archives Center: reproduction fees may apply. Publication and production quality duplication is restricted due to complex copyright, publicity rights, and right to privacy issues. All duplication requests must be reviewed and approved by Archives Center staff. Potential users must receive written permission from appropriate rights holders prior to obtaining high quality copies. Accruals The Archives Center received more materials in 2001 and 2010. Biographical / Historical Founded in Philadelphia in 1869, NW Ayer & Son is one of the oldest and largest advertising agencies in America. For most of its history, it was the undisputed leader and innovator in the field of advertising. In 1876, NW Ayer & Son pioneered the "open contract", a revolutionary change in the method of billing for advertising which became the industry standard for the next hundred years. NW Ayer pioneered the use of fine art in advertising and established the industry's first art department. It was the first agency to use a full- time copywriter and the first to institute a copy department. The agency relocated to New York City in 1974. During its long history, the agency's clients included many "blue-chip" clients, including American Telephone & Telegraph, DeBeers Consolidated Diamond Mines, Ford Motor Company, Nabisco, R. J. Reynolds and United Airlines. However, in later years, the Ayer's inherent conservatism left the agency vulnerable to the creative revolution of the 1960s and 1970s, the advertising industry restructuring of the 1980s and the economic recession of the early 1990s. The agency was bought out by a Korean investor in 1993. In 1996, NW Ayer merged with another struggling top twenty United States advertising agency, Darcy, Masius, Benton & Bowles, under the umbrella of the McManus Group. Ayer continues to operate as a separate, full- service agency. Through a series of buyouts and mergers, Ayer traces its lineage to the first advertising agency founded in the United States, a Philadelphia agency begun by Volney Palmer in 1841. Palmer began his career in advertising as a newspaper agent, acting as middleman between newspaper publishers and advertisers Page 2 of 602 N W Ayer Advertising Agency Records NMAH.AC.0059 across the country. By 1849, Palmer had founded his own newspaper, V. B. Palmer's Register and Spirit of the Press, and had developed a complete system of advertising which included securing advertising space and placing ads in scores of commercial, political, religious, scientific and agricultural journals across the country. Palmer went one step further