J. Walter Thompson Ford Motor Co. Advertisements, 1944-2001

Source Collection

This digital collection comprises selected materials from the following archival collection at David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library:

J. Walter Thompson Company. Domestic advertisements, part 1 1875-2001 and undated, bulk 1920s-1990s

Collection #RL.00687 | 360 Linear Feet; 300,000 Items

ABSTRACT
Founded in 1864, the J. Walter Thompson Company (JWT) was one of the oldest and largest advertising agencies in the United States. It was headquartered in New York. In 2023 the agency was absorbed into marketing and communications firm VML. The Domestic Advertisements Collection consists of print advertisements created by U.S. offices of the J. Walter Thompson Company (JWT). The bulk of the collection dates from the 1920s and after, but a few examples are available from as early as 1875. Print advertisements appear in a variety of formats--magazine, newspaper, color, black-and-white, proofs, tearsheets, negative transfers, clippings, along with a limited number of sketches for outdoor advertising installations. Some of the advertisements feature work from notable artists, such as Norman Rockwell, and photographers like Edward Steichen, Irving Penn, and Baron De Meyer. In addition to the actual advertisements, the files dating from the 1910s to 1950s often contain insertion schedules that provide the dates and names of the magazines or newspapers in which a given advertisement appeared. In general, proofs for JWT's long-time clients have been saved more systematically than those for accounts that JWT did not hold for a long time. The collection does not include advertisements which have been transferred to microfilm (see the JWT Microfilm Collection). Also, advertisements created for clients that JWT lost prior to the 1940s are less likely to have been saved, although some were microfilmed and are still available in that form. For some JWT clients there are no print advertisements at all in this collection. Among the most extensive files of print advertisements are those for the following JWT clients: Champion Spark Plug, Chesebrough-Ponds, Eastman Kodak (Instamatic, Pocket Instamatic, and Disc cameras, Kodak film), Ford Motor Company (consumer and dealer advertisements), R.T. French, Irving Trust Bank, J. Walter Thompson Company (house advertisements), Kraft Foods (including Kraft cheeses, Miracle Whip, Philadelphia Cream Cheese, and Velveeta), Lever Brothers (Lifebuoy, Lux, Close Up, Mrs. Butterworth), Pan American World Airways (passenger jet travel, cargo transportation), Radio Corporation of America (RCA) (RCA Victor recordings, consumer goods, National Broadcasting Company), Reader's Digest, Scott Paper, Seven-Up, Standard Brands (Chase and Sandborn, Fleischmann, Royal, Tenderleaf tea), and Warner-Lambert (primarily Listerine, including advertisements produced by the Lambert and Feasley agency). Acquired as part of the John W. Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising & Marketing History. The collection is continued by the J. Walter Thompson Company. Domestic advertisements, part 2.

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