Visual Materials

Subseries H. Textiles (large size)

Description: Includes printed materials advertising textile manufacturers and related entities, including dyes and dyers, textile mills, and related products such as dress goods and other fabrics. The subseries also includes labels affixed to textiles of various types and sizes.
Type: Visual Materials(Opens in new tab)
Production date: approximately 1577-1943.
Call number: priJLC_FASH
Creator: Last, Jay T(Opens in new tab)
Provenance: Gift of Jay T. Last, 2005. This collection forms part of the Jay T. Last collection of graphic arts and social history, which was donated to the Huntington Library by Jay T. Last in 2005 as a gift in progress.

Subseries H. Textiles (small size)

Visual Materials

Includes printed materials advertising domestic and foreign textile manufacturers and related entities including dyes and dyers (Binder 38); and woolen and textile mills, and related products such as dress goods and fabrics (Binders 39-48). The subseries also includes product label record and sample books (Box 4), and labels affixed to textile samples (Box 5). Items between 8 x 10 inches and 11 x 14 inches in size are housed in a folder and two boxes listed at the end of this subseries (Box 1, Folder 7; Box 4; Box 5).

priJLC_FASH

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Subseries A. Accessories (large size)

Visual Materials

Includes printed materials advertising accessory sellers and manufacturers. Commonly advertised products include cuffs and collars, suspenders, jewelry and watches, and parasols and umbrellas.

priJLC_FASH

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Subseries D. Footwear (large size)

Visual Materials

Includes printed materials advertising footwear sellers and manufacturers. Commonly advertised products include boots, shoes, and slippers for men, women, and children, as well as rubber footwear and related rubber companies.

priJLC_FASH

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Subseries F. Headwear (large size)

Visual Materials

Includes printed materials advertising headwear sellers, milliners, and manufacturers, including producers of straw goods. Commonly advertised products include hats, caps, bonnets, and miscellaneous millinery.

priJLC_FASH

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Subseries E. Garments (large size)

Visual Materials

Includes printed materials advertising specialty garment sellers and manufacturers. Commonly advertised products include shirts, coats and furs, and undergarments such as corsets and dress forms.

priJLC_FASH

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Textile Manufacturers (unknown), gold embossed (large) (8 x 10 inches or smaller in size)

Visual Materials

The Jay T. Last collection of fashion prints and ephemera contains approximately 7,500 items dating from the 1570s to the early 1900s, with the bulk of the items spanning from 1825 to 1900. This collection consists of fashion plates, advertising prints, broadsides, and promotional ephemera produced for clothiers and tailors, dry goods suppliers, garment manufacturers, fashion publications, and textile companies affiliated with the design, production, and/or sale of clothing, accessories, and dry goods. While most of the materials are American, there are also notable quantities of foreign items in the collection, including French fashion plates, fez labels in several languages, and foreign textile labels. Labels affixed to textile samples of various sizes are also included. Materials are broadly divided into two series: small-size items (11 x 14 inches or smaller) and large-size items (typically larger than 11 x 14 inches). Small-size items are described broadly at the series level; large-size items and select small-size items are fully inventoried with printers, artists, and publishers indexed by name. The collection includes 250 large-size items comprised mainly of lithographic advertising prints and fashion plates. Small-size items number approximately 7,250 and contain a variety of promotional materials including trade cards, calendars, booklets, product labels, fashion plates, periodicals, clippings, and printed billheads and letterheads with manuscript text. Each series is divided into subseries according to the kind of business, service, or trade sponsoring the advertisement. Types of businesses have been identified according to the principal type of product(s) manufactured or sold by the business. These subseries are arranged as follows: Accessories; Clothiers, Tailors, and Dry Goods; Fashion Plates And Periodicals; Footwear; Garments; Headwear; Sewing Supplies; and Textiles. This collection contains many American and European printed illustrations, commonly known as "fashion plates," that typically depict men, women, or children modeling current clothing and dress styles. Small plates (usually 14 x 10 inches or less in this collection) illustrated the pages of magazines and bound volumes that were marketed specifically for women. Larger plates, primarily intended for display, advertised the products and services of fashion designers, tailors, and pattern makers. The collection provides a resource for studying clothing and dress, sales and merchandise, textiles, and sewing, as well as changing fashion trends in the United States and Europe in the 19th century. The images are primarily promotional in nature and provide information about the history of the American fashion, clothing, dry-goods, and textile industries and the evolution of their advertising strategies in the 19th and early 20th centuries. As graphic materials, the prints offer evidence of developing techniques and trends in printmaking, and of the artists, engravers, lithographers, printers, and publishers involved in the creative process.

Subseries H. Textiles (large size)

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Subseries H. Textiles (small size)

Subseries A. Accessories (large size)

Subseries D. Footwear (large size)

Subseries F. Headwear (large size)

Subseries E. Garments (large size)

Textile Manufacturers (unknown), gold embossed (large) (8 x 10 inches or smaller in size)