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Jay T. Last collection of food prints and ephemera, (bulk approximately 1875-1950)

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    Jay T. Last Collection of Food Prints and Ephemera

    Visual Materials

    The Jay T. Last Collection of Food Prints and Ephemera contains approximately 4,950 printed items advertising food products and related businesses in the United States from the 1840s to the 1960s, with the bulk of the items dating from 1875 to 1950. The collection consists largely of ephemera produced for American businesses affiliated with the growth, manufacture, packaging, distribution, and sale of food and food products. Most of these items are color lithographs, but hand-colored and uncolored engravings and woodcuts are also included. Materials are arranged in two series: small-size items (11 x 14 inches or less) and large-size items (more 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 and all printers, artists, and publishers are indexed by name. The collection includes over 45 large-size items comprised mainly of lithographed advertising prints and product labels. Small-size items number approximately 4,900 and contain a variety of promotional materials, including trade cards, product labels, and printed billheads and letterheads with manuscript text. The collection highlights food production, merchandising, distribution, purveying, and consumption, and the images provide a rich resource for studying the history of such American industries as canning, packaging, and manufacturing along with the evolution of their advertising in the 19th and early 20th centuries. As graphic materials, the prints and ephemera offer evidence of developing techniques and trends in commercial printing, and of the artists, engravers, lithographers, printers, and publishers involved in the creative process. Please note that food starch can be found in the Jay T. Last Collection of Household Goods Prints and Ephemera (in process). Food starch and laundry starch are grouped together because both were often made or distributed by the same companies and advertised together.

    priJLC_Food

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    Jay T. Last Collection of Beverage Prints and Ephemera

    Visual Materials

    The Jay T. Last Collection of Beverage Prints and Ephemera contains approximately 3,240 printed items advertising beverage products and related businesses in the United States from the 1840s to the 1940s, with the bulk of the items spanning from 1850 to 1915. The collection consists largely of lithographed ephemeral items produced for American businesses affiliated with the manufacture, distribution, and sale of beverages such as coffee, tea, juice, milk, carbonated beverages, and alcoholic drinks including beer, wine, whiskey, and other liquors. Materials are arranged in two series: small-size items (11 x 14 inches or less) and large-size items (more 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 and all printers, artists, and publishers are indexed by name. The collection includes approximately 65 large-size items comprised mainly of lithographed advertising prints and product labels for tea, coffee, and spirits. Small-size items number nearly 3,200 and contain a variety of promotional materials including trade cards, calendars, die-cut scraps, booklets, and printed billheads and letterheads with manuscript text. The collection deals with beverage production, merchandising, advertising, and consumption -- including depictions of families and other groups drinking together -- and the images provide a resource for studying the history of American beer, liquor, coffee, tea, and carbonated beverage industries along with the evolution of their advertising in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Materials in the collection produced for manufacturers and distributors of alcoholic beverages also provide a perspective on their advertising strategies in the face of a growing temperance movement in the United States leading up to Prohibition. 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.

    priJLC_BEV

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    Jay T. Last Collection of Household Prints and Ephemera

    Visual Materials

    The Jay T. Last Collection of Household Prints and Ephemera contains over 7,900 printed items advertising household items, products, and related businesses in the United States from the 1830s to the 1920s, with the bulk of the items spanning from 1850 to 1900. The collection consists largely of lithographed ephemera produced for American businesses affiliated with the manufacture, distribution, and sale of furnishings, appliances, cleaning products, and related tools and supplies. Pets and pet products are also found here. Materials are arranged in two series: small-size items (11 x 14 inches or less) and large-size items (more 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 and all printers, artists, and publishers are indexed by name. The collection includes over 80 large-size items comprised mainly of lithographed advertising prints and leaflets for cleaning products, furnishings, tools, and appliances. Small-size items number approximately 7,835 and contain a variety of promotional materials including trade cards, handbills, leaflets, and printed billheads and letterheads with and without manuscript text. Materials are further divided into four subseries: cleaning products, furnishings, pets, and tools and appliances. Cleaning products include soaps, polishes, bleaches and ammonias, starches, and pest control. Furnishings include lighting, furniture, clocks and art objects, tableware, doors and other architectural components, as well as the manufacturers and retailers of these goods. Pets include depictions of domestic animals as well as the supplies and products used for their care. Tools and appliances include brooms, irons, and kitchenware as well as refrigerators, freezers, sewing machines, stoves and ranges, and washers. The collection supports various fields of research relating to home decorating, housekeeping, laundering, and washing including products used to adorn interiors and exteriors, clean and maintain clothes, polish and preserve household objects, tidy living spaces, cleanse the human body, and care for family pets. The images provide a resource for studying American domesticity and related industries in the 19th and early 20th centuries, along with the evolution of advertising strategies. The items also offer insight to consumer buying habits, brand loyalty, and popular use for a variety of household items and products. As graphic materials, the collection highlights developing techniques and trends in printmaking while documenting the artists, engravers, lithographers, printers, and publishers involved in the creative process. Note: Food starch and laundry starch are grouped together because both were often made or distributed by the same companies and advertised together.

    priJLC_HHD

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    Jay T. Last Collection of Agriculture Prints and Ephemera

    Visual Materials

    The Jay T. Last Collection of Agriculture Prints and Ephemera contains roughly 2,315 items from approximately 1818 to 1924, with the majority of material dating from 1850 to 1900. The collection consists mainly of advertising prints and ephemera related to crop, hay, livestock, and dairy farming, including the tools, equipment, supplies, and structures used for cultivating soil; raising, harvesting, and storing crops; irrigating land; growing grasses for animal fodder; marking territory lines or separating fields and pastures; and boarding, breeding, feeding, rearing, tending, and selling farm animals. Agricultural machinery and implement companies dominate. Manufacturers and dealers of fertilizer, windmills, and fencing supplies are also represented, as are veterinary medicine, items used to collect or make dairy products, and items used on horses such as blankets, halters, harnesses, horseshoes, nails, saddles, and riding whips. Certificates issued by or pertaining to agricultural societies and organizations are also found here. Materials are arranged in two series: small-size items (11 x 14 inches or less) and large-size items (bigger than 11 x 14 inches). Most small-size items are described broadly at the series level; selected small-size items and all large-size items are fully inventoried, with all printers, artists, and publishers indexed by name. The collection has 125 large-size items comprised mainly of lithographs and engravings, including advertising prints, certificates, and promotional materials. Small-size items number over 2,000 and are comprised mainly of trade cards, leaflets, handbills, stationery, calendars, price lists, and catalogs from various businesses. Materials are further divided into two subseries: Implements and Supplies, and Livestock. Implements and Supplies includes fences, fertilizers, farm machinery and implements, and windmills. Livestock includes breeding, dairying, food, and veterinary medicine for livestock, and a variety of products and services relating to horses and blacksmithing. The collection's prints and ephemera are primarily promotional in nature and provide information about American farming and agriculture-related industries, as well as the evolution of advertising strategies employed by these businesses in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Materials in this collection also provide perspectives on the role of horses in American daily life, and on membership and participation in various societies and organizations. As graphic materials, the items offer evidence of printmaking techniques and trends, as well as information about the artists, engravers, lithographers, printers, and publishers involved in the creative process.

    priJLC_AGR

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    Jay T. Last collection of military prints and ephemera

    Visual Materials

    The Jay T. Last collection of military prints and ephemera contains approximately 4,900 printed items from 1785 to 1966, with the majority of material dating from 1860 to 1900. The collection consists of prints depicting primarily American battle scenes, forts, camps, prisons, and military officers; advertising ephemera with military-related images, more than 3,000 Civil War-era patriotic envelopes, and over 100 Civil War-era song sheets.Materials are arranged in two series: small-size items (11 x 14 inches or less) and large-size items (bigger than 11 x 14 inches). Small-size items measuring less than 8 x 10 inches are described broadly at the series level; large-size items and small-size items between 8 x 10 inches and 11 x 14 inches are fully inventoried, and all printers, artists, and publishers are indexed by name. The collection has nearly 400 large-size items comprised mainly of lithographic and engraved prints including printed illustrations of battlefields, certificates and contracts, and portraits of major military and political figures during wartime. Small-size items in the collection number almost 4,500 items and are comprised mainly of patriotic envelopes (also known as patriotic covers) from the American Civil War. Other stationery such as postcards and printed billheads and letterheads (with and without manuscript text) are found in this series, as well as advertising ephemera with military-related illustrations. The collection mainly includes prints and ephemera related to the American Civil War, both contemporaneous and commemorative in nature. The American Revolutionary War, the Mexican-American War, and the Spanish-American War are also represented. The images are primarily documentary or patriotic in nature and provide information about the American military, as well as the evolution of advertising strategies employed by businesses during periods of conflict in the 19th and early 20th centuries. As graphic materials, the items offer evidence of printmaking techniques and trends, as well as information about the artists, engravers, lithographers, printers, and publishers involved in the creative process.

    priJLC_MIL

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    Jay T. Last Collection of Finance Prints and Ephemera

    Visual Materials

    The Jay T. Last Collection of Finance Prints and Ephemera contains approximately 1,075 printed items from the United States dating from 1794 to 1926, with the bulk of the content dating from 1840 to 1900. Items are related to the creation, distribution, and management of money as well as the conduct or transaction of money matters, including the protection or sale of personal and real property by agents, brokers, dealers, or land developers. This category covers accounting, auctions, banking, collection agencies, credits and loans, insurance, investment, and real estate along with the equipment, supplies, and structures associated with these businesses such as cash registers, checks, insurance policies, paper currency, and financial buildings. Most items are lithographs, but engravings and woodcuts are also included. Materials are arranged in two series: small-size items (11 x 14 inches or less) and large-size items (more 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 54 large-size items comprised mainly of advertising prints and insurance agreements. Small-size items number approximately 1,020 and contain a variety of materials, including trade cards, checks, leaflets, currency, imitation currency, and printed billheads and letterheads (with and without manuscript text). Of note are more than 100 bank checks issued by John H. Piatt & Co. Bankers of Cincinnati, Ohio, dating from 1817 to 1820 (Binder 1). They are signed by various Cincinnati-area businessmen and citizens including shoe store owner James Chute, druggist William Crissey, Methodist preacher Adbeel Coleman, and American Revolutionary War veteran Abraham Chase. The collection provides a look at the evolution of advertising strategies and contractual language in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The images on the insurance-related materials often include depictions of fires and natural disasters, providing a resource for studying the history of emergency response and firefighting during this era. As graphic materials, the collection highlights developing techniques and trends in printmaking while documenting the artists, engravers, lithographers, printers, and publishers involved in the creative process.

    priJLC_FIN