The Hagley Vault

We’re welcoming the month of April today with a rare 1943 photograph from the testing laboratory of an obscure and now-defunct branch of the Heston Industrial corporation’s Soy-Lentil Division. The experimental food sciences team, which worked with...

We’re welcoming the month of April today with a rare 1943 photograph from the testing laboratory of an obscure and now-defunct branch of the Heston Industrial corporation’s Soy-Lentil Division. The experimental food sciences team, which worked with ocean plankton, was shuttered in 1973 after encountering catastrophic problems in its supply lines.

This ‘square meal wrapped in cellophane’ product information photograph is part of the Hagley Library’s collection of DuPont Company Product Information photographs (Accession 1972.341). To view more material from this collection online now, click here to visit its page in our Digital Archive.

Industrial design—the practice of optimizing the function, value, and appearance of products—is a central component in America’s culture of consumerism as well as the source of many beautiful objects now in the collections of leading art and history...

Industrial design—the practice of optimizing the function, value, and appearance of products—is a central component in America’s culture of consumerism as well as the source of many beautiful objects now in the collections of leading art and history museums.

We have a number of significant twentieth-century collections that chronicle the evolution of the concepts, products, and processes specific to industrial design here at the Hagley Library, so we definitely wouldn’t want to miss noting that today is World Industrial Design Day, an international day of observance celebrated throughout the world in recognition of the establishment of the World Design Organization, founded on this day, June 29th, in 1957.

In honor of World Industrial Design Day, we’re sharing this technical drawing from 1950 for industrial designer Thomas Babbit Lamb’s famous Wedge-Lock handle. Lamb became know as the “Handle Man” after having undertaken thousands of hours studying medical textbooks and the hand in order to help create a better crutch for the veterans he saw returning home after World War II. Though the crutch he designed was never manufactured, the patents he developed for the wedge-lock and universal handle were widely adapted to everyday items such as cookware, cutlery, and luggage.

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Nothing fishy to see here, just our last post on Tumblr for the foreseeable future. Beginning Monday, April 12, we will be discontinuing this Tumblr blog. But we won’t be going far.
The homepage of our Digital Archive will continue to feature images...

Nothing fishy to see here, just our last post on Tumblr for the foreseeable future. Beginning Monday, April 12, we will be discontinuing this Tumblr blog. But we won’t be going far.

The homepage of our Digital Archive will continue to feature images and links to the day’s posts, all of which will be available at the Hagley Vault’s amazing new home on our website. We’ll also be followable via this RSS feed. You’ll also continue to be able to find images and links to new posts, as well as additional bonus content, on our Twitter feed, @Hagley_Library.

This ca. 1950 advertisement for DuPont brand sponges is from Hagley Library’s DuPont Company Advertising Department collection of graphic materials (Accession 1996.291). The company’s Advertising Department was formed in September 1921, when DuPont was reorganized with a decentralized structure.

Prior to that time, advertising had been a division of the Sales Department, but when the sales function was decentralized, a central department became necessary to coordinate advertising activities across product lines. The collection consists of miscellaneous Du Pont Company advertising materials, including postcards, pictorial envelopes, lantern slides, advertisements, display cards, and illustrated pamphlets.

Today’s #ThursDIY post has us sharing this cover for a brochure from Rohloff & Company advertising its Kemiko brand concrete stain. The pamphlet is undated, but was probably produced between 1942 and 1964.

This item is part of Hagley Library’s collection of William du Pont, Jr. papers (Accession 2317.II) and is part of a folder related to tennis courts on his property. In addition to being a tennis enthusiast, William du Pont, Jr. (1896-1965) was a thoroughbred horse breeder, horse track designer, foxhound breeder, and prominent local financier in Delaware.

The online collection related to his papers in our Digital Archive comprises material, largely relating to property and horses, selected from the personal papers and photographs of both William du Pont, Jr., and his father, William du Pont (1855-1928). The collections have not been digitized in their entirety. For a detailed description of the entire collections, click here to view the William du Pont, Jr. papers collection, William du Pont papers collection, and William du Pont and William du Pont, Jr. photographic materials collection.

And the days are counting down! Beginning Monday, April 12, we will be discontinuing this Tumblr blog. But we won’t be going far. We’ll be continuing to post regular content at our new home at https://www.hagley.org/research/news/hagley-vault. You’ll also continue to be able to find images and links to new posts, as well as additional bonus content, on our Twitter feed, @Hagley_Library.

It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog on this #WetNoseWednesday.
This 1922 photograph was taken at the Cleveland, Ohio home of Fisher Body Corporation executive Frederick J. Fisher (1878–1941), during an...

It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog on this #WetNoseWednesday.

This 1922 photograph was taken at the Cleveland, Ohio home of Fisher Body Corporation executive Frederick J. Fisher (1878–1941), during an event associated with in association with the company’s 1919 integration into the General Motors Company, which formed General Motors’ Fisher Body Division.

The two-legged end of this game of tug or war is William A. Fisher (1886–1969), brother to Frederick and also an executive with the Fisher Body Corporation (both William and Frederick, as well as brothers Charles, Lawrence, Edward, Alfred, and Howard would continue to be associated with the Fisher brand through General Motors until August of 1944).

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It’s #TradeCatalogTuesday and we’re answering the question that’s been on everyone’s mind all year. How do we keep our grandpas so fresh and so clean? Nine out of ten grandpas agree - for a “first-class piece of soap”, “do not let your dealer put you...

It’s #TradeCatalogTuesday and we’re answering the question that’s been on everyone’s mind all year. How do we keep our grandpas so fresh and so clean? Nine out of ten grandpas agree - for a “first-class piece of soap”, “do not let your dealer put you off with something else just as good, but insist on having Grand Pa’s Wonder Soap, and nothing else.” Just look for that picture of Grand Pa on the wrapper!

This 1898 trade catalog from Dayton, Ohio’s Beaver Soap Company is part of Hagley Library’s Carter Litchfield Collection on the History of Fatty Materials (Accession 2413) and is Call Number Pam 2008.575 in our collection of trade catalogs and pamphlets.

You can view the full catalog now in our Digital Archive, in this online collection that contains a selection from our collection of trade catalogs and pamphlets. The materials in this digital collection vary widely, and date from 1783 to 1988. A comprehensive view of Hagley’s trade catalogs and pamphlets can be found by searching our online catalog

Also! Big news! Beginning Monday, April 12, we will be discontinuing this Tumblr blog. But we won’t be going far. We’ll be continuing to post regular content at our new home at https://www.hagley.org/research/news/hagley-vault. You’ll also continue to be able to find images and links to new posts, as well as additional bonus content, on our Twitter feed, @Hagley_Library.

Wishing a happy Easter Monday to those who observe the holiday (and a happy regular Monday to the rest of you!). These circa 1940 photos document the Easter display window and Easter baskets of the E.N. McConnell Restaurant in Wilmington,...

Wishing a happy Easter Monday to those who observe the holiday (and a happy regular Monday to the rest of you!). These circa 1940 photos document the Easter display window and Easter baskets of the E.N. McConnell Restaurant in Wilmington, Delaware.

Edith N. McConnell was a confectioner and caterer in Wilmington, Delaware from the 1920s through the 1950s. Her catering business was located at 841 Market Street under the name “Miss McConnell Caterer, Confectioner.” McConnell was the successor to the D.B. Jones Company, a confectionary business begun in 1880.

Hagley Library’s Edith N. McConnell business records (Accession 1119) collection consists of consist of a three ledgers, containing business expenses and customer account books dating from 1937 to 1945, and from 1955 to 1956, while our collection of E.N. McConnell Restaurant photographs (Accession 1969.026) consists of 13 photographs, mostly dating from circa 1945, of wedding cakes, table settings, and the interior of her business. Some photographs show members of bridal parties, waiters, and restaurant staff, and a few of the individuals pictured are identified. To view these photographs online now, click here to visit their page in our Digital Archive.

Rayon! Rayon, rayon, everywhere this #FashionFriday!
This photo spread comes courtesy of the June, 1947 issue of DuPont Magazine, a publication first printed by DuPont in 1913 to help publicize the company’s products and progress. This article...

Rayon! Rayon, rayon, everywhere this #FashionFriday!

This photo spread comes courtesy of the June, 1947 issue of DuPont Magazine, a publication first printed by DuPont in 1913 to help publicize the company’s products and progress. This article highlighted, you guessed it, rayon, one of the many synthetic textiles the company manufactured (others included, but were not limited to nylon, Orlon acrylic, Dacron polyester, and Lycra Spandex).

Our digital collection of DuPont Magazine includes all issues published between 1913 and 2003. The issues include articles, product information, and advertisements on topics such as dynamite, quarrying, ammunition, popular plastic products, automobile accessories, contemporary fashion, and other useful items for the home. To view it online now, click here to visit its page in our Digital Archive.

Hagley Library’s John Gordon Rideout papers (Accession 2701) documents the life and career of noted industrial designer John Gordon “Jack” Rideout (1898-1951).
Rideout began his career in sales, moved into advertising, and eventually opened...

Hagley Library’s John Gordon Rideout papers (Accession 2701) documents the life and career of noted industrial designer John Gordon “Jack” Rideout (1898-1951).

Rideout began his career in sales, moved into advertising, and eventually opened industrial design firms in Toledo and then Cleveland, Ohio. In 1944, Rideout became one of the fifteen co-founders of the Society of Industrial Designers.

The collection includes manuscripts, graphic materials, publications, and objects documenting his career and personal life. An accompanying digital collection in our Digital Archive includes images like this ca. 1932 image of family friends Buffy and Molly. The images in this digital collection come from an album of negatives in a collection of Rideout’s papers.

Some of the images, likely dating to the early 1930s, depict Frank Lloyd Wright and his Spring Green, Wisconsin, estate, Taliesin. Others include portraits and candid images of family and friends; the fishing town of Leland, Michigan; an Easter church service; and a Gulf Co. service station. To view this collection online now, click here.

Spring has sprung and love is in the air this #WeddingWednesday.
This June 20, 1935 photographic negative shows Emilie Lynam Mitchell on the day of her wedding to Gates Cooper Gilmore. The wedding was held at Woodside Farms in Hockessin, Delaware,...

Spring has sprung and love is in the air this #WeddingWednesday.

This June 20, 1935 photographic negative shows Emilie Lynam Mitchell on the day of her wedding to Gates Cooper Gilmore. The wedding was held at Woodside Farms in Hockessin, Delaware, the home of Emilie’s brothers Paul and Joseph.

This item is part of Hagley Library’s collection of Thomas C. Marshall photographs (Acc. 1990.270). The family’s patriarch, Israel W. Marshall (1850-1911), founded the Marshall Brothers Paper Mill in Yorklyn in 1890. The wealth generated by this family business allowed his son,Thomas Clarence Marshall (1885-1969), to become a man of many hobbies, including photography.

In addition to other subjects, the Hagley’s collection of his photographs contains images like this one, documenting the Marshall family and their friends. Other subjects include photographs of the family home, the Marshall Brothers Paper Mill, Marshall’s collection of Stanley Steamer automobiles, and various locations and events in and around Delaware and Chester County, Pennsylvania. To view a large selection of images from this collection online now, visit its page in our Digital Archive by clicking here.